Bishop Brigante

Born in Toronto, Canada, Bishop Brigante never saw himself acting. Originally, better known as a recording artist, Brigante's early days were dominated by music. However, by chance he found himself enrolled in a performing arts school at age 13. It was there he showed the first hints of acting talent and was encouraged by his teachers and peers to pursue the art. But after several failed attempts to find legitimate representation, Brigante was turned off. Focusing on music indirectly benefited Brigante's later acting work as he became arguably one of Canada's best rap performers, exciting crowds from coast to coast on several national tours. Music also gave Brigante his first moments in front of the camera as he conceptualized award winning music videos for his songs. It wasn't until a cold call from acclaimed director Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smoking Aces, The Grey) that he seriously considered acting as a career path. The call was to cast Brigante in the 2002 blockbuster Narc starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric. He'd go on to play Eugene 'Deacon' Sheps, A drug dealing and gun wielding missing piece of the puzzle, to solve a cold case murder investigation of an under cover police officer. In 2003, Brigante joined the cast of the TV series Platinum, appearing in all episodes as "Two Way". When John Ridley (Three Kings, Undercover Brother) met Brigante, he asked him who his favorite rapper was at the time. Without hesitation, Brigante went on to explain who that artist was and why. It was the detail and his undeniable charisma that prompted Ridley and the show's writers to create a character for Brigante to play on the series. The character was the go to guy for information, and the head A&R of the fictional "Sweetback Records" run by Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones and Jason George. The next year, he took the biggest leap of his acting career by joining a stage production of A Clockwork Orange. Landing the lead role of Alex DeLarge, Brigante impressed audiences for four weeks and tested himself in new ways every evening. After signing a record deal in 2008 with Bodog Music, Brigante released the hit single "It's Fo Twenty" featuring legendary west coast singer Nate Dogg. The song would go on to gain heavy radio rotation in Canada and reassert Brigante as a major player in the Canadian hip hop scene. After a five year hiatus, Brigante landed a role as the protagonist "Flip" in a short film called Random Walk which also starred Devon Sawa (Final Destination) & Serinda Swan (Breakout Kings). The next year, AUX TV commissioned Brigante to produce & host their television show Ultimate MC. Travelling across Canada to find the best battle rapper in the country, Brigante provided both live event hosting as well as pointed cultural narration in each episode. 2011 brought new momentum as Brigante appeared in an episode of Against The Wall (Universal Cable). And the following year he landed lead roles in the upcoming 2013 feature film Evil Feed and TV movie Chupacabra vs. the Alamo (Sci Fi Network).