If you were a fan of the TV series hit The Vampire Diaries, you would have met Enzo, an anti-hero and minor antagonist in the storyline who then became a main character in the sixth season.
His real-life name is Michael Kareem Malarkey, an actor who participated in numerous award-winning films and series, and who is also a music composer and singer.
Malarkey was born in Beirut in June 1983 to an Irish-American father and a British mother of Palestinian origins. The family then moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio, where Malarkey spent his childhood along with 2 younger brothers.
At 18, he starred in Grounded For Life (2001), an American sitcom television series about an Irish-Catholic couple with 3 kids who aren’t yet so sure they were ready for parenthood. Parents and kids would have to grow up together – or try to – through the series.
Malarkey found his calling then and decided to enroll at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, which he did, traveling to England in 2006.
He performed in various theatre plays in London, including lead roles, such as in the Spring Storm, Beyond the Horizon, an adaptation of The Great Gatsby, and Million Dollar Quartet playing Elvis Presley.
Malarkey also played in several films and TV series before landing the role of Lorenzo “Enzo” St. John in The Vampire Diaries (2013 to 2017), which he became most known for.
More recently, he starred in Violent Separation (2019), Project Blue Book (2019), and in one episode of the crime drama-thriller series Big Sky (2020).
Malarkey seemed to have been focusing more on his music in recent times.
As a musician, he did 3 EPs between 2014 and 2018, 9 singles between 2014 and 2019, and 3 studio albums between 2017 and 2020, the latest of which is Graveracer. He has been doing world tours with his musical performance, and just got back from his tour in Europe.
Malarkey, now age 38, is a father of two, said to be happily married since 2009 to the English actress Nadine Lewington who also has an extensive record in TV series.
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