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For actor and musician Michael Cimino, a life in the spotlight has been his dream ever since he could remember. Growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, Cimino’s journey to fame began at the age of eight when he joined an acting group at his local church.
Although his childhood aspirations were to be a rockstar, Cimino first broke into the entertainment industry as an actor — securing roles in popular coming-of-age television shows including “Love, Victor” and “Never Have I Ever.” More recently, he has been featured in starring roles in films like “Until Dawn,” as well as breaking into the music industry with his first EP, “i’m somewhere out there.”
In his new movie “Until Dawn,” Cimino portrays Max, a young man helping his ex-girlfriend to locate her missing sister. The film premiered in theaters on April 25, and is an adaptation of the narrative PlayStation video game of the same name.
Cimino described the film as a large-scale mission with a limited budget. Since the original video game was 10 hours long, the cast and crew had the difficult job of paring down that level of detail into a two-hour-long movie.
“I think just the scope of it was really insane. We did a lot with the budget that we had, and it was all practical effects, which is really, really exciting,” Cimino said in an interview with The Harvard Crimson.
Another new production that Cimino is a part of premiered May 20. “Motorheads” is an Amazon Prime original series in which he portrays the high-school-aged son of a racecar driver. The show centers around the world of street racing after dark, which meant long production nights for Cimino.
Cimino’s most well-known role, though, is as the titular character in the Hulu original series “Love, Victor” — a spin-off of the popular film “Love, Simon.” Cimino’s role in the show cemented his status as a serious actor and earned him an Imagen Award for Best Actor — Television (Comedy).
“Honestly, I can’t even say how much it’s changed my life and my career,” he said. “I’m still so honored to have been a part of that. I just can’t be more appreciative of that crew and that job.”
Cimino received extensive praise for his portrayal of a gay protagonist in “Love, Victor.” In order to prepare for the role of Victor Salazar, he spoke at length with friends and family of his who identified as queer about the importance of accurately representing the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I think ‘Love, Victor’ was just such a special time in my life. It felt like such an important role, and it really made a difference in people’s lives,” Cimino said.
Cimino is not only an actor, but a musician. Since he was young, music was his passion. However, he pursued an acting career instead because it gave him a better opportunity to break into the industry.
“I’ve always kind of wanted to do music; that was actually my first love, to be honest,” Cimino said.
His newest single, “Superhero,” was released on May 16 and will be closely followed by the release of more new music that has been in the works for the past two years.
“Superhero” began as a simple studio session with Cimino and his friends and quickly came together as a full piece when he turned his own sound effects into a backing synth sample.
In terms of his future in the music industry, Cimino said, “As time has gone on, I’ve been really trying to develop my sound and work more in my own music.”
As a young actor and musician, Cimino has been exposed firsthand to the changes in the entertainment industry after COVID-19 and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Since these two events caused a decrease in film production, Cimino has noticed that the industry has become even more competitive in the aftermath.
“I feel like the projects have to be really incredible to stand out because everyone has their attention pulled in a million different directions,” he said.
Cimino also spoke about his desire to see more Latino leads in movies and television shows in the future, illustrating the discrepancy between the amount of Latino representation in the entertainment industry compared to how many people identify as Latino.
For Cimino, the most important part of his career is using his projects as a medium to connect with others on a deeply personal level.
“I think for me, I just want to keep doing stuff that matters,” he said. “It means something to a lot more people than just yourself.”
In recent years, Cimino has solidified his position within the entertainment industry, and he hopes to use this privilege to help other up-and-coming artists like first-time directors.
“I really want to keep working with talented people that are on their way up as well,” he said.
Cimino’s journey to acting was not an easy one, however. He described how he faced countless rejections before booking his first acting job and emphasized that young hopefuls should not be easily discouraged.
Even throughout the difficulties he has faced, Cimino wouldn’t trade his life in the spotlight for any other. Idolizing stars like Bruno Mars from a young age, Cimino’s career is the culmination of years of aspirations in both the film and music industries.
“At this point, it’s all I know. I’ve dedicated my whole life to this, and this is all I know, and I love it even though the hard times and the bad times,” he said. “It’s worth the difficulty for me to continue to push through and just make things happen.”
As both an actor and a musician, Cimino uses his position to advocate for greater representation within the film industry as well as to promote the careers of other young artists. For aspiring entertainers, Cimino shared just three simple words: “Don’t give up.” He has persevered through countless rejections, but now, Cimino has secured a budding place in entertainment history.
