Carlo Dante Rota (born April 17, 1961) is a British-born Canadian actor of Italian heritage best known for his roles in Little Mosque on the Prairie and 24.
He played Charles Salomon in Saw V.
Early Life[]
Carlo Rota was born in London, England, to Rina Rota, who worked in the restaurant business, and Dante Rota, a world-renowned chef. He grew up in Soho with two sisters and one brother. Rota has lived in many places throughout his life, including Hong Kong, the Bahamas, and England, before his family settled in Toronto. He worked in the culinary industry for many years until he abruptly switched careers to acting. In an interview in the book Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita, he said of this decision: "To turn around and tell everyone at the tender age of 30, 'Now I'm going to be an actor,' most people just think that you're going through something."
Career[]
Almost immediately after that, Rota landed roles in the Canadian TV series Street Legal and the critically acclaimed Canadian independent film Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. He also hosted the Great Canadian Food Show for CBC in Canada. The series was nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award for Excellence in Culinary Journalism.
Rota has appeared in numerous popular TV series, including 24, Queer as Folk Castle, La Femme Nikita, Relic Hunter, Adventure Inc., A Nero Wolfe Mystery, The Gospel of John, and Traders. He co-starred in the CBC sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie, playing Lebanese-Canadian construction contractor Yasir Hamoudi. Rota also played journalist Charles Salomon in the horror film Saw V in 2008.
On 24, Rota portrayed the recurring role of Morris O'Brian, the arrogant but brilliant computer scientist husband of Chloe O'Brian. He had a recurring role on the TV series La Femme Nikita as the smarmy, green-listed terrorist informant Mick Schtoppel, later revealed to be Mr. Jones, the head of the global organization Center.
Personal Life[]
On April 1, 2010, Rota married his 24 co-star Nazneen Contractor, with whom he has two children.
Filmography[]
Films[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould | C.B.S. Producer |
| 1994 | L'âge des images III: Comment filmer Dieu | |
| 1995 | First Degree | Joe Galeno |
| 1996 | Maximum Risk | Bohemia Bartender |
| Joe's Wedding | Art Council Man | |
| 1997 | The Wrong Guy | French Restaurant Waiter |
| City of Dark | Plato | |
| 1998 | Clutch | Richard |
| 1999 | The Boondock Saints | Yakavetta |
| Jigsaw | Richard | |
| Have Mercy | Jack | |
| 2000 | Mission to Mars | Ambassador |
| Passengers | Doctor | |
| 2001 | On Their Knees | Walter |
| 2002 | Global Heresy | Tony Mason |
| Countdown | Bruce Donato | |
| 2003 | The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John | Chief Temple Guard |
| 2005 | Horsie's Retreat | Spiro |
| The Last Hit | Mario | |
| Cake | Bob Jackman | |
| 2007 | Small Potatoes | Henry Zanzibar |
| 2008 | Cold Play | Nigel |
| Saw V | Charles Salomon | |
| 2009 | Mortimer | John / Mortimer |
| Shark City | Ventura Ritt | |
| 2010 | The Conversation | Him |
| 24: Chloe's Arrest | Morris O'Brian | |
| The Day the Old Man Knocked | Narrator | |
| Son of a Don | Avi | |
| 2011 | Rehab | |
| Ecstasy | Solo | |
| Man on the Train | Max | |
| 2013 | The Golden Ticket | Elbow Patches |
| 2014 | Small Time | Panama Hat Man |
| Brick Mansions | George the Greek | |
| 2015 | After the Ball | Richard |
| 2017 | People You May Know | Bill |
| 2018 | Spinning Man | Santos |
| State Like Sleep | Dr. Iyengar | |
| Hell Is Where The Home Is | Sergeant Daniels | |
| 2019 | Cliffs of Freedom | Mustapha Bey |
| Dia de Muertos | Morlett | |
| The Diggers | Mister Meister | |
| 2020 | A Perfect Plan | Theo |
| 2021 | Trigger Point | Dwight Logan |
| 2022 | Me Time | Alberto |
Television Series[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Street Legal | Waiter |
| 1993 | Counterstrike | |
| Matrix | Roche | |
| 1996 | Forever Knight | Roy Martin |
| Viper | Harry Ibarra | |
| The Sentinel | Jack Buchanan | |
| 1995-1996 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | Dassas / Torquemada |
| 1998 | Highlander: The Raven | Mario Cardoza |
| Black Harbour | Grant | |
| 1996-1998 | Traders | Brunet |
| 1999 | Total Recall 2070 | Kelly |
| Earth: Final Conflict | Margolis | |
| PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal | Bert Kay | |
| 2000 | Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story | Cockney Driver |
| Canada: A People's History | David Samwell | |
| 1997-2001 | La Femme Nikita | Mick Schtoppel / Mr. Jones / Shtoppel |
| 2001 | Doc | Jason |
| 2000-2001 | Relic Hunter | Lagerfeld / Sultan |
| 2002 | A Nero Wolfe Mystery | Barry Fleming / Spiros Papps / Felix Courret |
| Adventure Inc. | Sergi Borodin | |
| 2003 | Veritas: The Quest | Ali Hassan Rif |
| Train 48 | Max | |
| Street Time | Arthur Marx | |
| 2002-2004 | Queer as Folk | Gardner Vance |
| 2004 | Show Me Yours | Paul |
| Il duce canadese | Avvocato | |
| 2006 | This Is Wonderland | Giuseppe Burelli |
| At the Hotel | Albert | |
| 2008 | Shark | Anton Robitaille |
| 2006-2009 | 24 | Morris O'Brian |
| 2009 | White Collar | Ghovat |
| Stargate Universe | Carl Strom | |
| Castle | Bahir Harun | |
| 2010 | CSI: NY | Joseph Vance |
| NCIS: Los Angeles | Kalil Abramson | |
| The Good Guys | Asher | |
| 2011 | Human Target | Eli Rosko |
| Bones | Lambert Chaisson | |
| Breaking Bad | Benicio Fuentes | |
| The Mentalist | Dimitri Zubov | |
| Sanctuary | Richard Feliz / Feodor 'Frank' Glazov | |
| 2007-2011 | Little Mosque on the Prairie | Yasir Hamoudi |
| 2010-2012 | Goldilocks | Ivan |
| 2012 | Nikita | Ian Damascus |
| Thundercats | Ratar-O | |
| World Without End | Edmund | |
| Hawaii Five-0 | Sean Winston | |
| 2013 | Cracked | Mandar Kush |
| 2014 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Luca Russo |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Karl Schrute | |
| Grimm | Hedig | |
| Scandal | Ivan | |
| Sequestered | Niles | |
| 2014-2015 | Jane the Virgin | Emilio Solano |
| 2015 | The Player | Daoud Raqiv |
| 2016 | Dark Matter | Warden |
| Beauty and the Beast | Dr. Albert Garrus | |
| Major Crimes | Alfredo de Concini | |
| Swedish Dicks | Dimitri Nobakov | |
| Conviction | Vince Scarlata | |
| 2017 | Lopez | Danny Green |
| Scorpion | General Savic | |
| Jean-Claude Van Johnson | Dragan | |
| 2017-2018 | Lethal Weapon | Guillermo Azoulay |
| Ransom | Damian Delaine / Damien Delani | |
| 2018 | American Horror Story | Anton LaVey |
| 2019 | The Flash | Remington Meister |
| 2020 | Canadian Film Fest Presented by Super Channel | Theo |
| 2021 | Titans | Oracle |
| 2022 | Hudson & Rex | Archibald Parsons |
| 2023 | Red Iron Road | Popov |
| True Lies | Francois | |
| High Desert | Arman | |
| 2024 | FBI: Most Wanted | Anatoly Sabzi |
Television Films[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | TekWar: TekLab | Doorman |
| 1995 | Young At Heart | Bartender |
| Friends at Last | Neil | |
| Down Came a Blackbird | Sergeant Manuel Ortega | |
| 1998 | Naked City: Justice with a Bullet | Findlay Clerk |
| 1999 | Murder in a Small Town | Charles |
| Bonanno: A Godfather's Story | ||
| Caracara | Mr. Zander | |
| 2000 | Catch a Falling Star | Harry Goldberg |
| Trapped in a Purple Haze | David Lebeff | |
| Phantom of the Megaplex | Tyler Jesseman | |
| 2001 | A Colder Kind of Death | Hairdresser |
| Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 | Cal Matthews | |
| 2002 | Recipe for Murder | Simeon Vreeman |
| 2006 | Time Bomb | Musab Hyatti |
| I Am an Apartment Building | Host | |
| 2008 | Othello: The Tragedy of the Moor | Othello |
| 2010 | Love Letters | Andy |
| 2012 | Pegasus Vs. Chimera | King Orthos |
| 2013 | Beverly Hills Cop | Trevor |
| 2018 | Welcome to Nowhere | The General |
Video Games[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Splinter Cell: Blacklist | Majid Harata Sadiq |
| 2020 | Mafia: Definitive Edition | Additional Voice |
| Assassin's Creed: Valhalla | Basim Ibn Ishaq / Loki | |
| 2021 | Discovery Tour: Viking Age | Basim Ibn Ishaq |
Trivia[]
Gallery[]
External Links[]
Carlo Rota on Wikipedia
Carlo Rota at the Internet Movie Database
Carlo Rota on Twitter
Carlo Rota on Instagram