By Tyler Orton
The Tri-City News
B.C. actor Antonio Cupo says new luggage is the only consistent investment he ever makes in his career.
"I didn't really think I was going to be living out of a suitcase through my entire 20s and into my 30s, but that's kind of how it's been," he says. "I've got more damaged luggage than anyone I know."
After spending seven years acting in Europe, he returned to Canada last summer intent on refocusing his career in North America.
Now the Vancouver-based actor has packed his bags once again for a trip to Los Angeles, Calif. where he's preparing for pilot season auditions.
Excursions like the one he's on right now are just part of the deal for anyone determined to make it in entertainment.
"Unfortunately, it's one of those kinds of businesses where even if you really, really want to work, you don't necessarily always do," he says.
"So you kind of have to be at the right place at the right time and sort of take everything with a grain of salt and really push."
The son of Italian immigrants, Cupo went to high school in north Burnaby, but spent most of his time with friends and family in Coquitlam.
"The honest truth is we would skip out of class and go to Coquitlam to play pool because it would be a sure place where no one would spot us," he says, chuckling.
Appearing in European films and starring in one of Italy's biggest TV shows was a tremendous experience, but Cupo says returning to Canada was meant to be.
Within days of coming home he was cast in Global's Bomb Girls. Airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m., the dramatic mini-series follows a group of Canadian women working at a munitions factory during the Second World War.
"Aside from the historical significance, it's also a real story about relationships," Cupo says, noting women became more empowered during that era as they entered the workforce in large numbers the same time men were leaving for war.
Performing alongside Bomb Girls star and Oscar-nominee Meg Tilly was an incredible experience, according to Cupo.
"Really, I just felt like I was acting with my best friend. It was so comfortable right from the get-go," he says. But it's his own character - Italian-Canadian explosives expert Marco Moretti - he's most drawn to.
"I never played a character who had been discriminated against before, because the characters I normally play are romantic leads," he says, adding many Italians faced intense prejudice in Canada during the Second World War.
But Cupo's endeavours in the entertainment industry aren't confined to just acting.
Before leaving for Italy, he was dedicated to his rock band Hybrid Cartel and even went on a national tour.
Now that he's back in Vancouver, the singer/guitarist says the crew is back together and writing music once again. When put to the test, though, Cupo says he'd rather stick with acting.
"Had you asked me that 10 years ago, I would have said I would have taken music all the way, but getting a paycheque [from acting] is also nice, too."
