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Tampa native's on-screen dream come true
He's what's right with Tampa Bay
TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa native who just landed a starring role in a film being shown at the Gasparilla Film Festival is fulfilling a dream that took root in high school.
Actor Sean Ricciardi caught the acting bug while at Hillsborough High School in Tampa.
"I went out on stage that first night," Ricciardi said. "Did the first scene and came off the stage. The second I got in the wings, I was like this is it. I know this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. It was just a feeling, like a calling, almost like a, you know, like it was my vocation. It's like what I meant to do is be an actor. So ever since then, it's, you know, it's been a kind of a whirlwind."
The fury hasn't stopped. Ricciardi just got his first leading role in the short film "Leaving Yellowstone." It will be shown at the Gasparilla Film Festival this weekend.
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"To play an outdoors guy and fly up to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I mean, I felt like I had won the lotto. It was just like a great it was one of the greatest experiences of my life," he explained.
Ricciardi has some television credits and was in the Showtime series ‘Homeland’. He has also produced and starred in a theater show in New York called ‘Shining City.'
"I played the lead role in that and yeah, self-produced with my partner Erin McNerney, and we opened on St Patrick's Day, actually. So it was kind of a fun, fun thing, and we ran for 16 performances," he shared.
It was an opportunity that Sean doesn't take lightly.
"I'm really grateful for everything that I've gotten so far. I'm really grateful for the people I've worked with, you know, especially on this film," he said.
The Gasparilla Film Festival is March 23-26.