--- description: Find out why Wagner Moura is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Wagner Moura: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6044e5a3a43fd4ad/69dfb961ffa3d7a5690e19a8/T100-2026-Wagner-Moura-Seliger-02-235.png?branch=production --- Apr 15, 2026 # Wagner Moura ## Video: TIME100 Wagner Moura | Icons [Watch (HLS stream): TIME100 Wagner Moura | Icons](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYykkoMj.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2026-04-15_ by Jeremy Strong  Mark Seliger for TIME I had the honor of serving on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival last year. One night I sat in the back of the enormous Palais theater and watched in admiration and awe as [Wagner Moura](https://time.com/7336528/the-secret-agent-brazilian-history-interview/ "undefined") carried us through 1970s Recife, Brazil, and then carried us somewhere reserved for transcendent performances: into the heart of life. The jury awarded him the prize for Best Actor. Long a legend in Brazil, he has been on the world’s stage for some time now. But, this past year, Moura punched a hole through the world’s ceiling. Also at Cannes last year, Robert De Niro made a [speech](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/art-is-a-threat-to-the-autocrats-and-the-fascists-of-the-world-cannes-honoree-de-niro-says-at-festival-opening "undefined") in which he said, “Fascists should fear art.” Moura, living under Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing government from 2019 to 2023, is someone who understands that democracy and freedom are things you have to fight for every day (an idea that our often somnolent country is quickly waking up to). Moura is not afraid to use the humanizing, galvanizing power of art as a weapon. From _The Secret Agent_ to his feature directing debut _Marighella_ (an indictment of the Brazilian military dictatorship) to his work onstage last year in an adaptation of Ibsen’s _Enemy of the People,_ (how far are you willing to go to fight for the truth?)—he is a force of the political and the humane, a duo we desperately need more of. When De Niro said fascists should fear art, he was talking about artists like Moura. The kind of artist we need more than ever right now. _Strong is an Emmy- and Tony-winning actor_ _Read TIME’s_ [_interview with Wagner Moura here_](https://time.com/article/2026/04/15/wagner-moura-time100-interview-secret-agent/ "undefined") Wagner Moura Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/wagner-moura/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/wagner-moura/"},"headline":"Wagner Moura","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:48.460Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/wagner-moura/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6044e5a3a43fd4ad/69dfb961ffa3d7a5690e19a8/T100-2026-Wagner-Moura-Seliger-02-235.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeremy Strong"}],"creator":"Jeremy Strong","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6044e5a3a43fd4ad/69dfb961ffa3d7a5690e19a8/T100-2026-Wagner-Moura-Seliger-02-235.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/wagner-moura/","name":"Wagner Moura"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 Wagner Moura | Icons","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aYykkoMj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYykkoMj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/wagner-moura/","duration":"PT1M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/wagner-moura/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```