The magnetism of theater pulled in Robert Tsonos at an early age, and kept him captive. He cannot account for the passion with which he responded to performance art, which still holds him in thrall. Robert says he is the only one in his immediate family, and in his extended family of several cousins, to have anything whatever to do with art. "Maybe that makes me a bit of a black sheep," he said. "I always had the passion, but didn't think I could make a profession out of it."
He is native to Montreal, Canada's 300-year-old largest city, in the province of Quebec. As a fallback in case he failed in acting, he took a degree in business at Concordia University. He was not surrounded by like-minded students, but his eventual earned qualification "satisfied my parents," he said. "Then I moved on to do what I was passionate about."
His natural assets were his good looks and his strong voice as well as his enthusiasm and aura of confidence. Eager to take his chance in forging his way, on his own initiative he left Montreal for Toronto, Canada's second-largest city and capital of the province of Ontario. "There," he said, "I took classes in acting. I wanted to work. I did the waiting thing for a couple of years while I was doing commercials and television shows. Gradually I did less waiting, and after five years I was acting full time."