Antonio Luigi Nardi (born June 21, 1958) is an Italian-Canadian actor, playwright, and theatre director based in Toronto. Fluent in four languages; he has appeared in French, Italian and English-language productions, including over 60 plays and 70 films and television series. He won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role twice, for The Saracen Woman (which he co-wrote) and My Father's Angel, with three additional nominations.
Two Letters (Letter One and Letter Two) received a Dora Award nomination for Outstanding New Play in 2007.. In 2008, Nardi received a Siminovitch Prize in Theatre (long list) nomination for playwriting for Letter Two. He has worked with Théâtre français de Toronto, Persephone Theatre, Great Canadian Theatre Company, and the Stratford Festival. He has also taught acting and directing courses at the University of Toronto and York University.
Early life Nardi was born in Carolei, Calabria in 1958, and moved to Canada as a child. He was raised in a multilingual environment, and is fluent in French, English, Italian and Calabrian.
Acting Nardi made his stage debut in a 1978 production of Solzhenitsyn, directed by Alexander Hausvater. Since then, he has performed in over 60 plays including For Those in the Peril on the Sea, Sandinista, Nineteen Eighty-Four, La Storia Calvino, A Flea in Her Ear and The Lesson.
He received a Montreal Gazette Critic's Award in 1979 for his role as O'Brien in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, adapted and directed by David Rhymer (Rimmer)., a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Artistic Excellence – Collective – in 1985 for La Storia Calvino, garnered a Dora Award nomination in 2001 for his role in A Flea in Her Ear, and a Dora Award in 2002 for Outstanding Performance for his role in The Lesson. In 2007 he received a Best Actor Thespis Award for Two Letters.
His movie roles include Caffè Italia, Montréal, Concrete Angels, Cruising Bar, The Saracen Woman (La Sarrasine), An Imaginary Tale, Mr. Aiello (La Déroute), My Father's Angel, Almost America, Corbo and Kiss Me Like a Lover (Embrasse-moi comme tu m'aimes), and his TV credits include Rossini's Ghost, Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants, Bonanno: A Godfather's Story, Almost America, Il Duce Canadese and Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis.
A four-time Genie Award nominee, he has won twice for Best Actor for roles in The Saracen Woman (La Sarrasine) (1992) and My Father's Angel (2001), for which he had also received a Best Actor award at the Sonoma Wine and Country Film Festival in 2000. He received the Guy L’Écuyer Award for his role in La Déroute in 1998. In 2010, the year marking the 30th Genie Awards, he made the Academy's 30th Anniversary Top 10 list in the Lead Actor category in Canadian cinema – a ranking based on the number of wins and nominations over the 30-year period.
In television, he received a Gemini Award nomination in 2006 for his role in Il Duce Canadese and a Best Actor Award at the Geneva International Film Festival, Tous Écrans/All Screens, in 1999, for his role in Ken Finkleman's Foolish Heart.
Writing Nardi is co-author with Vincent Ierfino of the play La Storia dell'Emigrante. Written in Calabrian, English and French, the play was the first in Canada (on record) written by an Italian-Canadian and addressing an Italian-Canadian reality. In 1982 La Storia dell'Emigrante received the first James Bullet Award for Best Original Canadian play at the Ontario Multicultural Theatre Festival.
A Modo Suo: A Fable, written in Calabrian in 1990, received a Dora Award nomination for Best Play. An English translation was published in its entirety in the Canadian Theatre Review in 2000.
He collaborated on the screenplays for La Sarrasine and La Déroute.
Two Letters (2006), two theatrical monologues based on two actual letters sent to a film/television producer and two theatre critics, received a 2007 Dora Award Nomination for Outstanding New Play. "...And Counting!" - a postmortem of "Two Letters" and journey into the state of culture and funding in Canada was presented in 2008 in Toronto and Montreal, at Factory Theatre and McGill University, respectively and in 2010 at the Festival TransAmeriques in Montreal. In 2008 he was nominated for a Siminovitch Prize in Theatre for playwriting.
"Letter One", "Letter Two", and "...And Counting!" were filmed in front of a live audience and released respectively in 2011, 2013 and 2014. "Letter One" was screened at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois in Montreal in 2011, at Hot Docs in Toronto in 2012 and the Italian Contemporary Film Festival at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2012. "Letter Two" was screened at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival at TIFF in 2013. "...And Counting!" was screened at the 2014 Italian Contemporary Italian Film Festival at TIFF.
In 2013, "Two Letters...And Counting!" was published by Guernica Editions (Essential Drama Series). In 2015 "Two Letters...And Counting!" was nominated for a Patrick O'Neill Scholarly Award. In 2024 "A Modo Suo (A Fable)" was published (in English and in Calabrian) in the anthology Canadian Plays of Italian Heritage edited by Anna Migliarisi and co-published by Guernica Editions and Rocco Galati.
Academia Nardi began teaching acting and directing courses in 2017. He has instructed courses at the University of Toronto (St. George and Scarborough) and directed courses at York University. On December 8, 2025, he successfully defended his PhD dissertation, Performing (in) the Multicultural Melting Pot and Otherculturalism, at the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies (CDTPS), University of Toronto, specializing in "the lived experience of 'diverse' performers in Canadian theatre, film and TV under the constitutionally protected Policy of Multiculturalism".
Honors In 1992, Nardi received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, awarded to Canadians for significant contribution to their fellow citizens, to their community, or to Canada.
In 1997, Nardi received the prix Guy-L'Écuyer for La Déroute.
In 2001, Nardi received a "Toronto Italian Filmfest Award for Major Contribution to Italian-Canadian Cinema" at the Toronto Italian Film Festival (Frank. A. Caruso, co-founder and head programmer)
In 2002, Nardi was included in "Canadian Who's Who," "the standard reference source of contemporary Canadian biographies, listing 13,000 notable Canadians selected on merit alone."
In June 2017, Nardi received a "Special Achievement Award" at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) in Toronto.
Personal life Nardi lived in Montreal with Janne Mortil, his former partner, in 1999-2000.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Director Notes 1981 Gas Plant Manager Les Rose 1982 Deux super-dingues Toto Claudio Castravelli 1983 Videodrome Man at Conference David Cronenberg Uncredited 1985Caffè Italia, MontréalVarious characters Paul Tana 1987 Concrete Angels Sal Carlo Liconti 1988 Kalamazoo Pasquale Globenski André Forcier Dreams Beyond Memory Commercial Director Andrzej Markiewicz 1989 Cruising Bar Marcello Robert Ménard Speaking Parts Eddy Atom Egoyan Brown Bread Sandwiches Rogero Carlo Liconti 1990 An Imaginary Tale Toni André Forcier 1991 The Adjuster Motel Manager Atom Egoyan 1992 The Saracen Woman Giuseppe Moschella Paul Tana Also screenwriter 1993 Les Amoureuses Nino Johanne Prégent 1994 Operation Golden Phoenix Saul “The Lawyer” Silverstein Jalal Merhi 1996 La bruttina stagionata Ian Anna Di Francisca 1998 Mr. Aiello Joe Aiello Paul Tana Also screenwriter 1999 My Father's Angel Ahmed Davor Marjanovic 2000 Cold Blooded Vidal Randy Bradshaw 2001 Almost America Vincenzo De Vito Antonio FrazziAndrea Frazzi 2008 Adoration Principal Rollis Atom Egoyan 2011 Another Silence Tony Santiago Amigorena Man on the Train Loco Mary McGuckian 2012 Havana 57 Capt. Calzado Jim Purdy 2013 The Resurrection of Tony Gitone Mario Jerry Ciccoritti2014 The Big Fat Stone Victor RossiFrank D'Angelo Corbo Nicola Corbo Mathieu Denis 2015 No Deposit Det. Vincent ScartelliFrank D'Angelo Sicilian Vampire Little Anthony Born to Be Blue Nicholas Robert Budreau 2016 Kiss Me Like a Lover Élio André Forcier 2017 The Neighborhood Shorty Frank D'Angelo Hochelaga, Land of Souls Mario Ricci François Girard 2018 The Joke Thief Francis Sellano Frank D'Angelo Bella Ciao! Arnaldo Carolyn Combs 2019 The Last Big Save Guy BoucheFrank D'Angelo Making a Deal with the Devil Merant From the Vine Marcello Sean Cisterna Mafia Inc. Zizi “Z” Zippo Daniel Grou Guest of Honour Luigi Atom Egoyan2021Perpetual MotionCarabinieriCarlo Liconti
Television
Year Title Role Notes 1987-93 Street Legal Schultz / Phil Carrera 2 episodes 1990-93 E.N.G. Regossi / Frank Berman 2 episodes 1994 Side Effects Peter Episode: “The Great Chendini” 1997 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Alvin Barnes Episode: “May I Talk With You” Viper Pete Episode: “Manhunt” 1998 Da Vinci's Inquest François 4 episodes 1999 Foolish Heart Judge James Schneller 2 episodes 2001 Foreign Objects Bureaucrat Episode: “The Award” 2003 Platinum Nick Tashijan Main cast; Season 1 2004 The Newsroom Patrick Episode: “Slow Burn” 2007 Intelligence Nick Jordan 7 episodes 2009-10 Cra$h & Burn Lindo Recurring role; Season 12011 Flashpoint Cary McCarty Episode: “A Day in the Life” 2011-12 King Chief Paul Graci Main role; Seasons 1-2 2013 Motive Father Noel Barnett Episode: “Fallen Angel” Played Chief Inspector Episode: “Cops”
TV films and miniseries Year Title Role Notes 1993 Embrasse-moi, c'est pour la vie Jean-René Armen and Bullik Spicuzza 1996 Rossini's Ghost Duke Cesarini1997 In the Presence of Mine Enemies Emmanuel1998 Loss of Faith Victor1999 Bonanno: A Godfather's Story Joseph Bonanno (ages 35–61) 2002 Escape from the Newsroom Producer2004 Il Duce Canadese Angelo Alvaro 2006 Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis John Ciaccia 2011 Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants Michelangelo 2015 Pirate's Passage Immigration Officer (voice) The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe Johnny Hyde
Awards and nominations Institution Year Category Nominated work ResultAction On Film International Film Festival2016Outstanding Cast Performance - FeatureThe Red Maple Leaf2018Best Supporting ActorThe Joke ThiefCanadian Screen Awards2016Best Supporting ActorCorboGala Québec Cinéma2016Best Supporting Actor2017Kiss Me Like a LoverGemini Award2006Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or MiniseriesIl Duce CanadeseGenie Awards 1988Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting RoleConcrete Angels 1992Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading RoleThe Saracen Woman 1999Mr. Aiello 2001My Father's AngelRendez-vous Québec Cinéma 1998Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading RoleMr. Aiello Wine Country Film Festival 2000Best Actor My Father's Angel
Notes
References
External links
Tony Nardi at University of Toronto Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia Entry Full text of "Two Letters ...And Counting!" Full videos of the three Letters.