Italian actor Francesco Dalli Cani is adding a new screen format to his growing résumé with ‘Sweet Temptation’, a romantic mafia drama adapted from the novel by bestselling author Cora Reilly.
Produced by Loomlight Production, with Risanta Li producing and Raghav Puri directing, the vertical series brings Reilly’s enemies-to-lovers story to the screen through the fast-growing short-form vertical drama format. For Dalli Cani, who plays the supporting role of Andrea, the project marked his first experience working within a genre and format that has developed its own distinctive style of storytelling.
At the center of ‘Sweet Temptation’ is 21-year-old Giulia Rizzo, whose life is turned upside down when she suddenly finds herself engaged against her will to ruthless crime lord Cassio Moretti. Giulia isn’t simply being asked to become Cassio’s wife. She is also expected to step into the life left behind by his late wife and become a mother figure to his two young children.
Complicating everything are the rumors surrounding Cassio himself, including speculation that he may have been responsible for his wife’s bloody and untimely death. As rebellious Giulia attempts to create a life inside a marriage she never chose, Cassio’s unwillingness to open his heart threatens to leave them both trapped in yet another broken relationship. For Dalli Cani, however, getting into Cassio Moretti’s dangerous world happened somewhat unexpectedly.
From Bodyguard Submission to Supporting Role
The opportunity began with advice from Dalli Cani’s acting coach, Noah Blake, who suggested that taking carefully selected background roles could provide another way to gain professional set experience and build relationships. More specifically, Blake suggested bodyguard roles.
The reasoning was practical: bodyguards in crime and action-driven productions frequently remain close to principal characters, potentially giving an actor substantial time on set and an opportunity to observe the production process firsthand.
When Blake sent Dalli Cani screenshots of the ‘Sweet Temptation’ casting notice on Actors Access, the actor took his advice but went one step further.
“I submitted for background as a bodyguard, but I also submitted for the supporting role of Andrea,” Dalli Cani recalls.
Early Monday morning, while Dalli Cani was at the gym, an email arrived from the casting director asking whether he would be interested in playing the lead character’s bodyguard. It was a rush call, with filming scheduled for later that same day. He immediately accepted, abandoned his workout, and headed home to prepare. Then another email arrived.
“Basically, it said, ‘Forget the previous email. Would you like to play Andrea?” he recalls. “That was the supporting role I had submitted for. I was ecstatic.”
Instead of reporting to set as background, Dalli Cani had landed his first role in a vertical series. It was an unexpected step forward, but one he was determined to be ready for.
Learning the Language of Vertical Drama
Although Dalli Cani already had experience across film, theatre, live performance, and modeling, he understood immediately that working in vertical drama would require a different approach.
Born in Arzignano and raised in Vicenza, Italy, Dalli Cani developed his acting foundation through theatre and Classical Studies before eventually relocating to Los Angeles in 2023. His academic background included extensive study of Latin, Ancient Greek, philosophy and literature, while his performance experience ranged from live children’s entertainment to competitive Caribbean dance. He later trained for the screen at the New York Film Academy, graduating in 2025. That combination has encouraged an analytical approach to preparing characters, and ‘Sweet Temptation’ was no exception.
“It was my first vertical project, so I was a little nervous,” he explains. “Verticals are their own beast when it comes to acting. It’s a very specific acting style.”
Rather than arriving on set and attempting to figure out the tone as filming progressed, Dalli Cani researched director Raghav Puri and watched some of his previous work. He then compared those projects with other vertical dramas telling similar stories. The preparation gave him a clearer understanding of the heightened emotional language required by the format.
“It’s a bit of heightened reality mixed with a telenovela-like storytelling structure,” Dalli Cani says. “My acting had to reflect that; otherwise, I would stick out like a sore thumb.”
It was an important distinction. Vertical dramas may be designed for mobile viewing and told in short episodes, but for the actors involved, the compressed storytelling can demand an immediate command of tone. Relationships, betrayals, confrontations and emotional reversals often need to register quickly, leaving little room for an actor to gradually establish the stakes. For Dalli Cani, adapting to those demands became part of the attraction.
Andrea Steps Into Cassio Moretti’s Dangerous World
Dalli Cani’s role as Andrea placed him directly inside one of the story’s more volatile situations. His first major sequence begins with an intimate encounter before taking a dramatic turn when mafia boss Cassio Moretti returns home and discovers Andrea with his wife. The confrontation escalates rapidly.
Andrea is attacked, knocked unconscious, and ultimately dragged into a basement, where the situation develops into an interrogation and torture sequence. The progression meant that Dalli Cani’s first vertical production gave him two very different challenges almost immediately: performing an intimacy scene and then executing choreographed physical action.
“The intimacy scene was very light,” he explains. “But obviously you still want to make sure everyone is comfortable, and everything is approached professionally.”
The physical sequence presented an entirely different technical challenge. For the interrogation, Andrea is tied to a chair as Cassio questions and assaults him. The scene was filmed inside a confined room, leaving the crew with limited space for performers, lighting and camera equipment.
“The room was very tight,” Dalli Cani recalls. “The crew had lit it beautifully, but they had barely managed to squeeze the camera in.”
Before filming, the actors and stunt team constructed a short choreography for the punches, rehearsing the movements before cameras rolled. Dalli Cani had already received light combat stunt training during his acting education, while his previous dance background had given him an understanding of choreography, timing and controlled physical movement. As he has noted previously, learning staged combat has similarities to learning dance: both require performers to know precisely where they need to be, what movement comes next and how to work safely with a partner.
But ‘Sweet Temptation’ gave him an opportunity to put those skills into practice in a professional production environment.
Creating a Safe Set for Difficult Scenes
What stood out most to Dalli Cani was the professionalism surrounding both sequences.
“The crew was amazingly professional,” he says. “The production was running smoothly, on time and stress-free.”
He particularly credits the production’s intimacy and stunt coordinators with establishing an environment in which he could concentrate on performance without compromising safety.
“The intimacy coordinator and stunt coordinator were amazing,” he says. “They coordinated with each other and made sure I was in a safe environment and that I could do my job.”
Director Raghav Puri’s approach also helped Dalli Cani settle quickly into the unfamiliar format.
“The director was very kind and had a nice, practical way of giving directions,” he adds.
Puri also allowed Dalli Cani to capture behind-the-scenes material from his scenes, which the actor kept private in accordance with his contractual obligations until the series had officially been released. The experience reinforced something increasingly important in Dalli Cani’s career: his ability to move between different forms of performance while adjusting his technique to meet the needs of each production.
An Italian Actor Made for the Mafia World
There was also something fitting about ‘Sweet Temptation’ becoming Dalli Cani’s introduction to vertical drama. Blake had already told his student that he believed the Italian actor could be particularly well suited to the mafia-romance world that has become a recognizable part of vertical storytelling.
Dalli Cani is multilingual, speaking Italian and English alongside Spanish and Russian to varying levels, and has developed an ability to adjust and heighten his natural Italian accent depending on a character. His background also includes classical theatre, dance and physical performance. Then there is what Dalli Cani and Blake jokingly refer to as his “old money peacock” brand.
“My character archetype is ‘rich and stylish,’“ Dalli Cani explains. “So these kinds of projects work perfectly. Fancy villas and expensive-looking sets fit the aesthetic.”
‘Sweet Temptation’ certainly delivered on that front. Filming took place across two large Los Angeles-area villas, including locations in Woodland Hills and the Hollywood Hills. Dalli Cani had heard stories about the extravagant homes frequently used for mafia and billionaire vertical dramas, but seeing the production environments firsthand still surprised him.
“I was astonished,” he says. “The locations were beautiful.”
Reaching the second villa became something of an adventure itself. Because the hillside property offered virtually no parking for the cast, production instructed the actors to meet at a separate parking area, where transportation would take them to set. Dalli Cani arrived approximately 15 minutes early and found himself standing alongside several other actors, none entirely certain they were in the correct place.
“We were all basically looking at each other wondering if we were where we were supposed to be,” he remembers. “Imagine the sigh of relief when a bus finally showed up and the driver started calling our names.”
When Your Acting Coach Turns Up on Set
The production also delivered one particularly unexpected behind-the-scenes moment. Before Dalli Cani’s second day of filming, he received the call sheet and began his usual preparation, reviewing his lines, checking his call time and studying the day’s schedule.
Then he noticed a familiar name among the cast. Noah Blake. The same acting coach who had originally encouraged Dalli Cani to submit for ‘Sweet Temptation’ had independently landed a role on the same production.
“I immediately called him,” Dalli Cani says. “We were both laughing because somehow we’d managed to book the same project.”
Their reunion on set was made even more memorable by Blake’s arrival time. By the time his coach reached the location, Dalli Cani was already in the middle of filming Andrea’s interrogation scene, tied to a chair, covered in fake blood and being “punched to death” by mafia boss Cassio Moretti. During a lighting and camera adjustment, Blake came over to see his student.
Naturally, they took a photograph.
“My acting coach is standing there proudly taking a picture with me while I’m tied to a chair covered in fake blood,” Dalli Cani laughs. “He told me I was doing a really good job selling the punches.”
Later, after Dalli Cani had wrapped, Blake summed up his student’s initiation into the format.
“Well Fran, congratulations on your first vertical project,” Dalli Cani remembers him saying. “You had the whole vertical experience. On your first project, you had an intimacy scene, a stunt scene, and you met your acting coach on set. Good job.”
Discovering ‘Sweet Temptation’ Was Live, From Italy
Once filming was completed, Dalli Cani waited eagerly to see the finished series. He knew ‘Sweet Temptation’ would one day be released but wasn’t certain how quickly vertical productions moved from set to screen. Eventually, production sent him an email confirming that the series was live. There was just one problem. Dalli Cani already knew.
A friend in Italy who regularly watches vertical drama series had been searching for something new when she happened upon ‘Sweet Temptation’. Dalli Cani had previously mentioned that he had filmed his first vertical series but hadn’t yet told his friends the title was available. She discovered it herself. Once Dalli Cani suddenly appeared on screen, she stopped watching and called another mutual friend so the two could continue the series together.
Dalli Cani’s phone subsequently rang with a video call from Italy.
“Imagine my surprise when I get this video call from my two friends telling me they saw me in ‘Sweet Temptation’,” he says.
It was an appropriately unexpected ending to a project that had begun just as unpredictably—with a trip to the gym, an email about background work and another message suddenly offering him a supporting role.
For Dalli Cani, ‘Sweet Temptation’ ultimately became far more than his introduction to vertical drama. It tested his ability to research and adapt to an unfamiliar acting style, put his physical training into practice, introduced him to a rapidly expanding screen format and gave him experience working through both intimacy and stunt sequences within the same production. Most importantly, it left him wanting to do it again.
“Overall, it was a splendid and fun experience that left me wanting more,” Dalli Cani says.
As he continues building his career in Los Angeles across film, television, vertical storytelling, modeling and original creative projects, ‘Sweet Temptation’ adds another dimension to an increasingly versatile résumé and potentially opens the door to a genre that seems particularly well suited to an Italian actor with a flair for transformation, physical performance and, as his coach puts it, a distinctly “rich and stylish” screen presence.
To find out more, follow Francesco Dalli Cani on Instagram.
