Louisville, Kentucky-born, Staten Island-raised Michael Rainey Jr. may be only 20, but his acting résumé already spans more than a decade.
Hewas first noticed at age 9 strolling on the streets of New York with his mom; that chance encounter with a talent scout led to work in TV commercials.
But it was an Italian music video that served as Rainey’s launching pad. That video, for Tiziano Ferro’s "Il Regalo Più Grande" — in which Rainey portrayed a sweet-faced boy playing pitch and catch with his dad — was put into heavy rotation on MTV Italia and noticed by writer-director Silvio Muccino, who cast Rainey in the 2010 Italian drama Another World.
Read more on hollywoodreporter.com