Carlo Rota

Carlo Dante Rota (born 17 April 1961) is a British-Canadian actor. He is known to television audiences for his roles as Yasir Hamoudi on Little Mosque on the Prairie (2007–12), systems analyst Morris O'Brian on 24 (2006–09), and Emilio Solano in Jane the Virgin (2014–15). He is a Gemini Award nominee.

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 Italy, Hong Kong (where he attended Island School), the Bahamas and the United Kingdom, 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. 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.

Rota joined the cast of General Hospital in 2024 in the role of Jenz Sidwell.

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 on Queen Street West, having lived on and off in the area for at least 20 years.

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