Lia Como

Lia Como
PerformerRDM
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Portrays:	Bespectacled Baltar Cultist
Date of Birth:
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month!
Nationality:	CAN
Related Media
		@ BW Media
Official Site (archived)
IMDb profile

Lia Como Spidlen is a former Canadian actress who portrayed an uncredited bespectacled Baltar cultist in the Re-imagined Series, identified via computer-aided facial recognition.

Career

Como appeared as a background performer in the Re-imagined Series episode "A Disquiet Follows My Soul," playing an unnamed cultist among the followers of Gaius Baltar aboard the Galactica. The role was uncredited and her identity was subsequently established through computer-aided facial recognition.

Como trained at Ryerson University in Toronto, where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in Acting. She also trained in Reggio Emilia, Italy, at the International School of Comic Acting with Antonio Fava, a noted instructor in commedia dell'arte. She holds Canadian and Italian citizenship and speaks fluent Italian.

Her film credits, all shot in or around Vancouver, include lead and principal roles across more than a dozen independent productions. Among them, she played the lead in Shifter (2011), a horror film produced by Phantom Films in which eight friends encounter two fighting vampires on a weekend getaway, and had a principal role in Mother / Hood, a short screened at Cannes in 2009 and directed by Matteo Saradini. Other film credits include Killer Instinct (Outsider Productions), Death Trap (2% Solution Productions), The Mad House (2% Solutions Productions), Quest for Samurai (Phantom Films), and several independent productions including All In, The 'What-If' Girl, Grievously Bodily Harm, Cinnamon Girl, Denial and the Dark, Buzz Off!, and Strangers in a Park.

Como also appeared as Lisette in a Vancouver-based filmed adaptation of Molière's Sganarelle, or The Imaginary Cuckold (2010), produced by CMHL Enterprises and directed by Michel Duran and Jay Lewyn.

From November 2009 to January 2017, Como served as co-host and producer of Italian Adventures, a web television series she also conceived. Over two seasons, she organised cast and crew, managed production logistics, and developed and maintained the show's website and social media presence.

Theatre

Como wrote and produced original commedia dell'arte stage work throughout the mid-2000s under the banner "2 Crazy Canadians," collaborating with actor Nigel Smith. The pair's first production, Grummelot, premiered at the Toronto Fringe Festival in July 2005, performing at the Royal St. George's Theatre, 120 Howland Avenue, Toronto. Grummelot was created by Como and Jimmy Hogg and described two servants falling in love while preparing for their masters' wedding, told by two actors playing six characters with four masks. The show subsequently toured to the 2006 Shanghai Fringe (November 11–12, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, 288 Anfu Road), where Como and Smith also conducted two workshops on "Literary Comedy of Italy" as part of a Canada in Focus programme. Grummelot then played the 2007 Vancouver International Fringe Festival (September 9–16, The Beaumont Studios, 316 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver) and the 2007 Italian Cultural Centre Annual Carnival (February 16, Italian Cultural Centre Society, 3075 Slocan Street, Vancouver).

Como's second original production, Tombola!, was written and produced by Como, guest directed by Josh Hallem, and again starred Como and Smith. The show ran at the 2008 Adelaide Fringe Festival (February 26 – March 5, South Australian German Association Main Hall, 223 Flinders Street, Adelaide, Australia) and described an old man's game of chance with love, money, and war told through two actors and seven masks.

Additional theatre credits include Sganarelle (playing The Maid for Théâtre de l'Arbre Perché), Maggie's Getting Married (lead, Metro Theatre, directed by John Crittenden), Miss(ed) Italia (Lucky 13 Productions, directed by Stefano Giulianetti), Death of a Clown (ITSAZOO Productions), El Tango del Leche (playing Pulcinella, Theatre Under the Gun / BellaLuna Productions), The Best Italian Variety Show (BellaLuna Productions), The Beggar's Opera (playing Molly Brazen, University of British Columbia Productions), and Cabaret (pit band clarinetist, Ryerson Productions).

Personal life

Como returned to Vancouver from Toronto following her university studies and pursued acting and original theatre production until around 2009. She holds dual Canadian and Italian citizenship and plays both clarinet and piano.

After stepping back from performance work, Como transitioned into administrative and marketing roles in Vancouver. She worked at the Vancouver Regional Construction Association from June 2009 to February 2014, progressing from reception and administrative work to Coordinator of Membership Development and then Event Coordinator, organising events for 20 to 1,200 guests including golf tournaments, awards ceremonies, and an annual boat cruise. From April 2014 to April 2019 she served as Marketing Coordinator at the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – British Columbia (ACEC-BC). Concurrently, between January 2015 and January 2018, she owned and operated Tuscala Beauty, a handmade artisan soap business based in Greater Vancouver and inspired by Italy. She took a career break from April 2019 to September 2024 for full-time parenting, after which she relocated to southern Oregon and took up work as a Substitute Educational Assistant with the Southern Oregon Education Service District.

References