Marco Kyris was born as Evrimahos Kyriakakis in Toronto, which is home of the largest Greek community of Canada.
"My parents arrived in Canada, typical off the boat poor immigrants. They met in Toronto through friends and had an arranged marriage".
Marco's mother was from the northern Greek city of Kastoria, and she sponsored her two sisters and mother to come over to Toronto in the early 1960s. His grandmother was also from Kastoria and his grandfather was of Greek background and from Istanbul.
"My father lived in Lamia (central Greece), one of seven siblings, and very poor. He arrived in Canada in 1957 and soon sponsored his two brothers to come to Toronto. Another settled in Clearwater, Florida, and the other three siblings remained in Lamia".
Greek Canadian actor Marco Kyris in Kefallonia island. Source: Supplied
Growing Greek in Toronto
Marco's father ended up having a Greek variety store (“bakaliko”) in Greektown for 22 years. Greektown is still dominated by Greek Canadians who constitute the most populous ethnic group in Toronto’s Danforth ward where Greektown is located.
"My parents have never learned English, nor drove a car, and stuck to the Greek community till their end. It was a non-progressive immigrant upbringing, but each of my siblings accelerated as one could with what we had," Kyris tells SBS Greek.
Breaking in the film industry
Kyris says that he was never one to be an actor and he aimlessly pursued it when he moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s.
"There was no real actor that inspired me to become an actor. I was just into the idea of being one really. Loved all the glam on the TV and film industry, and thought I would just try it out".
He took acting classes, but stuck to his full-time job in restaurants there, as he needed the work.
He gave up after several years there and after he did a few small acting parts.
Greek Canadian actor Marco Kyris (R) with Hollywood star, Nicolas Cage. Source: Supplied
Working with Nicolas Cage
Marco realized that it was too difficult to succeed, so he returned to Toronto and ended up signing up with an extra's agency for needed cash.
"In 1994, I got my first stand-in gig ever with Nicolas Cage. The golden goose from day one," he says.
He calls his experience of working with Cage as a truly eye-opening.
"Working with such a huge celeb and keeping myself grounded was challenging. I learned how to work with film people from day one, and it was so much to take in. As well as the grand divide of cast and crew".
Kyris adjusted very quickly to it and respected it as a privileged position under Nicholas Cage.
Filming "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" in Kefallonia
In 2001, Nicolas Cage was the protagonist of acclaimed director John Madden's "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", a war film which pays homage to the thousands of Italian soldiers executed at the Massacre of the Acqui Division by German forces in the Greek island of Kefallonia in September 1943, and to the islanders who were killed in the post-war earthquake.
The filming took place on the island during the high-temperature Greek summer of 2000, and Kyris tells SBS Greek that Cage thought it was a lovely land; he loved the beaches and food.
Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage (L) and Penélope Cruz (R) with Greek Canadian actor Marco Kyris (middle) in Kefallonia island. Source: Supplied
"It was a tough filming time in the 40C summer that year while filming Corelli's Mandolin. So, we basically were hed strong on the job and moved on really".
Although Marco has never been to Australia ("Aussieland", as he calls it), he has many friends in Melbourne and in Sydney.
Greek Canadian actor, Marco Kyris with Nicolas Cage. Source: Supplied
At the moment, he is busy with productions in Canada and in Los Angeles.
*Marco Kyris talks about his life in the short documentary film "Uncaged: A Stand-in Story" which will be screened at Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. on July the 19th.
