Concurrent with his final year at the centre, he made his television debut with small roles in the British television series
Battlefield Britain,
Judge John Deed,
Spooks and
As If. His first role after graduating from drama school was Montano in Shakespeare's
Othello, at the Royal Theatre Northampton. He also appeared in the 2006 film
Love and Other Disasters as the
Argentinian Paolo Sarmiento, alongside
Brittany Murphy and
Matthew Rhys. He has appeared on American television first in
Empire, as Octavius. He appeared as
Isaac Mendez in the NBC series
Heroes; once the character's arc ended, he narrated some episodes of the BBC's spin-off documentary series
Heroes Unmasked. He also played
Lancelot in the
BBC drama series
Merlin and Aramis in The Musketeers. On 20 January 2007 episode of the NBC Universal late-night programme
Vivo Mun2, Cabrera discussed his semi-professional football career in London before he fully committed to acting. He also stated that
C.D. Universidad Católica of Santiago is his favourite team, however, he remains a fan of London club
Queens Park Rangers F.C., for which he was a mascot as a child. On 7 September 2008, Cabrera participated in
Soccer Aid, a British charity football match in support of
UNICEF. He later repeated this venture in 2014, playing once again for the Rest of the World. In November 2008 he played for the Hollywood United team in a special charity match raising money for people affected by the devastation of
Hurricane Ike. Santiago has also played the role of Darius Tanz in the CBS/Netflix show
Salvation. On 4 March 2019, CBS announced Cabrera was cast in
Star Trek: Picard, starring Patrick Stewart, which began shooting in April 2019. He played the supporting role of Captain Cristobal Rios in the limited series. Cabrera appeared in Disney's
Godmothered in 2020. On 9 September 2021, Cabrera announced he would return to Star Trek: Picard for the series' second season with a trailer posted to his Instagram. On 5 May 2022, Cabrera promoted the final episode of the second season of Picard on his Instagram. It was his last appearance on the series. In 2024, he played Richard Deetz, husband of Lydia and father of Astrid Deetz, in
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a sequel to 1988's
Beetlejuice. ==Personal life==