# Carlo Rota

Carlo Dante Rota (born 17 April 1961) is a British-born Canadian actor. He has appeared in Little Mosque on the Prairie and as systems analyst Morris O'Brian on the Fox series 24. He also co-starred as Emilio Solano in Jane the Virgin.

## Early life

Rota was born in London, England, to Italian parents, Rina, who worked in the restaurant business, and Dante Rota, a chef. He grew up in Osterley with two sisters and one brother. Through his life he has lived in many places of the world, including Hong Kong (where he attended Island School), the Bahamas and the U.K before his family settled in Toronto. Rota worked in the culinary industry for many years, operating and owning several restaurants in Toronto until he decided to pursue an acting career. 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."

## Career

Almost immediately thereafter, Rota landed roles in the Canadian TV series Street Legal and the critically acclaimed Canadian independent film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Because of his experience prior to acting, he also hosted the Great Canadian Food Show for CBC television in Canada, a series which was nominated for the James Beard Award for Excellence in Culinary Journalism.
He has appeared in TV series including 24, Queer as Folk (US version), Castle, La Femme Nikita, Relic Hunter, Adventure Inc, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, The Gospel of John, and Traders. Rota co-starred in the CBC sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie, playing Lebanese-Canadian construction contractor Yasir Hamoudi. In 2008, Rota portrayed Charles, who was a journalist for The Herald, in Saw V.
On 24, Rota portrayed the recurring role of Morris O'Brian, the arrogant but brilliant computer scientist husband of Chloe O'Brian, appearing most extensively in season 6. He had a recurring role on the TV series La Femme Nikita (1997 — 2001) as the smarmy, green-listed terrorist informant, Mick Schtoppel, later revealed to be Mr. Jones, the head of Center, an organization above Oversight that directs all Sections. In turn, Mr. Jones is revealed to be another cover identity for Reginald "Martin" Henderson. Henderson is exposed as an actor working for Center as a decoy for the real Mr. Jones.
He has made guest appearances in many other television series, including Stargate Universe, playing Carl Strom, head of the International Oversight Advisory, the civilian oversight committee that heads up the Atlantis expedition and its funding, as a villain named "The Ghost" on White Collar, as well as roles on CSI: NY, Human Target, Castle, The Mentalist, Bones, and Grimm. He also appeared on NCIS: Los Angeles in the episode "Found" as Kalil Abramson, as well as on AMC's show, Breaking Bad. He was a guest on episode 11 of the second season of Top Chef Canada, the episode dedicated to Italian cuisine 1. He acts as Edmund Wooler, in World Without End on Reelz Channel.

## Personal life

Rota married 24 and Relic Hunter co-star Nazneen Contractor on 1 April 2010 They have two children, a son and a daughter.
During his time on the show 24, Rota spent nine months a year living in Los Angeles, California. He stated in an interview with the Toronto Star that he considers Toronto his home. As of 2008, he owned a house in Queen Street West, having lived on and off in the area for at least 20 years.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould | CBS Producer | Credited as Carlo D. Rota |
| 1995 | First Degree | Joe Galeno | Direct-to-video |
| 1996 | Maximum Risk | Bohemia Bartender |
| 1996 | Joe's Wedding | Art Council Man | |
| 1997 | The Wrong Guy | French Restaurant Waiter | |
| 1997 | City of Dark | Plato | |
| 1998 | Clutch | Richard | |
| 1999 | The Boondock Saints | Giuseppe "Papa Joe" Yakavetta | |
| 1999 | Jigsaw | Richard | Direct-to-video |
| 1999 | Have Mercy | Jack | |
| 2000 | Mission to Mars | Ambassador | |
| 2000 | Passengers | Doctor | Short film |
| 2001 | On Their Knees | Walter | |
| 2002 | Rock My World | Tony Manson | |
| 2002 | Countdown | Bruce Donato | Short film |
| 2003 | The Gospel of John | Chief Temple Guard | |
| 2005 | Horsie's Retreat | Spiro | |
| 2005 | The Last Hit | Mario | |
| 2005 | Cake | Bob Jackman | |
| 2007 | Small Potatoes | Henry Zanzibar | Short film |
| 2008 | Cold Play | John / Mortimer | Short film |
| 2008 | Saw V | Charles Salomon | |
| 2008 | Trust, Honour and Reputation: The Making of Othello: The Tragedy of the Moor | Himself | Documentary |
| 2009 | Shark City | Ventura Ritt | |
| 2009 | The Fatal Five | Himself | Documentary |
| 2010 | 24: Chloe's Arrest | Morris O'Brian | Direct-to-video |
| 2010 | The Day the Old Man Knocked | Narrator | Short film |
| 2010 | Son of a Don | Avi | Short film |
| 2010 | Shark City: Behind the Scenes | Himself | Documentary |
| 2011 | Rehab | | |
| 2011 | Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy | Solo | |
| 2011 | Man on the Train | Max | |
| 2014 | Small Time | Panama hat man | |
| 2014 | Brick Mansions | George "The Greek" | |
| 2015 | After the Ball | Richard | |
| 2017 | People You May Know | Bill | |
| 2018 | Spinning Man | Santos | |
| 2018 | State Like Sleep | Dr. Iyengar | |
| 2018 | Welcome to Nowhere | The General | |
| 2018 | Hell Is Where the Home Is | Sergeant Daniels | |
| 2019 | Cliffs of Freedom | Mustapha Bey | |
| 2019 | The Big Wish | Morlett | |
| 2019 | The Diggers | Mister Meister | |
| 2020 | A Perfect Plan | Theo | |
| 2021 | Trigger Point | Dwight Logan | |
| 2022 | Me Tiime | Alberto | |
| TBD | Six Guns for Hire | The Bandit | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Street Legal | Waiter | Episode: "The Phoenix" |
| 1993 | Counterstrike | | Episode: "The Pretender" |
| 1993 | Matrix | Roche | Episode: "Shadows from the Past" |
| 1994 | TekWar: TekLab | Doorman | TV movie |
| 1995 | Young at Heart | Bartender | TV movie |
| 1995 | Friends at Last | Neil | TV movie |
| 1995 | Down Came a Blackbird | Sergeant Manuel Ortega | TV movie |
| 1996 | The Sentinel | Jack Buchanan | Episode: The Rig |
| 1996–1998 | Traders | Burnet | 9 episodes |
| 1997–2001 | La Femme Nikita | Mick Schtoppel / Shtoopel / Mr. Jones | 15 episodes |
| 1998 | Highlander: The Raven | Mario Cardoza | Episode: "Full Disclosure" |
| 1998 | Naked City: Justice with a Bullet | Findlay Clerk | TV movie |
| 1998 | Black Harbour | Grant | Episode: "Mr. Sensitivity" |
| 1999 | Murder in a Small Town | Charles | TV movie |
| 1999 | Total Recall 2070 | Kelly | Episode: "Rough Whimper of Insanity" |
| 1999 | Earth: Final Conflict | Margolis | Episode: "Crossfire" |
| 1999 | Bonanno: A Godfather's Story | | TV movie |
| 1999 | PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal | Bert Kay | Episode: "Happy Birthday, Matt Praeger" |
| 1999 | The Last Witness | Mr. Zander | TV movie |
| 2000 | The Edible Road Show | Host | |
| 2000 | Catch a Falling Star | Harry Goldberg | TV movie |
| 2000 | Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story | Cockney Driver | Miniseries |
| 2000 | Trapped in a Purple Haze | David Lebeff | TV movie |
| 2000 | Canada: A People's History | David Samwell | Documentary series Episode: "When the World Began" |
| 2000 | Phantom of the Megaplex | Tyler Jesseman | TV movie |
| 2000–2001 | Relic Hunter | Sultan / Lagerfeld | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | A Colder Kind of Death | Hairdresser | TV movie |
| 2001 | Doc | Jason Hemmings | Episode: "Pilot: Part 1" |
| 2001 | Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 | Cal Matthews | TV movie |
| 2002 | Recipe for Murder | Simeon Vreeman | TV movie |
| 2002 | A Nero Wolfe Mystery | Barry Fleming / Spiros Papps / Felix Courret | 4 episodes |
| 2002 | Adventure Inc. | Sergi Borodin | Episode: "Village of the Lost" |
| 2002–2004 | Queer as Folk | Gardner Vance | 9 episodes |
| 2003 | Veritas: The Quest | Ali Hassan Rif | Episode: "Heist" |
| 2003 | Train 48 | Max | Episode: #1.53 |
| 2003 | Street Time | Arthur Marx | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Show Me Yours | Paul | Episode: "If You Can't Take the Heat" |
| 2004 | Il Duce Canadese | Avvocato | Miniseries French title: Il duce canadese: Le Mussolini canadien |
| 2006 | This Is Wonderland | Giuseppe Burelli | Episode: #3.8 |
| 2006 | Time Bomb | Musab Hyatti | TV movie |
| 2006 | At the Hotel | Albert | Miniseries |
| 2006 | I Am an Apartment Building | Host | Short TV movie |
| 2006–2009 | 24 | Morris O'Brian | 29 episodes |
| 2007–2012 | Little Mosque on the Prairie | Yasir Hamoudi | Main role, 90 episodes |
| 2008 | Shark | Anton Robitaille | Episode: "Partners in Crime" |
| 2008 | Othello the Tragedy of the Moor | Othello | TV movie Executive producer |
| 2009 | White Collar | Ghovat | Episode: "Threads" |
| 2009 | Stargate Universe | Carl Strom | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Castle | Bahir Harun | Episode: "The Fifth Bullet" |
| 2010 | Love Letters | Andy | TV movie |
| 2010 | CSI: NY | Joseph Vance | Episode: "Sanguine Love" |
| 2010 | NCIS: Los Angeles | Kalil Abramson | Episode: "Found" |
| 2010 | The Good Guys | Asher | Episode: "Supercops" |
| 2010–2012 | Goldilocks | Ivan | 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Breaking Bad | Benicio Fuentes | Episode: "Salud" |
| 2011 | The Mentalist | Dimitri Zubov | Episode: "Where in the World is Carmine O'Brien?" |
| 2011 | Sanctuary | Richard Feliz / Feodor "Frank" Glazov | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Nikita | Ian Damascus | Episode: "Shadow Walker" |
| 2012 | ThunderCats | Ratar-O | Voice Episode: "Curse of Ratilla" |
| 2012 | World Without End | Edmund | Miniseries |
| 2012 | Hawaii Five-0 | Sean Winston | Episode: "Ohuna" |
| 2013 | Beverly Hills Cop | Trevor | TV movie |
| 2014 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Luca Russo | Episode: "T.R.A.C.K.S." |
| 2014 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Karl Schrute | Episode: "Killer Moves |
| 2014 | Grimm | Hedig | Episode: "The Show Must Go On" |
| 2014 | Scandal | Ivan | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | Sequestered | Niles | Episode: "Ashes to Ashes" |
| 2014 | Recipe to Riches | Host | Episode: "Savoury Snacks" |
| 2014–2015 | Jane the Virgin | Emilio Solano | 8 episodes |
| 2015 | The Player | Daoud Raqiv | Episode: "The Pilot" |
| 2016 | Dark Matter | Warden | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Beauty & the Beast | Dr. Albert Garrus | Episode: "Meet the New Beast" |
| 2016 | Major Crimes | Alfredo DeConchini | Episode: "Family Law" |
| 2016 | Swedish Dicks | Dimitri Nobakov | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Conviction | Vince Scarlata | Episode: "A Simple Man" |
| 2017 | Lopez | Danny Green | Episode: "Leaving Las Vegas" |
| 2017 | Scorpion | General Savic | Episode: "Rock Block" |
| 2017 | Jean-Claude Van Johnson | Dragan | 3 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Lethal Weapon | Guillermo Azoulay | 2 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Ransom | Damian Delaine | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | American Horror Story: Apocalypse | Anton LaVey | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Back in Time for Dinner | Host | |
| 2019 | The Flash | Remington Meister | Episode: "License to Elongate" |
| 2020 | Canadian Film Fest Presented by Super Channel | Theo | Episode: #1.3 Segment: "A Perfect Plan" |
| 2020 | Borrasca | Officer Jameson / Pastor | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Back in Time for Winter | Narrator | |
| 2021 | Titans | Oracle | Voice; Episode: "51%" |
| 2023 | True Lies | Francois | Pilot episode |
| 2023 | High Desert | Arman | Recurring role, 5 episodes |
| 2024 | The Edge of Sleep | Dr. Luis Castaneda | 2 episodes |
| 2025 | The Rookie | Anton Petrovich | Season 7, Episode 6 ("The Gala") |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist | Majid Sadiq | Voice |
| 2020 | Mafia: Definitive Edition | Additional voices | Voice |
| 2020 | Assassin's Creed Valhalla | Basim Ibn Ishaq / Loki | Voice |