KFC’s new Colonel Sanders isn’t the only Sudburian who is currently appearing in a national commercial.
After our story last month about how Sudburian Rob Wills came to appear in the KFC ads, another Sudbury actor, Donno Mitoma, reached out to tell us he’s in national commercials for Pizza Pizza and Subaru.
You can watch those below:
In the Pizza Pizza commercial, released in early 2023, Mitoma is seen extolling the virtues of “fixed-rate pizza,” while in the Subaru commercial, released in late 2022, he’s seen washing a muddy car and then driving it down a muddy road again.
Mitoma explains that he won’t be with his employer long enough to get a full pension.
So about eight years ago, he started thinking of ways he could supplement his income in retirement. He said he had a “10-year plan” to get himself launched into acting, as he’s learned it takes awhile for actors to become popular.
Mitoma had previously appeared in several Hallmark-style movies shot in Sudbury and North Bay.
Since the pandemic, he’s also been auditioning a lot for commercials, as actors are able to send in audition self-tapes. The Subaru and Pizza Pizza commercials are the first two commercials he’s ever booked.
For the Subaru commercial, Mitoma said he’d auditioned for the company about a year previously, but hadn’t booked the part.
But he ended up getting a part — on very short notice — for another Subaru commercial, which was filmed in August 2022. He figures because he'd been in the running for the previous Subaru commercial, the casting professionals remembered who he was.
“The actual experience was amazing,” Mitoma said, adding that it was filmed in Toronto over a couple of days.
An entire car wash was rented out for part of the film shoot, which involved more than 100 crew members. “They were just filming me that morning,” he said. “I tell you, that was the freakiest moment of my acting career.”
Mitoma actually got to keep his racing suit he wore for the filming, which was custom-made for the commercial shoot.
The Pizza Pizza commercial was filmed in December 2022, also in the Toronto area. “The Pizza-Pizza commercial was actually (filmed) in somebody’s home,” Mitoma said. “We got to meet the homeowners and everything.”
A pizza truck was even set up outside the shoot, making fresh pizzas.
He said he’s received messages from friends across Canada who have seen the commercials, and are asking if it’s him in the ads. “They keep telling me they’re seeing it on the NHL playoffs,” Mitoma said.
The actor continues to do auditions, and wants to let people know he actually has a “nude” scene coming out on season two of “The Lake,” which runs on Amazon Prime.
“It is a funny scene and it should make the cut,” Mitoma said. “It should be airing pretty soon.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
