Anthony Begonia

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. He worked on the Emmy award-winning show Six Feet Under (2001), portraying the son of respected veteran Amy Hill, as well as adding legendary comedian Tommy Chong to a list of brilliant performers he has shared the stage with. These have all been early indicators of a bright future. Anthony produces, writes, develops, and composes his own works while working in film and television. With additional guest performing, speaking, musical and stage directing, Anthony is a faculty member at Vivace Conservatory of the Performing Arts founded by Marie Matiko and collaborates with numerous independent filmmakers in his spare time. He resides in Los Angeles, California developing creative projects for an international non-profit organization.