Award winning actor Stephen Lobo stars in the anticipated feature film “Afghan
Award winning actor Stephen Lobo stars in the anticipated feature film “Afghan Luke” directed by Mike Clattenburg of “Trailer Park Boys” fame, as well as acclaimed director Bruce Ramsay’s “Hamlet”. Both films will have their Canadian premiere this Fall with “Afghan Luke” premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.
Stephen is extremely proud of his role in “Afghan Luke” which has its World Premiere at TIFF slated for this September 11th. The film is to hit theaters on September 23rd, 2011. Stephen shines in the role of “Mateen”, an Afghan translator or rather “fixer” opposite Nick Stahl. Mateen, though good at his job is most interested in smoking hash and listening to popular western music, especially rap.
Disheartened when his story about Canadian snipers mutilating corpses in Afghanistan is buried, Luke (Nick Stahl) quits his job but is even more determined to return to Afghanistan to get the real story. With his offbeat buddy, Tom (Nicolas Wright), tagging along, Luke returns to Afghanistan and soon finds that the country is an even more dangerous place than when he left. To make matters worse, his old friend and fixer, Mateen has been hired away by Luke’s journalistic nemesis, Imran Sahar (Vik Sahay). “Afghan Luke” turns into a surreal and perilous adventure, a journey into an alternate reality, filtered through a haze of gun smoke.
Much of the buzz surrounding this film is due to the star studded cast, but also because of Mike Clattenburg, with past hits as writer and director for “The Trailer Park Boys” television series and films, audiences are eagerly awaiting the release of “Afghan Luke”.
The busy actor also stars in a second film alongside another all star cast in the Indie feature “Hamlet” to be released this Fall. With Director/Star Bruce Ramsay, this ambitious film is sure to showcase the chameleon-like acting talents of Stephen in the role of “Horatio”.
Stephen was born in Toronto and grew up in Thornhill, Ontario with his electrician father and nurse mother. Both immigrants, Stephen’s father coming from East Africa and his mother from Iran, they taught their three children the importance of family and dedication to work. Stephen grew up as a middle child and has always looked up to his older brother living with Down Syndrome.
While studying Environmental Science at the University of Toronto and admittedly “failing miserably at it”, Stephen decided to take drama and the rest is history. In 2000, Stephen traveled to London to begin his acting training at Drama Centre London, a three year classical theatre conservatory, in Chalk Farm, London. The prestigious acting program was run by Rueven Adiv, an associate of Lee Strasberg.
While in London, Stephen worked on “The Seagull”, “Paradise Lost”, “The Madrass House”, “The Dutch Courtesan”, “All’s Well That Ends Well”, “The Last Days of Don Juan”, “A Month in the Country”, “Napoli Milionaria”, and “Britannicus” among others. During those years Stephen lived above the White Horse pub in Belsize Park and pulled pints on the weekend in exchange for room and board.
He was the star of the CHUM television series, “Godiva’s”, for which he won the Leo Award for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series. He was a series regular on SciFi Channel’s “Painkiller Jane” and has had recurring roles on the CW series “Smallville”, ABC Family’s “Falcon Beach”, CBC’s “Little Mosque”, and has just wrapped a guest star role on CBS’s CIA dramedy “Chaos”. Selected film credits include the “The Wedding Date”, “Love and Other Dilemmas”, “Fathers & Sons”, and “Stained”. Stephen still remains proud of his character Ramir in “Godiva’s”, the hot headed chef of the restaurant where the show was set.
Stephen now resides in Vancouver with his wife and 18 month old baby son. When not filming, you can find Stephen practicing Tai Chi, watching films and enjoying a good meal with family and friends. When Stephen speaks about his future goals and what he would like people to know him for, his answer is simple and honest. He’d like to garner roles that continue to challenge and enable him to grow as an actor and most importantly, to be a great father to his son.
www.stephenlobo.com
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2011/afghanluke