Stelio Savante


Stelio Savante is a South African-born New York actor nominated for Berlinale's Teddy award along with the lead cast of Peter Greenaway's Eisenstein in Guanajuato . In 2007 he became the first male South African-born Screen Actors Guild award nominee for his recurring role on Ugly Betty and also won best actor at the American Movie Awards in 2015 for his lead role in Once We Were Slaves.

Early life

Savante was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa to a Greek father and a South African born Scottish-Irish and English-Lithuanian mother. His grandfather was a racing driver who placed and won medals at the 1955 Monte Carlo Rally. Fluent in Afrikaans and Greek, he graduated from Camps Bay High School, immigrated from South Africa to the United States when he was offered an international tennis scholarship by the University of West Alabama and relocated again to New York City in 1992 to pursue an acting career.

New York

His prime-time debut came in ' as a Bosnian-Muslim fundamentalist. Directed by Academy Award winner Juan Jose Campanella the episode was also nominated for an Emmy. Further television credits include ', The Sopranos, Guiding Light, All My Children, as Dan 'Schaffy' Schaffner in Jim Breuer's pilot for Pulp Comics on Comedy Central and recurring as Antonio on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Film credits include the comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Ron Howard's Academy Award winner A Beautiful Mind, and the independent Greek-American film Astoria, which won awards at the RiverRun International Film Festival and Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where it premiered.
In 2004, he was cast in the lead role of Ecuadorian photographer Bolivar Arellano in Sarah Tuft's 9/11 celebrity benefit performances of 110 Stories at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. Savante considers this one of his breakthrough roles. To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the tragedy Stelio also produced and performed 110 Stories Celebrity Benefit Performances with Samuel L. Jackson and Melissa Leo. at the Skirball Center for The Performing Arts at NYU. It was directed by Gregory Mosher. Savante describes 110 Stories as a chance to give people closure about the attacks; he was in New York City at the time of the attacks, and cites that as a reason why he produces the play.
Theater credits include lead roles in the American and New York premiers of Arnie Sieren's award-winning Belgian play, My Blackie, Belgian playwright Jean-Yves Picq's The Case Of Kaspar Meyer, German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig's Arabian Night directed by Trip Cullman, Dan Gordon's Murder in the First directed by American Theatre Wing alumni Michael Parva, and Mortal Coils directed by Actors Studio lifetime member Ed Setrakian.

Los Angeles

Relocated to Los Angeles in 2006 for recurring role of Steve on Ugly Betty, produced by Salma Hayek. Received a Screen Actor's Guild nomination along with the lead ensemble cast in 2007.
Los Angeles television credits also include a recurring role on My Own Worst Enemy, guest star lead roles in J. J. Abrams' Undercovers, The Suite Life on Deck, Person of Interest, Without a Trace, Breakout Kings, and NCIS. Portrayed Joe Masseria in the eight part mini-series ' for AMC and David Sarnoff in American Genius for National Geographic.
Received positive reviews for his role in the feature A Million Colours, which screened at the Montreal World Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Atlantic Film Festival,, and was also awarded two South African Film and Television Awards.
Film credits include Sony Pictures Entertainment ', Corrado, Finding Hope Now, Jimmy, a supporting role in Movieguide award winner What If, and a lead role in Rudolf Buitendach's Where The Road Runs Out, the first feature to ever be filmed in Equatorial Guinea. Where The Road Runs Out won awards for Best Narrative Feature, the U-T San Diego Award at the 2014 San Diego Film Festival and a Black Reel Award for Outstanding World Cinema in 2017.
In 2010, he also produced and performed the Los Angeles theater debut of 110 Stories Celebrity Benefit Performances at the Geffen Playhouse, with John Hawkes and Ed Asner directed by Mark Freiburger. All proceeds were donated to the Red Cross Los Angeles as aid to Haiti in the aftermath of their earthquake. In 2013, he produced and performed 110 Stories at Ebony Rep in Los Angeles. The proceeds were donated to Operation Gratitude. And again he produced and performed 110 Stories opposite Robert Forster and Mira Sorvino directed by his acting teacher Bill Alderson in 2016.
Starred in Peter Greenaway's Eisenstein in Guanajuato nominated for the Golden Bear at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, the independent film Pacific Standard Time, HBO series Togetherness directed by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, and co starred and produced the sex trafficking film Selling Isobel' winner of the 'Indie Award' at the 2016 Raindance Film Festival. Recently starred directly opposite Matt Dillon in Running for Grace directed by David L. Cunningham, and opposite Michael Beach in the romantic comedy No Postage Necessary. Voiced the role of Ajax in ''.

Additional Credits

As playwright, his one-act play Venom was produced Off Broadway and nominated as a finalist for Samuel French's Love Creek festival.
Video game credits include: ', ', ', Mass Effect 2, ', a role in the live-action simulated video game Red Alert 3, and Midnight Club.

Personal life

Savante was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2010 and has become a vocal advocate for other sufferers. He stated that the disease attacked his organs, including his liver. He was later also diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Awards and nominations