Anthony Begonia

Was set to play a quick cameo as a singer/ukulele player in the Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore comedy romance 50 First Dates (2004) but had to bow out due to a conflict.

Plays several brass instruments proficiently, and knows every member of the Salvation Army Band, who were featured in Tobey Maguire's multiple Academy Award nominated film Seabiscuit (2003).

Despite not being physically right for any roles in the groundbreaking indie Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), he was encouraged to audition for filmmaker Justin Lin and his team.

Born youngest of four pianists and an aspiring comic book artist in California, Anthony later lived in Colorado and came to Hollywood via Maui, Hawaii. Anthony studied film production, music, and broadcasting for a couple years in Hawaii, where he was also a jazz/gospel pianist and vocalist. Anthony's siblings performed in recitals, shows, dramas, and musicals as youth in every state they lived in. They also wrote, produced plays, composed, and made films with a VHS video-camera as children. Anthony has had the privilege of traveling worldwide conducting workshops on drama, voice, and music and continues to do so. He starred with Hawaii's most distinguished comedian Frank DeLima in the Hawaiian version of Scrooge, garnering much recognition under accomplished Hawaii local director Jim Hutchison. He was then introduced to another accomplished director Glenn Cannon to be a rehearsal pianist. Soon after, he appeared on the David E. Kelley Emmy nominated drama Boston Public (2000) among other credits and countless indie films. He was welcomed by the critics in his Los Angeles debut as Miles Gloriosus in the East West Player's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" opposite veteran Gedde Watanabe under award-winning director Tim Dang with a who's who cast of the finest Asian American stage performers nationwide. He received the nod from the Daily Variety, Los Angeles Times, Backstage West, and other respected media. He was nominated for an Irene Ryan Award for his portrayal of Bubnov in the controversial Russian classic The Lower Depths. He was honored to appear as Dr. Hata in "Nagasaki Dust" alongside friend and acclaimed writer of the show W. Colin McKay under the direction of co-originator Jim Ishida. Some highlights in his young career include working with Academy Award Winning director Rob Marshall on his second feature, with a Pan-Asian star studded cast led by cult icon Ziyi Zhang for the Steven Spielberg epic Memoirs of a Geisha.

The Where's Waldo? (1991) TV show inspired Begonia to methodically place himself in television and movies for his family and friends to find him. Being a large actor prompted friends in production to start casting him in the background of projects for fun.

His father was named after the international humanitarian and founder of the Salvation Army, General William Booth. Begonia's parents were classmates of The San Francisco Salvation Army volunteer who was slain in 1971 by The Zodiak Killer.

Developing a movie with 1969 NFL Player Of The Year football legend Roman Gabriel who is sometimes labeled "The World's Largest Filipino."

Larry Gelbart spoke with him, after a performance by East-West Players in Los Angeles, about the musical comedy being performed, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), which is based on a book written by Gelbart, who expressed how extremely impressed Gelbart was with Begonia's stage portrayal of the character named Captain Miles Gloriosus.