Italian
model, Antonio Sabato, Jr., has been an
icon for Calvin Klein and a
successful
actor.
But the most important job of all, says Sabato, is his
role as a father to
his seventeen-year-old son Jack, his son with actress Virginia Madsen. “My son
is the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he says. “I live my life
for him.”
Sabato learned the importance of family during his
childhood in Italy.
Sabato’s father, Antonio Sabato, Sr.,
inspired him to be an actor. He
remembers watching American films when he was a boy, especially musicals. “I
watched a lot of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire films,” he says. “The films
were dubbed into Italian, but the musical numbers
were sung in English. The
actors made it sound and look so easy. I wanted to do what they did,” he
says.
Sabato
began to take acting classes in 1985. At 17 he was
starring in Italian
films. Then he got roles in several American television series. Then he
started
looking to his first
film role in English in The Big Hit.
Sabato enjoys his career but he also likes a
challenge. “I like
to work hard
at whatever I do,” he says. To keep his career interesting, Sabato selects
challenging roles. “I take acting very seriously, whether I’m doing
soap
operas or film, or a
commercial or a
play.”
Although Sabato considers himself an actor, he got a lot of attention for
his work as a Calvin Klein
fashion model. His picture has
appeared in dozens
of magazines around the world. How does he feel when he opens a magazine and
sees photographs of himself? “It’s
really cool,” says Sabato. “It makes me
really happy and proud.” |