Biography
Anghel Damian was born on August 9, 1991, into a family of renowned Romanian filmmakers. He began his acting career at 17, initially performing in theatre and independent short films. Damian was admitted to the National University of Theatrical and Cinematography Arts with a merit scholarship for the Acting Program, graduating with a perfect 10 (A+) average. While still a student, he received the Best Actor Award at the CinemaIubit International Film Festival for his performances in three different short films.
After graduation, he secured his first major television role, portraying the antagonist in 70 episodes of the popular Romanian TV series "Lost Angels." He also made his feature film debut with a supporting role in "Roxanne," directed by Vali Hotea, which premiered at the 2013 Locarno Film Festival. In autumn 2013, Damian won the Best Young Comedy Actor Award at the National Gala for Young Talent "Gala Hop," a prestigious Romanian theatre event.
In 2014, he was recognized as one of 20 young European actors to watch at the Subtitle Film Festival. He expanded his involvement in film and theatre production by producing two short films and co-producing numerous independent theatre plays. Damian also ventured into screenwriting, completing his first feature film script: Marona's Fantastic Adventure, which premiered at the Annecy Festival in 2019.
From December 2015, he served as Personal Adviser in Theatre Management to the Minister of Culture during the tenures of Vlad Alexandrescu and Corina Suteu, until January 2017. In May 2017, he joined the Bucharest Theatre of Comedy (Teatrul de Comedie) as an actor and secured the lead role in the TV series "Saturday Night Years," created by Nae Caranfil and nationally televised in 2018.
In 2018, Damian began collaborating with renowned theatre director Andrei Șerban, playing key roles in two Bucharest productions: Don John in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Treplev in Chekhov's The Seagull. He directed his first short film, "Michelangelo," which premiered at the 2018 Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) and won the Special Jury Prize. He became a grantee of the newly established "Lucian Pintilie" fund, honoring the late director and supporting arthouse cinema by emerging filmmakers, and started working on his second short film, "Celed."
In 2019, Damian became the head writer for "VLAD," Romania's most successful TV series, a modern adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo. In June 2019, his second short film "Celed" (Minion) premiered at TIFF, winning the Special Jury Prize. Additionally, "Marona's Fantastic Tale," based on his original script, premiered at the Annecy Film Festival and was acquired by GKIDS for North American distribution.
3 wins and 10 nominations
