Jake Canuso

Jake Canuso
Jake Canuso in 2015
Born
Jake Canuso

1970
Zurich, Switzerland
Nationality
  • Swedish
  • British
Occupation
  • Actor
Years active1990–present
Known forRole of Mateo Castellanos in: Benidorm (2007–2018)
Benidorm Live (2018–2019)

Jake Canuso is a Swiss-British actor,[1] best known for his role in the ITV comedy series Benidorm, in which he played the Solana barman Mateo Castellanos from 2007 until 2018. Canuso was a professional dancer for eighteen years, working with artists Rozalla, Spice Girls, Annie Lennox and Elton John.

Early life

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Canuso was born near Zurich, Switzerland, to immigrants from southern Italy. He moved to the UK as a young boy [2]

Career

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Previously a dancer, Canuso appeared dressed as a ballet dancer in the music video for "No More I Love You's" by Annie Lennox. He also appeared in the video of Kakko's 1990 song "We Should Be Dancing", JX's "Son of a Gun", Alex Party's "Don't Give Me Your Life", Carter USM's "Let's Get Tattoos", 2 unlimited's "Here I Go", and Emma Bunton's "Crickets Sing for Anamaria". Canuso also toured as a dancer for acts including the Spice Girls, Elton John and Annie Lennox.[3] He also appeared as a dancer on Top of the Pops.[2]

Between 2007-2018, Canuso featured in the ITV comedy series Benidorm as flirtatious barman Mateo Castellanos and is the sitcom's longest-serving actor, appearing in all 74 episodes.[4] Canuso was chosen along with several other members of the cast to star in Benidorm Live, a touring stage adaptation of the show.[5]

In January 2013, Canuso participated in ITV diving show Splash!, hosted by Tom Daley.

Canuso has performed in numerous pantomimes. In 2022, he appeared as Abanazar in Aladdin, which was staged at the Rhyl Pavilion Theatre.[6][7]

Personal life

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Canuso survived the Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004,[8][9] whilst on holiday in Ko Phra Thong, Thailand. He climbed a tree after seeing the first waves, and was trapped underwater after the tree snapped.[8] He developed aquaphobia and did not swim in water for several years.

Credits

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2004 School for Seduction Giovanni
Piccadilly Jim Marcel
2005 Kinky Boots Waiter
Russian Dolls Miguel
2006 In A Day Italian Waiter
Flyboys French Infantryman
Flirting with Flamenco Pablo
2007 Tick Tock Lullaby Laurence
2008 Journal of a Contract Killer Alessandro
2009 City Rats Marco Harper
Nine Reporter 4
2011 Naachle London Alan
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Waiter in Florence café
2019 Fork Robert Medlow
Wisteria Cottage Carl Short film

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2004 Hustle Barman Series 1 episode 5: A Touch of Class
Keen Eddie Michael Hoffman Series 1 episode 13: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
2005 Heartbeat Giovanni Viora Series 14 episode 15: Icon
Casualty Matt Franks Series 19 episode 40: Swallowers
2006 Doctors Andy Clark Series 7 episode 155: Ignorance is Bliss
2007 Suburban Shootout Yuri
2007-2018 Benidorm Mateo Castellano 74 episodes
2009 Shameless Damien di Soto Series 6 episode 4: Loving Wife
2012 The Hour Peter Grey Series 2 episode 3: Vice
2013 The Bible Daniel 9 episodes
Bad Education Javier Series 2 episode 7
2014 Cardinal Burns Priest Series 2 episode 5: The Priest
2017 Snatch Petru 1 episode
Drunk History Various characters 5 episodes; series 3
2018 The Royals Javier 1 episode
2019 Scarborough Tony Peroni 6 episodes
MyBad! Stewie Television film

2024 Grace. French Hotel Manager. Series 4, episode 4.

Music videos

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Year Artist Title
1991 Kylie Minogue Give Me Just A Little More Time
1994 Carter USM Let's Get Tattoos
JX Son of a Gun
1995 2 Unlimited Here I Go
Alex Party Don't Give Me Your Life
Annie Lennox No More I Love You's
1997 Spice Girls Too Much
2004 Emma Bunton Crickets Sing for Anamaria

Theatre

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Year Title Role Location
2014–2015 Aladdin TBC The Forum, Billingham
2015–2016 Jack & the Beanstalk Jack Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
2017–2018 Mother Goose TBC Sheffield Lyceum, Sheffield
2018–2019 Benidorm Live Mateo Castellanos UK tour with 250 shows
2019–2020 Aladdin The Genie New Theatre, Hull
2022 Abanazar Rhyl Pavilion Theatre

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2004 Driver 3 Didier Dubois, additional voices [10]
2012 Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney Additional voices

References

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  1. ^ "Jake Canuso". IMDb. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b Benidorm Live Podcast 2 - Jake Canuso, retrieved 1 April 2019
  3. ^ Features. "An Interview with Jake Canuso | The Enquirer Newspaper". Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  4. ^ Benidorm (TV Series 2007– ) - IMDb, retrieved 1 April 2019
  5. ^ "Benidorm on Stage". www.benidormonstage.com. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  6. ^ Vranic, Marko (6 December 2022). "Jake Canuso talks about upcoming role in Rhyl's Aladdin panto". Rhyl Journal. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  7. ^ Owen, Annie (8 October 2022). "Meet the TV stars swapping Benidorm and Coronation Street for Rhyl this Christmas". Daily Post. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  8. ^ a b Jake Canuso [@JakeCanuso] (26 December 2010). "Today 6 years ago i survived the Tsunami,thanks to a stubborn tree. Unfortunately some of my friends and thousands of others werent so lucky" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Dixon, Laura. "Tsunami survivor Jake Canuso's terror at diving lessons".
  10. ^ "Jake Canuso (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 28 September 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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