Actor. Producer. Visionary.
Mike Dara is a Filipino–Laotian Canadian actor born and raised in Toronto, Canada. The son of Remedios, a Filipino nurse, and Vong, a Laotian musician who immigrated to Toronto in the 1980s, Mike grew up between structure and creativity—an intersection that continues to shape his work.
Before acting, Mike was a barber by day and musician by night. After connecting with engineers from neighboring recording studios, he was introduced to Grammy-nominated songwriter and vocal coach Nevon Sinclair. He performed throughout Toronto’s underground music scene, building a local following before realizing he had reached a creative ceiling.
That pivot led him to acting. After stepping into a downtown Toronto acting class, Mike committed fully to the craft. He went on to win top honors at a national acting conference, signed with an agent, and soon booked his breakout role as the quirky, scene-stealing rapping vampire Count Rapula on FX’s What We Do in the Shadows (2019).
Since then, Mike has continued building momentum with roles in Disney’s World’s Best (2023), Hudson & Rex (2021), and Most Dangerous Game (2020), guest-starring opposite Liam Hemsworth. In 2026, he appears in FOX’s DOC and the Netflix series Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, produced by the Duffer Brothers (Stranger Things), premiering March 2026.
Alongside his television work, Mike is an award-winning actor and filmmaker. His short film Aces earned Best Supporting Actor and Best Short Film at the Vancouver International Film Awards, as well as Best Editing. In 2023, he starred as the leading man in Josephine, which won Best Film, Audience Choice, and Best Acting Ensemble at the 48 Hour Film Festival. The film later screened internationally at Filmapalooza in Lisbon, Portugal, where it again received the Audience Choice Award.
Mike gravitates toward characters with an edge—funny until they’re dangerous, grounded until they explode—and leaves a mark long after the scene cuts to black.