Actor Daniel di Tomasso chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about his upcoming Hallmark film “Welcome to Mama’s.”
Walt Disney once said: “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Canadian actor Daniel di Tomasso is living proof of this wise quotation by the cartoon legend.
“Welcome to Mama’s” will premiere on Saturday, February 26, as part of the network’s “Loveuary” programming event. Actors Melanie Scrofano, Daniel di Tomasso, and Lorraine Bracco star in this new original Hallmark film. “This was my first entry in the Hallmark world,” he admitted. “The whole team was a pleasure to work with. I would love to do another Hallmark film at some point.”
Allan Harmon directed “Welcome to Mama’s” from a screenplay by William Penick. “Allan is such a great and gifted director,” he said.
Synopsis of the film
Amy (Melanie Scrofano) inherits a restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, after “Mama”(Lorraine Bracco), the owner and Amy’s dear friend unexpectedly passes away. Amy, who is trained as a restaurant manager, teams up with a charming but slightly egotistical master chef named Frank (Daniel di Tomasso), who is looking for a second chance.
They hope to honor Mama by relaunching the restaurant for the community that loves it and her so much.
Despite Amy and Frank’s differences both personally and professionally, they discover that the most important ingredient for any recipe is always love.
He was drawn to playing his character Frank for several reasons. “Culturally, it was exciting to jump into the Italian-American experience onscreen,” he said.
“My parents and grandparents are Italian even though I grew up in Montreal. This movie hit really close to home for me. My family had a restaurant and my great-grandmother started it and it eventually went to my father, so I immediately identified with the cultural identity and the highs and lows of the restaurant experience. That was really fun,” he elaborated.
Working with Lorraine Bracco
He opened up about working with Oscar-nominated actress Lorraine Bracco in this film. “That was a real treat,” he said. “I grew up really loving her work, so I was extremely excited to get the opportunity to meet her and to work with her in a scene. That was one of the highlights of my career. Lorraine is a very thoughtful and extremely generous actress. I was very taken aback by how generous an actor she was. She is a really lovely person as well.”
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, di Tomasso said, “It opens up opportunities for us. There are numerous platforms and there is a great deal of content being made at the moment so that’s exciting. I feel that the digital age moves quickly. It opens up for the possibility of an audience to find you, and hopefully, they will give you a shot and a couple of seasons.”
When asked what track and field event he would do, he listed the 400-meter run.
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he responded, “Growth.”
If he were to have any superpower, he revealed that it would be “the ability to diffuse any conflict.” “I would want to be in service to the greater good,” he said.
He defined the word success as being able to “honor your personal goals and dreams, and marry that to family.” “I would love to continue to do what I love to do, which is what I have been doing and I always want to keep family at the forefront of it all,” he said. “I just want health and happiness for those I care about the most.”
For his fans and supporters, di Tomasso concluded, “I hope they are entertained by ‘Welcome to Mama’s.’ I hope they can laugh and see themselves in it. I want them to walk away feeling good about themselves, and about life and love. It’s a sweet story and it’s a shot at redemption, and it has a nice message.”
To learn more about actor Daniel di Tomasso, follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
