Mario Opinato was born in Catania, Sicily, on July 26, 1964, where he began his career as a dancer in a contemporary Dance Theatre Company. In July 1990, after a year spent in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) where he studied Latin American dances such as salsa, merengue, and samba, he moved to Los Angeles where he studied at the Lee Strasberg Actors Studio in Hollywood.

He has since played leading and supporting roles in such American stage productions as "The Threepenny Opera" (by Bertolt Brecht), "Cecè" (by Luigi Pirandello), "Camino Real" and "27 Wagons Full of Cotton" (by Tennessee Williams), and "The Necklace' and "The Forbidden Fruit" (Guy de Maupassant). In 1994, he got his first part in The Dangerous (1995), starring Joel Grey and Elliott Gould. He has appeared in over 20 films, from large budget to independent films as well as television shows. His studio pictures include İkili takım (1997), Seksi peri (1999), Texas 46 (2002), Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018), Dünyanın Bütün Parası (2017), 2047: Sights of Death (2014), Annamaura (2012), and Rest (2003).