last month

Wagner Moura won the Golden Globe for lead actor in a motion picture drama on Sunday night for the political thriller “The Secret Agent,” becoming the second Brazilian to take home a Globes acting prize, after Fernanda Torres’ win last year for “I’m Still Here.”

“ ‘The Secret Agent’ is a film about memory — or the lack of memory — and generational trauma,” Moura said in his acceptance speech. “I think if trauma can be passed along generations, values can too. So this is to the ones that are sticking with their values in difficult moments.”

The win marks a major milestone in a banner awards season for the 49-year-old Moura. In “The Secret Agent,” directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, he plays Armando, a former professor forced into hiding while trying to protect his young son during Brazil’s military dictatorship of the 1970s. The role earned Moura the actor prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, making him the first Brazilian performer to win that honor.

For many American viewers, Moura is best known for his star-making turn as Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in Netflix’s “Narcos,” which ran from 2015 to 2017 and earned him a Golden Globe nomination in 2016. He has since been involved in a range of high-profile English-language projects, including the 2020 biographical drama “Sergio,” the 2022 animated sequel “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” in which he voiced the villainous Wolf, and Alex Garland’s 2024 dystopian thriller “Civil War,” playing a Reuters war correspondent.

“The Secret Agent,” which earlier in the evening earned the Globes award for non-English language film, marked a homecoming for Moura after more than a decade of not starring in a Brazilian production, following years spent working abroad and navigating political turmoil in his home country as well as pandemic disruptions.

Though he failed to score a nomination from the Screen Actors Guild earlier this month, Moura now heads strongly into Oscar nominations, which will be announced Jan. 22. “The Secret Agent” is Brazil’s official submission for international feature and has been one of the most honored films of the season, keeping Moura firmly in the awards conversation. Last month, he became the first Latino performer to win best actor from the New York Film Critics Circle.

Even as his career has been shaped by politically charged projects, Moura has been careful not to let that define him. “I don’t want to be the Che Guevara of film,” he told The Times last month. “I gravitate towards things that are political, but I like being an actor more than anything else.”

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said quarterback Justin Herbert will not play in the team’s regular-season finale Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

With the Chargers’ 20-16 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday putting them out of contention for the AFC West title, the move to rest Herbert is a logical one. Herbert is still recovering from surgery he underwent Dec. 1 to stabilize a fracture in his left (non-throwing) hand.

Herbert was sacked five times by the Texans, and he appeared to be wincing in pain after taking a hit in the first half. He didn’t miss a snap, however, connecting on 21 of 32 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 37 yards.

Herbert might not be the only starter who sits for the Chargers, but Harbaugh didn’t say who might be joining Herbert on the sideline.

“The guys that have the most bruises and need the most healing, we’ll pull them back. Justin Herbert would be one,” Harbaugh told reporters Monday. “We’ll see how the rest of the week goes with who all they are. They’ll be some situations where some starters are backups.”

Former third-overall pick Trey Lance will start against the Broncos at Mile High on Sunday, with DJ Uiagalelei serving as backup, Harbaugh said. The Chargers are battling to secure the No. 5 playoff seed in the AFC playoffs.

Herbert has passed for 3,727 yards and 26 touchdowns for the 11-5 Chargers, who had won four straight games before falling to the Texans for the second time this calendar year — they lost to Houston in last season’s wild-card playoffs.

Although a win over the Broncos would give the Chargers a season sweep over the AFC West, the Chargers need Herbert to be at his healthiest with potential wild-card road matchups against either the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars looming.