Wagner Moura received a phone call from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva congratulating him on his Golden Globes win — a complete 180 from former President Jair Bolsonaro, who attempted to bury Moura’s directorial debut.
Moura stars in “The Secret Agent,” a new film from Kleber Mendonça Filho that will represent Brazil at this year’s Academy Awards. After winning Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2025, Moura took home the Best Actor (Drama) award at Sunday’s Golden Globes.
“Wagner, my dear, look you can be sure that you are a source of pride for this country, man,” Brazil’s president (often simply called “Lula”) told Moura over the phone, translated to English from Portuguese.
“Since your first government, cinema has had a space,” Moura responded to the two-time president. “I remember that you used to hold movie sessions, seeing that you like culture, president. That makes a huge difference for any country that wants to develop.” You can watch the whole conversation below.
The exchange starkly contrasts with Moura’s relationship with Brazil’s former far-right president Bolsonaro. Moura, a vocal critic of Bolsonaro and his support for Brazil’s military dictatorship, attempted to release his directorial debut, “Marighella,” in 2019. Bolsonaro publicly condemned the film — which tells the story of revolutionary and anti-dictatorship writer Carlos Marighella — effectively blocking its release in the country until 2021.
Speaking with TheWrap in December, Moura called the Bolsonaro regime a “hardcore/proto-fascist government,” one that was “hard for press, for university, for artists,” adding, “Whoever was vocal against the government suffered lots of consequences.”
“‘The Secret Agent’ was born from both of us talking as friends and going, ‘How the f–k can we react to this?’” he said. “It’s a film about a guy who sticks with the values that he has, even when everything around him was saying the opposite of what he believed.”
The changing politics of Brazil were at the top of Moura’s mind following his Golden Globes win. On Sunday, Moura spoke about the difference between Brazil’s current democratic government and the years under Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for crimes related to a planned coup.
“In Brazil we finally have a government that understands that culture is important for the country’s development,” Moura said following his win on Sunday.
Best Actor
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Timothée Chalamet
Marty Supreme
Probability: 25% No change: 0%Nominations: Oscars, SAG, BAFTA, GG, Critics Choice
Wins: GG, Critics Choice
Following Colman Domingo, Timothée Chalamet becomes the second person this decade nominated for Best Actor two years in a row.
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Michael B. Jordan
Sinners
Probability: 3.23% Up: 0.73%Nominations: Oscars, SAG, BAFTA, GG, Critics Choice
Michael B. Jordan joins Nicolas Cage (“Adaptation”) and Lee Marvin (“Cat Ballou”) on the short list of actors nominated for playing identical twins.
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Wagner Moura
The Secret Agent
Probability: 1% No change: 0%Nominations: Oscars, GG, Critics Choice
Wins: GG
Wagner Moura finds himself in an interesting position. While roughly 65% of Best Actor (Drama) winners at the Golden Globes win Best Actor at the Academy Awards, no Best Actor winner at the Oscars has ever missed a nomination at the Actor Awards since its inception.
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Leonardo DiCaprio
One Battle After Another
Probability: 1% No change: 0%Nominations: Oscars, SAG, BAFTA, GG, Critics Choice
Leonardo DiCaprio surpasses Denzel Washington and Bradley Cooper as the most-nominated male actor this century, with 6 nods since 2000.
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Ethan Hawke
Blue Moon
Probability: 1% No change: 0%Nominations: Oscars, SAG, BAFTA, GG, Critics Choice
Ethan Hawke joins the five-timers club of Oscar nominees. Two of his prior nominations were for acting, while two were for screenwriting. Three of these previous four nominations were for Richard Linklater collaborations.
For more Oscar-season stats, check out TheWrap’s Awards Tracker.
