MIKE TORNABENE

The measure of a good actor comes from their ability to create a believable and three-dimensional character. If they’re really skilled, they may even subconsciously forget they’re acting altogether.

- ARIANA WEST

Mike Tornabene did such a thorough job creating Dom Mazzetti for his “BroScienceLife’’ series that more than a few YouTubers thought Mazzetti was a real, honest-to-God person. That’s some pretty high praise for somebody who never intended on becoming an actor.

“My real personality is vastly different from Dom Mazzetti’s,” Tornabene says. “When people meet me, they’re pretty surprised we’re not even remotely similar. Dom represents everyone’s thoughts and inner voice. Most of the humor comes from making fun of myself and the way I do certain things—whether it’s working out, dating or going out drinking. My first step is thinking, ‘What do I do and why do I do it?’ then make fun of that.”

Dom Mazzetti was born by happenstance. Although he’d gone to NYU’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts with the intention of becoming a comedy writer, Tornabene couldn’t have imagined a platform like YouTube coming along. “My childhood friend and I were writing out scripts and trying to get into Hollywood the traditional way,” Tornabene says. “After we graduated, we were making YouTube videos as a way to promote ourselves and we created the character Dom Mazzetti. We went viral, it kept growing, we started making money off of ad revenue and parlayed that into a clothing brand.”