``Cinema Paradiso'' Magic caused by love of movies. That miraculous child actor is now...

Toto, a young boy who has become an adult, is introduced in a painful manner.

Another miracle created by ``Cinema Paradiso'' is Salvatore Cascio, who plays Toto's childhood. Born in Sicily, he made his first film appearance at the age of 8 when he was selected to appear in ``Cinema Paradiso''. Director Giuseppe Tornatore chose him from among photos of more than 300 boys living on the island of Sicily.

After that, she started a brilliant career, appearing in director Tornatore's ``Minna Genki'' (1990) and several other movies, singing the theme song for the soccer World Cup, and appearing in commercials in Japan. Salvatore. At the time, he said, ``I want to become a movie producer in the future.'' However, he almost retired from acting at the age of 13. He ran a restaurant and hotel in a town near the village in Sicily where ``Cinema Paradiso'' was filmed, and the restaurant sold original olive oil with Toto's face on the label. That's it.

"Cinema Paradiso" © Photofest / Getty Images

However, in the documentary ``Another Cinema Paradiso'' broadcast on NHK-BS in 2015, Salvatore reunited with director Tornatore and appeared wearing glasses with black lenses. He was introduced to me as working at a supermarket with a damaged eye. His appearance, which has completely changed since his childhood when he captivated movie fans with his innocent smile, overlaps with Alfredo's blindness in the movie theater fire in ``Cinema Paradiso'', and it is painful.

Was Salvatore Casio's eye disease cured after that? What are you currently working on? No concrete information is available at this time. ``Cinema Paradiso,'' which stirs up nostalgia for a lost movie theater culture, forever imprinted the momentary brilliance of a genius child actor whose acting will probably never be seen again.

Text: Hiroaki Saito

Became freelance in 1997, contributing movie reviews and interview articles to various media such as movie magazines, theater pamphlets, and movie sites. The column is constantly updated on Yahoo! News. Star Channel's program "GO! Theater" introduces the latest released works.

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