Stallone Santino

Stallone Santino (born 21 February 1992) is a South African actor, director, producer and entertainer. He has starred in several theatre productions such as Crave, Thousand Cranes, Celebration (play), Phaedras Love and Dream Boy. His directorial debut, a psychological thriller, Rituale Romanum The Strange Case of Anneliese premiered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa. He is best known as a finalist on Mr South Africa 2016. Santino produced the Weekend Playdate, a radio show hosted by Nicole Da Silva on 5FM.

Early Life and Education

Stallone Santino was born on February 21, 1992 in Durban, South Africa, at Chatsmed Hospital. He was raised in The Bluff. His mother, Joyce Beljoi, is of Irish descent and his father, Nelson, is of Indian ancestry. His parents divorced when he was 3 years old and thereafter lived in a low-income home with his mother Joyce and sister Shandrae. Through Nelson, Santino has 3 half-siblings. At the age of 6, his mother married a con-artist (unknowingly) which costed the family their home and caused Santino and his sister to enrol into 9 different schools over a period of 4 years until his mother decided to end the marriage. The family lived on $35 dollars a week and struggled to pay the rent and school fees.

After successfully completing grade 12 at Merebank Secondary School with 4 distinctions, Santino relocated to Pietermaritzburg to study Theatre. Still with a lack of financial support, Santino registered his subjects for his undergraduate program in Drama and Performance Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He worked hard and was able to secure 4 scholarships that covered the entire cost of study. He then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Drama and Performance Studies.

Career

Always passionate AbOUT the arts and entertainment, Santino performed in a number of locally produced theatre shows. He explored various divisions within his field such as stage management, lighting and sound design, directing, choreography, producing and film work. At the age of 19, Santino started a production company known as Prompt Side Productions. Through this initiative, he wrote, and performed his First One-man comedy show titled Dream Boy which was staged at the highly acclaimed National Arts Festival. He then went on to produce works like Arthur Miller's The Crucible and Atholl Fugard's Boesman and Lena.

Santino, worked closely within the Applied Drama arena and staged an HIV awareness production at the Drama for Life, [...] Actually Festival in Johannesburg. In 2013, he took on a project in which he adapted the story of Anneliese Michel (also known through the film; The Exorcism of Emily Rose). This critically acclaimed production was the first of its kind seen on a South African stage.

In 2014, Santino joined The Industrial Theatre Troupe in South Korea and directed The Cmplt Wrks of The Brthrs Grm (Abridged). He also performed at the Busan International Shakespeare Festival. After returning to South Africa, he joined the team at 5FM and worked as a radio producer for The Weekend Playdate. He has appeared on CliffCentral with Arye Kellman and has acted in the SABC 1 soap opera Generations:The Legacy. Other notable appearances include Mela and Top Billing on SABC 3. His most recent achievement is starring alongside an Oscar and 8 Emmy Award nominees in the international radio drama Big Data (radio show) by Ryan Estrada.