Edwin Gagiano (born June 1, 1989) is a South African-born

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, screenwriter, producer,

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted t ...

and model based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He is regarded as one of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

’s highest-earning actors by The New Age and has won several awards for his achievements, including Best Actor Award for his role as Alf Bueller in the show '' Back to the 80s''.

Early life

Gagiano was born in Kimberley, Northern Cape, and relocated to Los Angeles in 2015. His father, Albertus Johannes, is a math lecturer and a

war veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

who served his country during the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Ango ...

in the 1980s. His mother, Maryna Elizabeth, is a retired banker and

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

. Gagiano is of Italian, British and Welsh ancestry. Gagiano attended Technical High School ( HTS Kimberley) and began his career at sixteen as a stage actor when he landed one of the

leading role A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typic ...

s as Alf Bueller in the Northern Cape Theatre musical '' Back to the 80s''. In 2014, he was cast by the Peoples Theatre as

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

’s

Prince Charming Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, includi ...

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

Career

Acting

Gagiano made his television debut as the lead in

SABC 2 SABC 2 is a South African family public television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). SABC 2 broadcasts programming in English, Sepedi, Afrikaans, Venda, and Tsonga. As of August 2018, the channel started broad ...

’s primetime television series ''Snake Park'' (2014), portraying Zak Verwey. The show got picked up for a second season in 2015 due to its high viewership, exceeding 2 million viewers per episode. Gagiano went on to star and co-star in nine feature films and three television series. He was included in the closing cast of the soap opera ''Villa Rosa'' in 2015, starring as Marcel Geldenhuys. Gagiano starred in several other feature films, including ''Seun: 81457397BG'' (2014), and ''Last Broken Darkness'' (2016). He had a bit part in the movie '' Chappie'' (2015).

Commercials

In 2015, Gagiano was cast as the lead in South Africa’s national

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

ad campaign to advertise the new

Toyota Aygo The Toyota Aygo is a city car ( A-segment) marketed by Toyota mainly in the European market between 2005 and 2021 across two generations. The Aygo was first displayed at the 2005 Geneva International Motor Show. It was built alongside the relat ...

. This campaign covered television, cinema, public locations and internet usage, with more than 200,000 views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Singing and songwriting

In 2010, Gagiano released an EP album with 6 songs. His single "Mommy" was repeatedly played on

PUK FM 93.6 PUKfm 93.6 is a South African campus radio station based in Potchefstroom in the North West (South African province), North West. PUKfm 93.6 is the Liberty Radio Awards 2018 Campus Station of the Year. Coverage areas *North-West University, Nor ...

, and "3 Reasons Why" played on Highveld Stereo. Gagiano wrote the Afrikaans single "Stille Praatwerk", which he performed on the kykNET hit television series ''Sterlopers'', as Andre Groenewald.

Filmography

Film roles

Television roles

Theatre roles

Commercials

Awards, honors and achievements

*Best Actor Award – Gagiano received the Best Actor Award for his role as Alf Bueller in Back to the 80’s. *Honors in Drama and Arts – In 2007, Gagiano was awarded the Blazer of Honor in Drama and Arts by HTS Kimberley. *Top Male Actor in ''Villa Rosa Star Hunt'' competition – Gagiano was the only male actor to advance to the Top 10 of this nationwide competition out of thousands of actors. ''Villa Rosa Star Hunt'' was televised on KykNET television.

Influences

Gagiano's acting influences are

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...

, Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino and

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

. His biggest director influence is Steven Spielberg.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gagiano, Edwin 1989 births Living people South African male actors South African emigrants to the United States