CRANFORD, NJ — “First Shift,” “American Trash” and “Silent Partners” are just some of the movies for which Emilio DiFabio is known.
He’s also known as the owner of DiFabio Construction Company in Cranford, which was started by his father in 1972. “I started working with him when I was 8, carrying bricks and cinder blocks, and mixed cement,” said DiFabio. “I started running heavy equipment when I was 12.”
DiFabio Construction Co. was DiFabio’s first job. And it was his only job until he broke into acting, which happened by chance.
One day, DiFabio was listening to American actor Garry Pastore while he was on a podcast talking about Italian food. DiFabio reached out to Pastore and they ended up arguing about the cure time. Then the argument went from sauce versus gravy. DiFabio, who was born in Italy and came to live in Cranford when he was a toddler, said, “We say ‘sauce.’ Gravy is brown, you put it on turkey.”
DiFabio and Pastore ended up being friends. Pastore invited him out and they ended up at Empire Casino in Queens. Vincent Pastore from the Sopranos was there. DiFabio said, “Gary said to me, ‘Vinnie agrees. You have a look that the camera would love you.”
Being a contractor, DiFabio felt there was no way he was going to get into acting.
He started shooting as a background actor in Miami and then ended up getting lines. He said, “By a stroke of luck, there’s an agent in Los Angeles, Diana Carter. She saw me on Unlimited Clips. She was trying to find out who I was. She called me up. She said, ‘I really like your work. I want to represent you.’”
It was a one-in-a-million shot.
DiFabio took some acting classes with Vincent Pastore in New York City. He followed up with classes from Ronnie Marmo of “General Hospital.” He continues to hone his skills taking refresher classes.
Acting is something DiFabio wanted to do since he was in elementary school. He was in a few plays and, at 17, he had head shots taken. But then life got in the way. He said, “I went to college, worked. I did have auditions but never followed through and pursued. Being an immigrant, we weren’t in the greatest financial shape. I watched my dad struggle to make a living. My mom worked. You had to go to work. You didn’t have a choice. Acting wasn’t going to make me any money. I kind of went off it, until I met Garry.”
DiFabio’s first film, “Silent Partners,” happened seven years ago, although it was finally released this year. He recently was asked to be in the off-Broadway comedy-mystery “Murdered by the Mob,” in New York City, as a fill-in character.
Now, with all his success, he continues to work in construction. “That’s what I do,” he said. “I love what I do. I don’t see me ever getting out of construction.”
Being self-employed makes it easier for DiFabio to take off work when he has to travel for acting jobs. And he feels the best part of being in the business is meeting new people and being able to bring a character to life. He said, “When you get a character description, they give you your scripts. The character is not a real person. They will tell you his likes, his dislikes. You have to take that all in and be that person. That’s the best part of the whole thing.”
Of course there are challenges. DiFabio said, “There’s a lot of pressure. You want to do your best, keeping the director happy. Challenges are the moment you get on set to the end of the day.”
When DiFabio isn’t working, he builds race cars and hot rods. He said, “I have the ultimate man cave garage.” He also likes to travel and returns to Italy every year, sometimes twice a year, where he has a house.
Photo Courtesy of Emilio DiFabio