Santiago grew up in London, Romania, Toronto and Madrid. Although he considers Santiago, Chile, his hometown, he splits his time between London and Los Angeles.
Cabrera trained at London's prestigious Drama Centre under renowned instructors Yat Malgrem and Christopher Fettes, whose students include many great actors, among them Sir Sean Connery and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Concurrent with his final year at the Centre, he made his television debut with small roles in British television, and on the London stage, playing Montano in Shakespeare's "Othello", at the London Greenwich Theatre, directed by Rupert Goold. His most recent stage role was Romeo in London's Middle Temple Hall production of "Romeo and Juliet".
Cabrera's breakthrough role came in the highly successful first season of NBC's ensemble drama series "Heroes"(2006-2007). There he played Isaac Mendez, a heroin-addicted, lovesick artist able to paint the future and seduced viewers with his moody, manly charm, even though his character didn't live past the first season. He also plays a strong recurring role, as the mythical character Lancelot, in the very popular BBC series "Merlin" (2008-2010).
He can be seen in the historic epic "Cristiada" (2011) opposite Andy Garcia and Peter O'Toole playing the lead role of Father Vega, a priest turned General during the Cristero War in 1920's Mexico. He was most recently seen in Steven Soderbergh's film, "Che. Part 1" (2008) opposite Benicio del Toro, for which he won critical acclaim for his portrayal of legendary Cuban guerrilla commander Camilo Cienfuegos.
In addition to his native Spanish language, he is fluent in English, French and Italian.
