Carlo Rota is a London-born actor who, after many years living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is now based in Los Angeles, California. He has appeared in numerous popular TV series including 24, Queer as Folk (US version), Nikita, A Nero Wolfe Mystery and Traders. Currently, Rota co-stars in a new CBC sitcom called Little Mosque on the Prairie, playing Lebanese-Canadian construction contractor Yasir Hamoudi.
He grew up in Soho with two sisters and one brother. Through his life he has lived in many sections of the world, including China, the Philippines, Italy and New York City.
On 24 he plays Morris O'Brian, the arrogant but brilliant computer scientist and ex-husband of Chloe O'Brian. On the TV series Nikita he had a recurring role as the smarmy greenlisted terrorist informant Mick Schtoppel, and in the 1999 movie The Boondock Saints, Rota starred as crime boss Giuseppe "Papa Joe" Yakavetta.
Rota's father was a world-renowned chef, and Rota worked in the culinary industry for many years until he decided to abruptly switch careers to acting. According to his 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.
Almost immediately thereafter, Rota landed roles in the Canadian TV series Street Legal and the critically-acclaimed independent film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.
Because of his experience prior to acting, he now hosts the Great Canadian Food Show for CBC television in Canada, a series which was nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award for Excellence in Culinary Journalism.
