Adamo Ruggiero

Adamo Ruggiero
Ruggiero in 2010
Born
Adamo Angelo Ruggiero

(1986-06-09) June 9, 1986 (age 38)
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)Actor, host
Years active2002–present

Adamo Angelo Ruggiero (born June 9, 1986) is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Marco Del Rossi in Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Career

Ruggiero has been acting since the age of seven or eight. He has starred in many plays including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Bye Bye Birdie. After initially auditioning for the role of Craig Manning, a role played by Jake Epstein, he joined the Degrassi cast in 2002 with the role of Marco Del Rossi, a gay teenager who struggles to come to terms with his sexuality. Ruggiero hosted The Next Star from 2008 until 2012. In November 2008, it was announced that Ruggiero would star in the gay-themed Christmas film Make the Yuletide Gay.[1] Principal filming started December 3, 2008.

In 2012, Ruggiero starred in the Young People's Theatre's production of The Neverending Story.[2]

In 2013, Ruggiero participated in Salvatore Antonio's Truth/Dare: A Satire (With Dance), an interactive audience participation show which featured staged reenactments of scenes from Madonna's 1991 film Truth or Dare, at Buddies in Bad Times during Toronto's Pride Week.[3] The show's cast also included Keith Cole and Gavin Crawford.[3]

Personal life

Ruggiero's father, Tony, was born in Coreno Ausonio, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy. Ruggiero's mother's name is Amalia. He has an older brother named Adriano, and he is from an Italian Catholic family. Ruggiero attended the Roman Catholic St. Dunstan Elementary School and graduated from Cawthra Park Secondary School, both in Mississauga, Ontario.

Ruggiero is openly gay, having come out in January 2008 saying "I come from a traditional Italian family but they aren't so traditional that me being gay was a deal breaker." He was also on the cover of the January 23 – February 5, 2008 issue of fab magazine.[4][5]

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Make the Yuletide Gay Nathan Stanford
Degrassi Goes Hollywood Marco Del Rossi Television film
2012 The Pool Date Rio Short film
2013 Gaysian Geoff Short film
2014 Dear Viola Brian Southern Television film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2002–2009 Degrassi: The Next Generation Marco Del Rossi Recurring role (season 2, 2002–2003)
Regular role (seasons 3–7, 2003–2008)
Guest appearance (seasons 8–9, 2008–2009)
2005–2007 Degrassi: Minis 9 episodes
2007 Canada's Next Top Model Self Episode: "Getting Carried Away"
Degrassi: Doing What Matters Self TV special
2008–2012 The Next Star Himself Host
2010 Being Erica Luis Episodes: "Jenny From the Block", "Two Wrongs"
2015 Straight Talk with Adamo Ruggiero Himself Web-series
Saving Hope Donnie Patrillo Episode: "Hearts of Glass"
MsLabelled Duke 5 episodes
2016 Degrassi: Next Class Marco Del Rossi Episode: "#ThrowBackThursday"
Music video
Year Title Artist Role
2018 I'm Upset Drake Self

References

  1. ^ "Gay-Themed Christmas Flick Features Adamo Ruggiero". The Advocate. Regent Entertainment Media. 2008-11-12. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  2. ^ "youngpeoplestheatre.ca". Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  3. ^ a b "Truth/Dare takes on the Material Girl". NOW, June 20, 2013.
  4. ^ Kim, Tanya (January 18, 2008). "Adamo Ruggiero gets personal with eTalk". CTV. Archived from the original on January 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  5. ^ fab, #338, January 23 – February 5, 2008, "High school confidential", Nelson Branco [1].