Michael Mando

Michael Mando (born July 13, 1981) is a Canadian actor, writer, director, and singer. He is best known for his roles as Vaas Montenegro in the video game Far Cry 3 (2012), Vic Schmidt in the sci-fi series Orphan Black (2013–2014), Mac Gargan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Nacho Varga on the AMC series Better Call Saul (2015–present).

Michael Mando
Mando in July 2018
Born	July 13, 1981 Quebec City, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Actor, writer, director, singer
Years active	2000–present

Early life

Mando was born in Quebec City on July 13, 1981 and is of Mexican descent.[1] He was raised by his father and is the second of three brothers. The family frequently travelled, living in more than 10 cities across four continents and in more than 35 different homes, all before Mando's mid-20s.[2][3][4] His native language is French, and he also speaks English and Spanish fluently.[2][3][4] He grew up wanting to be a writer or an athlete.[3][5] In his mid-20s, he suffered a knee injury and consequently decided to change paths.[3] He was enrolled in many fields, including international relations, at the University of Montreal before discovering the performing arts at the Dome Theatre Program (Dawson College) in 2004.[3] Despite having no prior training, he went on to play the male lead in all five productions of the program.[3][4] He graduated in 2007.[2] His Dome credits included Orlando in Shakespeare's As You Like It, Professor Katz in David Edgar's Pentecost, and Valentine Xavier in Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending.[2][3] Steven W. Lecky, the chairman of the program, called Mando "one of the finest talents to emerge from the program in the past 25 years".[2][4]

Career

After playing the leading character in two award-winning professional theatre productions in Montreal,[2][4] Mando founded Red Barlo Productions.[3][4][6] The company’s first film, Conditional Affection[7] (which Mando starred in, directed and wrote) was released in 2010 and officially selected to Fantasia,[8][9] Bare Bones,[9][10] ACTRA Short Films,[3][9] and the New Hope International Film Festivals.[9][11]

Mando’s television debut simultaneously followed with a wide range of contrasting characters. His credits include guest appearances in the crime series The Bridge,[12] the medical drama mini-series Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures,[13] as an MS-13 gang member in The Border,[14] and as a close friend of the character Kenzi (played by Ksenia Solo) in the sci-fi series Lost Girl.[15]

Mando has had repeated collaborations with directors John Fawcett and Eric Canuel as well as producer David Barlow.[16][17] He had a starring role in the 2010 feature film Territories.[18][19] In 2011, he had a recurring role in Les Bleus de Ramville[18][20] and a guest appearance on the series King.[2][18] In 2012, he featured in Far Cry 3 where he voiced and inspired one of the main villains: Vaas Montenegro,[21] a vicious and twisted antagonist who arguably became the main face of the video game. He also starred in a webseries called "The Far Cry Experience"[22] where he plays Vaas who captures and tortures a celebrity (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who has been challenged to survive the island.

In 2012, Mando was cast in the first season of the science fiction television series Orphan Black, which began airing in 2013.[23] He played Vic, an abusive drug-dealer and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his work on the series.[24] He reprised his role of Vic in the second season in a recurring role. In 2014, Mando joined the cast of Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spin-off, portraying Nacho Varga, a career criminal.[25]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Conditional Affection	Jack	Short film Also director, writer and producer
2010	Territories	Jalii Adel Kahlid
2011	Abyss of the Mind	Johnny H.
2012	The Good Lie	Orville
2013	The Colony	Cooper
2013	Make Your Move	Raphael
2013	Elysium	Rico	Uncredited
2016	Wake Up	Johnny H. / Alter Ego	Short film Also director, writer and producer
2017	Spider-Man: Homecoming	Mac Gargan
2018	The Hummingbird Project	Mark Vega

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008; 2010	The Border	Mirza, Marco	2 episodes
2009	The Last Templar	Necia First Mate	2 episodes
2009	Web of Lies	Danny Wilcox	Television film
2009	Flashpoint	Felipe	Episode: "Eagle Two"
2010	Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures	Dr. Manolas	2 episodes
2010	The Bridge	K9	Episode: "Voices Carry"
2010	Lost Girl	Neville	Episode: "(Dis)Members Only"
2011	King	Esteban Demarco	Episode: "T-Bone"
2011	Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays	Alain	Episode: "Unscripted Conversation"
2012	The Pregnancy Project	Javier Rodriguez	Television film
2012	Les Bleus de Ramville	Marc-Andre David	8 episodes
2012	Psych	Chuy	Episode: "Let's Doo-Wop It Again"
2012	The Killing	Vasquez	Episode: "Off the Reservation"
2013	The Listener	Len Gazicki	Episode: "Buckle Up"
2013	Rookie Blue	Cesar Medina	Episode: "The Kids Are Not Alright"
2013	Covert Affairs	Eduardo	Episode: "Into the Blue"
2013–2014	Orphan Black	Victor "Vic" Schmidt	9 episodes
2014	La marraine	Alvaro Pessoa	5 episodes
2015–present	Better Call Saul	Nacho Varga	Main cast; 31 episodes
2016	The Crossroads of History	Gaum	Episode: "Columbus"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Shaun White Skateboarding	Francisco Crystobal
2012	Far Cry 3	Vaas Montenegro	Also motion capture

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Far Cry Experience	Vaas Montenegro	5 episodes

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2012	NAVGTR Award	Lead Performance, Drama	Far Cry 3	Nominated
2014	Canadian Screen Award	Best Guest Performance in a Dramatic Series	Rookie Blue	Nominated
2014	Canadian Screen Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Program or Series	Orphan Black	Nominated
2019	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Better Call Saul	Nominated
2021				Pending

References

1. http://www.looper.com/74118/scorpion-spider-man-homecoming-looks-familiar/
2. "Michael Mando Biography". Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
3. "GUEST: Michael Mando". Friday Night Live!. October 29, 2010. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
4. "Trivia". Michael Mando Official Site. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14.
5. "Interview with Michael Mando – The Voice of Vaas". Unfinished Man. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
6. "Team". Red Barlo Productions Official Site. Archived from the original on 2014-05-12. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
7. IMDb,Conditional Affection
8. 2010 Fantasia Film Festival
9. "Conditional Affection". Red Barlo Productions Official Site. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
10. Bare Bones Film Festival Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
11. "Profile: Michael Mando". Kim Vaincourt Site. Archived from the original on 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
12. IMDb, The Bridge: Voices Carry
13. IMDb, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures: All Souls
14. IMDb, The Border: No Refuge
15. IMDb, Lost Girl: (Dis)Members Only
16. IMDb, John Fawcett
17. IMDb, Eric Canuel
18. "Filmography". Michael Mando Official Site. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
19. IMDb, Territories
20. "Backstage help needed on Francophone TV Series", Northern Life, August 20, 2010. Accessed December 30, 2010.
21. "Far Cry 3".
22. "The Far Cry Experience".
23. "SPACE, BBC America, and Temple Street Productions Announce Canadian-Born Actor Tatiana Maslany as the Lead in New Original Series ORPHAN BLACK" (Press release). Bell Media. September 17, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
24. "2014 CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS Television Nominations". Canadian Screen Awards. January 13, 2014. pp. 1, 17, 20, 27, 28, 33, 40, 41, 44. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
25. Andreeva, Nellie (May 8, 2014). "Patrick Fabian, Rhea Seehorn & Michael Mando Cast In 'Breaking Bad' Prequel Series 'Better Call Saul'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 9, 2014.

External links

• Michael Mando Official Site
• Michael Mando at IMDb