Actor Robert Bazzocchi opens up on flipping the script on success

For this week’s MVP, we’re chatting with Robert Bazzocchi.

By Elio Iannacci

Italian-Canadian actor Robert Bazzocchi is cementing his place as one of our country’s most electric scene-stealers. In Fellow Travelers, he commanded the screen with a tour-de-force monologue opposite Matt Bomer. And in Gen V, he gifted audiences one of the most colossally strange erotic scene in recent television history. The Richmond Hill, Ont. native proves he can make mere minutes of screen time utterly indelible. You can also watch him now in the heart-tugging Netflix drama Ripple, which explores how chance encounters and small choices can profoundly shape people’s lives. He is also gearing up for You’re Killing Me, a murder-mystery comedy miniseries premiering in May alongside Brooke Shields.

Like many standout talents of his generation, Bazzocchi doesn’t wait for Hollywood to make the first move. Between auditions and table reads, he manages his own social media (@RobertBazzocchi on Instagram and TikTok), treating his pages as a creative lab, where short (often self-written) scenes highlight his range while consistently going viral.

The writer, director and producer consistently pushes the boundaries of storytelling while staying deeply involved in every stage of the creative process. During a break from the set, he took a few minutes to chat with The Get about the rewards of betting on yourself—and how the best calls don’t always come from Hollywood, but from the ones you make yourself.

How do you define success? Which actor represents that for you?

My definition of success has changed over the years. What began as chasing jobs shifted into treating acting as a vocation. So much of getting TV and film jobs is outside an actor’s control. Now, if I can pursue what I love to do while still supporting myself in a healthy way, that’s success. It’s not a finish line. Actors like Jim Carrey seem to embody that. When he presented at the Golden Globes one year, he joked about being a two-time Golden Globe winner, and he would probably wake up tomorrow upset because he wasn’t a three-time winner. There’s always something more to achieve. 

How does working across various parts of the film industry give you an upper hand?

For me, writing, producing and working behind the camera helps me understand how projects are built and makes me a “better team player.” But it also removes the waiting game: I don’t sit around and wait for someone to cast me. Low-budget digital work and online sketches let me test rhythm, hooks and audience response. I’m always learning about what people are resonating with.

If a big studio handed you a massive budget but made you remake something, what film would you choose?

Filmmaker Richard Linklater is a huge influence for me, especially with movies like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight, so I’d choose that trilogy. The project could span my whole lifetime. I’m drawn to ‘walk and talk’ type films—projects that aren’t about big action scenes but are about conversation, philosophy and life—that are focused on love.

What was the first decent acting paycheque you earned, and what did you do with it?

The first real cheque came from a Family Channel show called Backstage, back when I was 18. I’d never taken an acting class. Working on set all summer with actors my age, I noticed they were investing in themselves—creating their own projects and taking classes. I called my agent right after I wrapped and asked him to recommend an acting coach. Self-investment—training, craft, growth—came before anything else. If a big superhero film does come along, I want to splurge and send my parents on vacation since they did everything for me. I was able to have piano and drum lessons, play hockey, do dance, and they had four kids. 

What new projects are you most excited about?

A podcast about creative players called Greenlit and Grounded, where I work behind the scenes as a producer. Then I have More Than Words, an experimental short film I wrote and directed—it grew directly out of the TikTok sketches I’ve been making.  

Photo by Jordan Taffe-Watson.

Elio Iannacci is an award-winning writer, scholar and journalist whose work has appeared in more than 80 publications, including The Globe and Mail, Vogue Italia, The Hollywood Reporter and Maclean’s. His writing also appears in a number of literary anthologies, including the newly released The Nuances of Love, published by Guernica.

Read more from this issue of The Get:

1. Canada’s economy: Looks great on paper, but how does it feel to you?
2. When can I receive my CPP and OAS benefits?
3. Where did my raise go?
4. True or False: You can turn your hobby into a side hustle

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