Meet Francesco Antonio | Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Francesco Antonio and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Francesco, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN IN LIFE IS TO TAKE RISKS! So many times I thought it could be easier to work the stable job or study the practical course but where would I be today? Doing what’s easy but never fulfilled? Instead I decided to put it all on the line, I worked sometimes three jobs at once to make what I could and then spent every last dollar I had on investing in myself, in my work. I hated all the people who told me it was “too big a dream”, it was a maybe, not guaranteed and it was “best to play it safe” because what if I failed? SO WHAT. So what if I failed? I questioned this over and over until I realized I needed to define failure. Failure is really only a thing if I gave up, if I admitted defeat. But if I kept going, if I kept taking risks, I’d keep being rewarded and I would NEVER fail. So I left my family, my work ,my life, I took the biggest risk I could take, and I moved to LA, to live in a house with 10 guys and eat canned beans every day because shit, I was on a budget.

Let’s not talk about all the money I spent to get to LA, not the years of pushing and building in Toronto to be even afforded the opportunity, the training, the wins, the losses, the risks. Let’s talk about how much I was making it happen, how much my”risk” was paying off and boom, COVID hits. All the guys move out, I have to go back home, time has frozen and in a second it seemed like I had lost the countless hours I put in to get there.

I remember on my 6th day of Isolation, I had just about cracked. Broken, depressed, drunk and defeated. I had finally failed. I risked it all, literally and it’s gone. Everything those people said came true, the “what if”, the “you never know”.
Now I was stuck, now instead of making it happen and taking risks, I was at risk of really losing the most important thing that I had invested everything in, myself. So I took one more risk, I risked another heartbreak. I risked losing it all, AGAIN. And today I am picking off exactly where I left off, who knows what will happen tomorrow, or next week. That’s the risk you take. All I know is taking risks brought me further than staying put. It kept me going when I thought I couldn’t go anymore. I say. dream big, take risks and live life, we only have one.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I don’t really know how exactly I got here. I know about the hard work and the hustle, but deciding to become an actor really wasn’t a conscious decision, it was like the universe just put me there. Growing up, I wasn’t at all interested in school work or making something of myself, in fact I ditched most of my classes….except for Drama. There was something about Drama class, about getting to play pretend. It was like when I was acting, I was escaping my own misery, because for the duration of my performance, I wasn’t me, I was someone else. On top of that, I loved performing, I craved attention and being on stage was something credible, it was more than me being a class clown, I was no more an asswhole, I was an actor.

When I made it through my 4 years of highschool, my drama teacher, Mr. Farro, pulled me aside and said “Kid I think you have something”. I thought he was talking about some kind of disease, but the guy was telling me I had a gift, a purpose! I felt like I found myself in that moment. Like I knew what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I was going to be an actor. He encouraged me to pursue acting, to keep training and from there he helped me prepare, audition and get in to one of the best university acting programs in the Canada.

I never thought in a million years I would have made it to university, but I was there, no idea what to do next but I just went through the motions the best I knew how. Within my first week everyone hated me. I didn’t fit in with the rest of the artists who quoted shakespeare on demand. I was loud, temperamental and I didnt wear tight black outfits, I wore the same leather jacket, everyday no matter the weather. They started to taunt me, tell me how I would never make it in this business because I wasn’t a “real” actor and let me tell you, that pissed me the fuck off. Now, I was no longer just some kid in an acting program, I was motivated. I wanted to be the best, better than any one who ever graced these halls and so I began my official journey into becoming an actor. I spent the next 4 years focusing on becoming the best and I put together a plan. I wanted to move to LA, star in a huge film, and win an Oscar. The first thing I had to do was get an agent. My university had set up a showcase for all the actors to perform at a Theatre in Toronto for a bunch of talent agents. Afterwards they had a mixer where we got to meet them face to face. I remember I asked them all the same question, ” Do you want to win an Oscar?” I had no intention of working with anyone who didn’t want to be the best, and then I met my agent, Jana Abrams. In our first meeting I told her my plan. 1 year, LA. OSCAR. She believed in me, but she told me straight, that time line just isn’t realistic but I was determined. I could tell she was terrified, she wanted to work with me but I was a ball of edginess, espresso and hunger. But she took a chance, she said let’s do it and in LESS than a year, I was on network TV, I was in LA. Still working on the Oscar.

This is the short version, this is a drop, because this journey was far more complex, the ups and downs we’re unbelievable and I’m really just getting started. What makes my work unique is my willingness to embrace all of those hard times, the ugliness and imperfections, then use it. I don’t want to be your perfect record, super white toothed, valedictorian of an actor. I just want to be me, I just want to be that actor that didn’t come to LA to become like everybody else. I want my fans to love me for how honest I am with them. I change my mind, I make mistakes, I work hard and I love harder. I want to share my story so that one day, somewhere, it can motivate someone to not give up and to keep pushing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We definitley have to start our morning at Capri in Marina Del Rey, one of my favorite places to grab an espresso and croissant. Then we would head to the Venice Beach. The beach is nice but more interesting to me are the people there and the artwork. We would spend all morning hearing the stories of the beach locals and admiring the graffiti covered architecture. Afterwards we would head to Hollywood for another espresso at my number one favorite espresso bar, Caffe Ect. The owner is an espresso connoisseur and has the most beautiful energy. By then we would probably need to eat some lunch, so we would walk the strip and maybe try a couple of different things from the street vendors. Definitely tacos, a lot of tacos. After that let’s head over to Santa Monica. Beautiful during the day but at night, the lights light up just right and the pier is an incredible experience of treats, games and of course, more tacos. When we can’t eat no more, when we’ve had our fun, let’s end the night right on the beach, listening to the waves, taking in the day and being grateful for life.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Who can I thank for where I am today? There were a lot of people who helped me out on my journey but I have to give a special shout out to my mom. It’s simple, out of all of the wonderful people in my life past and present, my mom has been there from the beginning. She has supported me from day one and no matter how tough it got she taught me to get tougher. I learned how to hustle from watching her make it happen and whenever the world got to heavy she was right there to give me strength. If it wasn’t for her mentorship, tough love and selflessness, I would have never made it this far so every win for me is a win for her. Mom if you’re reading this, we’re winning.

x

Website: www,francescoantonio.ca

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/francesco.antonio/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefranantonio

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5C6qUlyNW0CjgXuFmhKlFQ

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9082731/

Image Credits
Woodbridge Media José Alexander Amazon Prime