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Michael Mando

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Michael Mando

Michael Mando (born July 13, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He played Nacho Varga on the AMC series Better Call Saul (2015–2022), Vaas Montenegro in the video game franchise Far Cry (2012, 2021), Vic Schmidt in the sci-fi series Orphan Black (2013–2014), and Mac Gargan / Scorpion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). He is a two-time Canadian Screen Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee.

Mando was born in Quebec City, Quebec, on July 13, 1981. He was raised by his father and is the second of three brothers. The family moved around a lot, living in more than 35 homes in 10 cities across four continents before he was in his mid-20s. Mando's mother is from Guinea and his father is from the Ivory Coast.[citation needed] Mando spent most of his childhood growing up in Accra, Abidjan, and Beirut, before returning home to Canada as a teen.[failed verification] His native language is French, and he is also fluent in English and Arabic. He grew up wanting to be a writer or an athlete.

In his mid-20s, he suffered a knee injury and consequently decided to change paths. He was enrolled in many fields, including international relations at the University of Montreal before discovering the performing arts at the Dome Theatre Program at Dawson College in 2004. Despite no training he went on to play the male lead in all five productions of the program. He graduated in 2007. His Dome credits include Orlando in Shakespeare's As You Like It, Professor Katz in David Edgar's Pentecost, and Valentine Xavier in Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending. Steven W. Lecky, the chair of the program, called Mando "one of the finest talents to emerge from the program in the past 25 years".

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

Mando's television debut followed shortly after, and he played a wide range of contrasting characters. His credits include guest appearances in the crime series The Bridge, the medical drama mini-series Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, as an MS-13 gang member in The Border, and as a close friend of the character Kenzi (played by Ksenia Solo) in the fantasy series Lost Girl.

Mando has often collaborated with directors John Fawcett and Érik Canuel as well as producer David Barlow. He had a starring role in the 2010 feature film Territories. In 2011, he had a recurring role in Les Bleus de Ramville and a guest appearance on the series King.

He is the voice and likeness of Vaas Montenegro, a major antagonist of the 2012 video game Far Cry 3. His performance was nominated for several video game awards in 2014, winning Best New Character at The 4th Canadian Videogame Awards. He also starred in a webseries called Far Cry: The Experience as Vaas, who captures and tortures Christopher Mintz-Plasse as himself. In the 2020s, Mando would reprise his role as Vaas for Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity and Far Cry 6.

In 2012, Mando was cast in the first season of the science fiction television series Orphan Black, which began airing in 2013. He played Vic Schmidt, an abusive drug-dealer, and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his work on the series (having also been nominated for his guest role on Rookie Blue that same year). He reprised his role of Vic in the second season in a recurring role.

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