Nine years ago, “almost to the day,” Dominic Zamprogna’s life changed forever when he was cast on GH as Sonny’s surprise son, Dante Falconeri. It’s been a busy near-decade since then, both for Dante (two marriages, one kid) and for his portrayer (one marriage, three kids). “It’s been the fastest, craziest nine years of my life,” he marvels. “So much has happened, ups and downs of every kind. But it means you’re living, I guess, if it goes that quick!”
The actor still loves his job. “I don’t take it for granted,” he says. “It really sort of hit me in the last year. You get used to the routine of a job; we all do. But I know how tough it is out there. Whether you’re an actor or not, it’s tough to make a living! There isn’t a night, in the nine years that I’ve been here, where I haven’t closed my eyes after my head has hit the pillow and gone through my list of thanks in my mind. Not one night. I’m insanely blessed.”
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That said, Dante hasn’t hovered near the front burner for a while now, a fact that isn’t lost on him, his fans or on Digest, which named him Biggest Waste Of Talent in the 2017 Best & Worst issue. But it is one that he takes in stride. “I’m an actor,” he offers. “I want to act. I want to work. I want to be an important cog in the wheel on the show. They know that here — they know that’s where I’m at and that’s where my mind is. But I don’t think anyone means not to write for anybody; I think they try to spread the ball around as best they can and sometimes you’ve got to go with things that are working really well, and that may mean that other people get pushed to the side a little bit. That happened for me a little bit more last year than I wanted. But hopefully, that’s being worked on — so I’ve been told.”
The death of Dante’s best friend and PCPD partner, Nathan, has already given the actor strong material to play in 2018. “It was beautifully written stuff,” he praises. “It was one of those days where things just happened, where I wasn’t trying to do anything. Actually, in the first scene where Dante goes in to Nathan’s room [before he died], I was trying not to be emotional at all. I was of the mind that, ‘Hey, this is your buddy, he’s going to live and everything is going to be okay. Be positive.’ But the minute I went in there and saw the machines and stuff … I don’t know, something happened. I lost my mother and grandparents and you never know when that emotion is going to hit you. There was very little acting in those moments. I was like, ‘This isn’t going how I wanted it to go at all!’ ”
He’s not terribly active on Twitter, but the week that material aired, he did check out the responses from viewers, and was gratified by their comments. “It felt good and I’m happy that everybody liked it. It means a lot, you know? In daytime, we’ve got people pouring their hearts out every day on all four shows that are left. You don’t do it to get kudos; you do it to feel good about your profession and to feel like you’ve succeeded. It was nice to see that people dug it.”
Zamprogna was sad to see Ryan Paevey (ex-Nathan) go; though it took “a good couple of years,” they had became good on set pals. “For a while, we didn’t work together that much; it was mostly in passing, and he was doing a lot of stuff with Maxie. On a daily basis, you can talk to people in the hallway [at GH] until you’re blue in the face, but you don’t really get to know them. Eventually, we got to know each other. We worked together more, did some fan events. The only real thing I can think of is that I’ve been really busy over the past couple years having children! But Ryan’s a good dude and we get along great. We just went out for beers last week and had a great time.”
Those beers were an anomaly for Zamprogna, who insists, “Some people say that they don’t have a social life and they actually do. I really, truly, do not have a social life! I wake up in the morning, I try to get out of the house as quickly as possible with all three kids up and having their morning cacophony, I work, I go home straight after work and it’s go until bedtime. I fall asleep putting them to sleep and move to the living room and fall asleep learning lines for the next day and then I do it all over again the next day. I wouldn’t have it any other way and I don’t regret any of it, because my family is the most important thing. But your friendships suffer, and your ability to make new friends suffers.”
As a result, he considers himself especially fortunate to have forged tight bonds with his GH parents, Maurice Benard (Sonny) and Lisa LoCicero (Olivia). “Most of my friends are from high school because I didn’t go to university and I’ve been an actor my whole life, just going from job to job to job. Then I came here and met Lisa and Maurice. You don’t get to meet that many people at work who are going to be lifelong friends and I’ve got two. That’s pretty good! Lisa, I remember her calling me to introduce herself as I was driving to the gym in Vancouver, telling me that she couldn’t wait to meet me and show me around. Now we hang out and our girls go swimming together! Maurice, from the minute I got here, we clicked. We’ve gotten to the point where we text each other quite regularly — and we make fun of each other quite regularly! We respect the hell out of each other and when we’re working together, the strength of our bond off camera as friends really shows up on camera. He’s kind of like a brother to me. I’m very grateful to have met them.”
For Dante, the jury is still very much out on his new partner, but Zamprogna has a good feeling about new cast member Josh Swickard (Chase). “Josh is a great dude,” he enthuses. “The fun part is that I get to play that I don’t like him, which I think is very interesting. It could turn into a friendship or a mutual respect at some point, but at the moment, it’s a tough one for Dante to have some green kid coming in and sitting in Nathan’s chair. I think the audience will probably feel the same way. I hope the audience backs Dante up [laughs]!”
The actor is grateful to be able to count on the support of GH fans. “As an actor, you just want to make sure you deliver. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t, and thankfully, lately, I’ve been able to. And knowing that the fans have my back? It means the world to me,” he says. “It means everything.”
Just The Facts 
Birthday: April 21
Hometown: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
His Fair Ladies: Zamprogna wed Linda Leslie on November 1, 2009 in Los Angeles’s Griffith Park and is the proud father of Anbilliene, born on October 19, 2010; Eliana, born on December 30, 2012; and Adeline, born on May 17, 2015.
The Not-So-Little Prince: The Zamprognas recently added a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy named Prince to their family. “He’s already 40 pounds and he’s only 3½ months old — he’s bigger than my 5-year-old! He’s awesome with the girls. He’s best friends with Adeline, my little one. He follows her everywhere and she’s obsessed with him. We have so many photos of her just literally laying on top of him. He loves it!”
Mike Check: The actor is enjoying his scenes with new on-screen grandfather Max Gail (Mike). “He’s a sweet guy and he just makes your heart break. He’s doing a bang-up job.”
Geek Squad: Zamprogna appeared in nine episodes of the beloved sci-fi series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA as James “Jammer” Lyman.
Did You Know?
• His father, actor/dancer Lou Zamprogna, appeared in the film versions of the classic musicals Fiddler on the Roof and Man of La Mancha.
• The actor drove all the way from his home in Canada to California to try out for the role of Dante.
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A Star Is Born
GH Casting Director Mark Teschner looks back on bringing Zamprogna aboard.
“The role of Dante, Sonny’s son, was a very pivotal role here. It felt like I was seeing every actor in Los Angeles who might be right for it! Dominic was living in Canada, where he was a pretty established working actor, and his agent submitted him for the role. I had him put himself on tape for the audition scene, and watching it on my computer, I just felt there was something about this guy. I called in my producer, who at the time was Jill Farren Phelps, and she stood by my computer and watched and she said, ‘I love this guy.’ After seeing hundreds and hundreds of actors, Dominic was one of maybe 10 actors who came in to read with Maurice [Benard, Sonny]. The chemistry in the room at his audition was off the charts. We loved him, Maurice loved him and it became a done deal very quickly.
“Dominic was always talented, but like any young actor, the more you work, the deeper and richer your work is going to become. And watching him through the years, where his work has really become incredibly complex and dynamic, it’s like watching a young guy turn into a man before your eyes.”
