In 2002, Santiago made a film called The Street King, where he played the character Cesar Rojas. It was not a major hit, and Santiago took another three-year sabbatical from screen acting. Santiago returned to film in 2005, as "Scorpio" in Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy. In early 2011, he starred as Johnny Pacheco in the Hector Lavoe salsa biopic The King. Santiago will appear in Grand Street in which he stars with Kelly McGillis.