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The Most Famous

ACTORS from Brazil

This page contains a list of the greatest Brazilian Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 9,996 Actors, 71 of which were born in Brazil. This makes Brazil the birth place of the 19th most number of Actors behind Poland and Ireland.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Brazilian Actors of all time. This list of famous Brazilian Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Brazilian Actors.

1. Fernanda Montenegro (1929 - )

With an HPI of 59.76, Fernanda Montenegro is the most famous Brazilian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 49 different languages on wikipedia.

Arlette Pinheiro Esteves Torres ONM (née da Silva; born 16 October 1929), known by her stage name Fernanda Montenegro (/feʁˈnɐ̃dɐ mõtʃiˈnegɾu/), is a Brazilian stage, television and film actress. Considered by many the greatest Brazilian actress of all time, she is often referred to as the grande dame of Brazilian theater, cinema, and performing arts. For her work in Central Station (1998), she became the first, and to date the only, Brazilian nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, as well as the first and only actress nominated for an Academy Award for a performance in a Portuguese language film. In addition, she was the first Brazilian to win the International Emmy in the category of Best Actress for her performance in Sweet Mother (2013). Among the various national and international awards she has received in a career spanning more than sixty years, she was awarded in 1999 her country's highest civilian honor, the National Order of Merit, "in recognition of her outstanding work in the Brazilian performing arts," delivered by then-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. In addition to having been awarded the Molière Prize five times, Fernanda Montenegro is a three-time recipient of the Governor Award of the State of São Paulo. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival 1998 for her performance as "Dora" in Central Station by Walter Salles, a role which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama in 1999, among other distinctions. On television, she was the first actress hired by TV Tupi, in 1951, where she starred in teletheater shows under the direction of Fernando Torres, Sérgio Britto and Flávio Rangel. She made her debut in telenovelas in 1954 with A Muralha on RecordTV, where she appeared in other productions as well. She has done work in most of Brazil's main broadcasters, such as Band, TV Cultura, RecordTV e TV Globo (where she remains since 1981), in addition to the extinct TV Excelsior, TV Rio and TV Tupi. In 2013, she was voted the 15th most influential celebrity in Brazil by Forbes magazine. During the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Fernanda read the poem "A Flor e a Náusea" by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, dubbed in English by Judi Dench. On 4 November 2021 she was elected to occupy the Chair number 17 at the Brazilian Academy of Letters, in succession to Affonso Arinos de Mello Franco.

2. Sônia Braga (1950 - )

With an HPI of 58.71, Sônia Braga is the 2nd most famous Brazilian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Sônia Maria Campos Braga (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈsonjɐ maˈɾi.ɐ ˈkɐ̃puz ˈbɾaɡɐ]; born 8 June 1950) is a Brazilian actress. She is known in the English-speaking world for her Golden Globe Award–nominated performances in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) and Moon over Parador (1988). She also received a BAFTA Award nomination in 1981 for Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (first released in 1976). For the 1994 television film The Burning Season, she was nominated for an Emmy Award and a third Golden Globe Award. Her other television and film credits include The Cosby Show (1986), Sex and the City (2001), American Family (2002), Alias (2005), Aquarius (2016), Bacurau (2019), and Fatima (2020). In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #24 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.

3. Florinda Bolkan (1941 - )

With an HPI of 58.37, Florinda Bolkan is the 3rd most famous Brazilian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Florinda Bolkan (born Florinda Soares Bulcão; 15 February 1941) is a retired Brazilian actress and model.

4. Véra Clouzot (1913 - 1960)

With an HPI of 54.58, Véra Clouzot is the 4th most famous Brazilian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Véra Gibson-Amado, known professionally as Véra Clouzot, (30 December 1913 – 15 December 1960) was a Brazilian-French film actress and screenwriter. She is known for playing Linda in The Wages of Fear (1953), Christina Delassalle in Les Diaboliques (1955), and Lucie in Les Espions (1957). Clouzot also co-wrote the screenplay for La Vérité (1960). Her husband, director Henri-Georges Clouzot, named his production company after her, Véra Films.

5. Vera Fischer (1951 - )

With an HPI of 54.24, Vera Fischer is the 5th most famous Brazilian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Vera Fischer (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvɛɾa ˈfiʃeʁ]; born 27 November 1951) is a Brazilian actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Brazil 1969 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1969 where she placed Top 15.

6. Tarcísio Meira (1935 - 2021)

With an HPI of 54.06, Tarcísio Meira is the 6th most famous Brazilian Actor. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Tarcísio Pereira de Magalhães Sobrinho (5 October 1935 – 12 August 2021), known professionally as Tarcísio Meira, was a Brazilian actor. He was one of the first actors to work in the most popular Brazilian channel Globo. He was born in São Paulo and was the longtime owner of Fazenda São Marcos, a 5000 ha cattle ranch in the eastern Amazonian state of Pará. Fazenda São Marcos is located approximately 20 km east of Aurora do Pará, off the Belém-Brasília highway.

7. Lucélia Santos (1957 - )

With an HPI of 53.97, Lucélia Santos is the 7th most famous Brazilian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Maria Lucélia dos Santos (born 20 May 1957) is a Brazilian actress, director and producer. She received international acclaim for her leading role in the 1976 Rede Globo telenovela Isaura, The Slave Girl, broadcast in over 80 countries.

8. Xuxa (1963 - )

With an HPI of 53.31, Xuxa is the 8th most famous Brazilian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Maria da Graça Xuxa Meneghel ( SHOO-sha; Brazilian Portuguese: [maˈɾi.ɐ dɐ ˈɡɾasɐ ˈʃuʃɐ mẽneˈɡɛw]; born Maria da Graça Meneghel, 27 March 1963) is a Brazilian presenter, actress, singer and businesswoman. Known as the "queen of the short ones", Xuxa built the largest Latin and Southern American children's entertainment empire. In the early 1990s, she presented television programs in Brazil, Argentina, Spain and the United States simultaneously, reaching around 100 million viewers daily. Xuxa has sold over 30 million copies of her records worldwide, which makes her the highest-selling Brazilian female singer. Her net worth was estimated at US$100 million in the early 1990s. Also successful as a businesswoman, she has the highest net worth of any Brazilian female entertainer, estimated at US$400 million.

9. Rodrigo Santoro (1975 - )

With an HPI of 52.85, Rodrigo Santoro is the 9th most famous Brazilian Actor. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Rodrigo Junqueira Reis Santoro (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁoˈdɾiɡu ʒũˈkejɾɐ ˈʁejs sɐ̃ˈtɔɾu]; born 22 August 1975) is a Brazilian actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Persian King Xerxes in the film 300 (2006) and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). Others include Brainstorm (2001), Carandiru (2003), Love Actually (2003), Che (2008), I Love You Phillip Morris (2009), and Rio (2011). He also appeared on the television series Lost, portraying the character Paulo, and on HBO's Westworld (2016–2020) as Hector Escaton.

10. Rubens de Falco (1931 - 2008)

With an HPI of 52.81, Rubens de Falco is the 10th most famous Brazilian Actor. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Rubens de Falco da Costa (October 19, 1931 – August 22, 2008) was a Brazilian actor best known for his work in telenovelas, specifically his portrayal as a slave owner in the 1976 telenovela, Escrava Isaura (The Slave Isaura) and the 1986 telenovela Sinhá Moça (Little Missy).

People

Pantheon has 71 people classified as actors born between 1913 and 1997. Of these 71, 61 (85.92%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living actors include Fernanda Montenegro, Sônia Braga, and Florinda Bolkan. The most famous deceased actors include Véra Clouzot, Tarcísio Meira, and Rubens de Falco. As of April 2022, 11 new actors have been added to Pantheon including Rubens de Falco, Laura Cardoso, and Renata Sorrah.