Todd Louiso

Actor Todd Louiso was immersed in the entertainment industry from a young age, born to a dancer/choreographer father and singer/producer mother. A compact player usually sporting a shaved head, Louiso essayed a variety of characters and was most effective in evincing through physical as well as verbal performance the innate awkwardness of characters uncomfortable in their own skin. He attended Cincinnati's School for the Creative and Performing Arts from the fourth grade through high school, landing roles in the syndicated "Young People's Specials" educational programs "That Funny Fat Kid" (1986) and "Narc" (1988). Louiso subsequently earned a degree in film (after a brief stint as a theater major) from NYU, and worked as an intern in the film production unit of NBC's "Saturday Night Live." He made his feature acting debut in 1990 with a small role in the melodrama remake "Stella" and had a similarly minor part in 1991's "Billy Bathgate." Working on the latter, Louiso established a friendship with screenwriter Tom Stoppard that led to his adaptation of Stoppard's play "The Fifteen Minute Hamlet" into a boisterous 1995 short film which he directed, produced and starred in (as Ophelia). The film met with praise from critics and audiences alike upon screenings at the Sundance Film Festival, among others.