Michael Mando (born July 13, 1981) is a Canadian actor, writer, director and singer with a background in contemporary and classical theatre. He became known for his role as Vaas Montenegro, an antagonist in the video game Far Cry 3, and as Victor "Vic" Schmidt in the science fiction series Orphan Black. He currently plays Nacho Varga on AMC's Better Call Saul.
Mando was born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. He was raised by his father, and is the middle child of three brothers. Their family frequently travelled, living in more than 10 cities, across four continents and in more than 35 different homes; all before his mid-20s. His family is of Mexican descent. His native language is French, and he also speaks English and Spanish fluently.
Mando was enrolled in many fields, including international relations, at the University of Montreal before discovering the performing arts at The Dome Theatre Program (Dawson College) in 2004. Despite having no prior training, Michael went on to play the male lead in all five productions of the program. He graduated with excellence in 2007. His Dome credits include Orlando in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Professor Katz in David Edgar’s Pentecost, and Valentine Xavier in Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending. Upon graduation, Steven W. Lecky, the Chairman of the program, proudly stated Michael to be "one of the finest talents to emerge from the program in the past 25 years."