Bio

I was born in Toledo Ohio, at appx. 9:00 in the morning on April 15th (tax day!). My father was a law student at the University of Toledo, and my mother Maria temporarily left Youngstown State University to attend to her new pregnancy and new husband, George. Shortly after law shool my parents moved to a little town near Cleveland called Warren, where there were many Greek immigrants working in factories. This is where my father’s family lived and where I subsequently grew up with my 3 younger brothers, which soon followed my birth. I attended Warren G. Harding High School and played many sports, including football, track, swimming, baseball, and soccer. As a young kid I liked to draw pictures, but as I got older my interests switched to singing and the performing arts. I joined choir when I was eleven and around the same time I began to perform plays for Greek School. I didn’t have much of an interest in the Greek School plays, mostly because I was so terrified of being in front of so many people. Even in choir I was too shy to sing out and didn’t show much promise at first, due to being so overly timid. I knew, though, that it was wonderful singing and harmonizing sounds with so many glorious voices! I was just glad to contribute in some small way. By 13 I began to advance in the choir, and gradually grew less timid. By fourteen and fifteen my life was engulfed in football, which for Americans in our part of the country is a big deal and requires total dedication. However, I still enjoyed singing, though by 15 and 16 my life was so engulfed in sports that I had no time for anything else. However, by 16 I had mustered the courage to do 2 things: to audition for a musical, and to audition for the advanced performance choir called the Madrigal Singers. I performed “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” on both auditions and, to my surprise, I was accepted! From that moment on, it was almost as if I had realized why I had been born. I began having these blissful feelings while rehearsing in choir, which coincidentally was last period. Directly after, I would have to attend football practice with a bunch of grumbling brutes. It didn’t take long for me to realize the difference between the two worlds. I went from singing these heavenly, almost perfect angelic hymns, these rapturous moments… to the brutality of the football field. It was almost as if I were leaving heaven for hell, that I had achieved the heights of divine glory, only to be thrown right after into a pit of groveling pigs where swine were elevated to the stature of Kings, while nobler souls were reduced to being their vassals! So I quit and devoted my full energies to music, and never a better decision had I made in my life. Ah! If only my whole life were led with such wisdom as in that moment! I threw myself into theater as well. I even took dance lessons including ballet and jazz, but to be honest I didn’t show much promise in this sphere, so I left it alone for the time being. It was at this time that I think I have the fondest memories in my life. I did show after show, rehearsal after rehearsal in high school and the local colleges, and when the time came to apply to colleges I was almost sure that I would go into music. I had grown up in a small town, and ever since I could remember, I yearned to get out. I thought of college as the perfect opportunity for escape, and what better college to attend but the biggest in not only the State, but the Nation! I yearned for life, for people, and for excitement with my whole being! I wanted to get out and see things, and experience life to its very fullest! It was with this thinking that I was dead set to go to the biggest University in the USA: The Ohio State University! I can’t honestly tell you what I was thinking at that time at University, at least for the first year. For some reason or other, I decided not to go into music, though my heart cried out for it so much and with such ardour! My parents had always brought me up to be a lawyer and to join the family business, and it was almost taken for granted that I would naturally go into some major that would facilitate some good basis for law school. And so, with my natural love of books, I decided that becoming an English major was the best route. I did study theater as a minor, however. I went to study at the prestigious Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in New York the following summer, and returned to Ohio to finish my Bachelor’s degree. I was accepted into Akron Law School but decided in a great epiphany that I did not wish to go, so I withdrew after the first day. I went to New York and Boston and worked on a few shows, and even modeled a little bit. After the law school fiasco, I even backpacked through Europe several times! I eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue my career further. I did my first bit of extra work on a movie called “Into the West” where I played a civil war soldier raiding an Indian camp! When I finally arrived in Los Angeles I went right away to the offices of Central Casting, where I registered to become a full- time extra. I subscribed to a calling service, and before I knew it I was working almost every day as an extra for movies and Television. From 2005-2006 I worked on shows such as “The West Wing”, “The OC”, “E-Ring”, “Girlfriends”, “Eve”, “Scrubs”, and “Entourage”. I worked in movies such as “Material Girls”, “Grandma’s Boy”, and “Big Momma’s House 2”. During this time I also took as many acting classes as I could, from Howard Fine Studios and even some classes in Meisner technique. I also won a dance scholarship to Millennium Dance Studios, where I learned extensive techniques in hip-hop dance and choreography. Which brings me to the present day. I have long loved to sing and have been singing for quite some time. I especially love the old crooners of jazz from the old days of yore, and listen to them at almost every moment. I have recently been visiting back in Ohio and have recorded some tracks of jazz as well as one pop song, which is actually a cover of Elvis' "Its Now or Never". Well, at the rate I'm going, it may just as well be never, but I'm still trying! And with a little time and luck, hopefully I will get some exposure and success through this website! Peace out ya'll and thanks for reading! Sincerely Yours, Best Wishes and Lots of Love and Luck!! -Nicholas Kafantaris (323) 317- 5231