Lost’s Paulo is Xerxes in 300

On Lost, Rodrigo Santoro got off to a bad start due to a bad introduction of his character “Paulo”, but on the big screen things are going much better for the Brazilian actor. He can currently be seen portraying Persian ruler Xerxes in the violent epic “300″, based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel with the same name.

The film which is directed by Zach Snyder, has gained much popularity on the Internet and earned over $70 million during its first weekend, breaking a record and becoming the highest earning film opening in March ever.

Rodrigo had this to say about playing Xerxes:

Xerxes has convinced himself he is a God so he puts himself on a pedestal. Like, you know, above the sky. I did a good research of Persian history and of Herodotus. There was a lot of interesting information there that I used to build Xerxes. The soul, the essence of the character is just right there. You know, he existed once. It’s actually a huge responsibility to play this guy! (Laughs)

The costumes and the sets are just incredible. I’m not gonna lie to you; when I first saw the costume I almost said ‘Wow, I’ve never seen so much gold!’. It helped me a lot because it makes you feel, you know, all over it was full of gold, and I had the piercings, and everything just… I miss it now.

Read more about 300 on the official website. Or take a look at the trailer.