Lost has found its new mystery mant! Rodrigo Santoro, best known to American audiences as the hot dude Laura Linney crushed on in Love Actually, is joining the cast this fall. I know what you’re thinking, “Rodrigo… Whatchoo Talkin’ ‘Bout Willis?” That was my initial reaction, too. Well, the 30-year-old actor may not be a household name here in the States, but there apparently is no bigger movie star in Brazil than him. Don’t take my word for it, though.

Read on, as Lost boys Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse proudly discuss their latest find.I have to admit, I’m not all that familiar with Rodrigo’s work.
Carlton: You haven’t seen Carandiru or Behind the Sun or Brainstorm? You’re a little behind the curve. [Laughs] Rodrigo has won, like, eight best-actor awards, including the first-ever best-actor award for the Brazilian Academy of Arts and Film. He’s a huge star in Brazil.
Damon: He keeps getting described to us as the Brazilian Tom Cruise.
Carlton: Although we like to refer to him as the Brazilian Russell Crowe. He’s also the mystery man opposite Nicole Kidman in those Chanel commercials that Baz Luhrmann directed, and the surfer dude in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. He was the hunk in the beach scene with Demi Moore.
Damon: The ladies like it when he takes his shirt off — not to say he’ll be competing with Sawyer in that category.

But the hunk thing must’ve been a big factor in his casting.
Carlton: Only so far as there’s going to be a certain expectation for the character based on his looks.
Damon: On [Lost], what you see is never what you get. We also think he is an incredibly talented actor. He’s a guy who’s perfect for Lost because he’s a face that the American audience is not familiar with, but he’s been in the business long enough, you know, [that he’s also] an awesome actor that makes some really interesting choices. And he’s certainly not interested in being the hunk on the show, nor are we interested in writing that for him. Although I think when people start to see him and surmise what role he’s going to play on the show, that’s the place they’re going to go to. “More eye candy for Lost!”
Carlton: We don’t really want to be at all specific about what we’re doing with the character or what he’s going to play. Part of the surprise and the enjoyment of watching the show is sort of getting a chance to meet a new character and see how his role is going to unfold in relation to the rest of the cast.

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