Italo Medelius, who plays sleazy, business-savvy weed-dealer JD, was born in Lima, Peru. He moved with his family to Hampstead, NC in 2003. Italo attended UNC Asheville and completed 2 Bachelor’s degrees in 3 years in Drama and Business Management. In 2014, Medelius temporarily studied acting and dance at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is currently based out of Asheville, NC and primarily works on stage and screen in Western North Carolina, Upstate South Carolina, and Atlanta.

What do you and your character in The Girl From Carolina have in common?

I don’t really have much in common with JD. He might actually be the complete opposite of me. The one thing that we do have in common is that we smile a lot!

Besides making redneck web series, what other kind of stuff are you into?

I spend most of my time working as an actor on stage and screen, but besides being an actor I’m a mixed martial artist. I train in Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, and Muay Thai. You may be able to catch a glimpse of my cauliflower ear throughout the series.

What was your favorite on set meal while filming The Girl From Carolina?

I think the best meal I had was on my first day that I was called on-set. We ate at Substation II where we were shooting and that might have been the best Philly Cheesesteak (with no cheese) that I’ve had. But a close second is the pizza that we had after pulling a 14 hour day due to a scheduling mishap. That might have been the best pizza I’ve ever had…