Adan Canto believes he had some keen insights into the character he plays in Fox TV’s upcoming series The Cleaning Lady. The show is the latest of half a dozen Hollywood projects in the budding actor’s career to feature him in starring and recurring roles.

Canto plays mobster Arman Morales in the adaptation of the Argentinian series La Chica que Limpia by Lucas Combina, which centers on Thony De La Rosa (Élodie Yung), a Cambodian medical doctor. Thony’s visa expires and she finds herself trapped in Las Vegas, forced to support her severely ill son by working as a cleaning lady alongside her Filipina sister-in-law Fiona (Martha Millan). 

Élodie Yung and Adan Canto in The Cleaning Lady (Credit: Fox TV)

After accidentally witnessing a murder, Thony is recruited by Arman to use her medical skills as a “cleaner,” erasing evidence of the mob’s crimes, which leads her to live a double life and play the game by her own rules in a dangerous criminal underworld.

“I think I have an advantage in understanding some aspects of Arman just because I was raised in a border town,” says Canto, who was born in Ciudad Acuña, a small Mexican city across from Del Rio, Texas. “Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, crossing the border a dozen times a day was no big deal at all,” recalls the actor. “I grew up understanding both the Mexican culture and the American culture fully.”  

The Cleaning Lady is created and executive produced by Canadian Miranda Kwok. Homeland director Michael Offer directed and exec produced the pilot. The show enjoys an international cast. Mexican-born Canto and Yung, who is French of Cambodian descent, are joined by Millan from Australia and Oliver Hudson from the U.S. Recurring roles include Argentinean Eva De Dominici as Arman’s wife, Nadia, and Iraqi/Canadian Shiva Neger as the Syndicate boss’s daughter. Thony’s young son, Luc De La Rosa, is played by twins Sebastien and Valentino LaSalle.

Canto says he understands the complexities of his character, who has to make tough decisions to get ahead but also shows sympathy in his own way to other less fortunate people. “When Arman first meets a very frightened Thony, he tries to comfort her by saying, ‘I’m also an outsider, I come from another country, too,’” Canto says. “I know what drives Arman,” he adds. “He comes from a certain background, but life’s circumstances have pushed him to be in an environment that has him working for the Syndicate. He has very strong morals, but at the same time, he knows what it takes to succeed.” 

Adan Canto in ABC’s Mixology as Dominic. (ABC/Craig Sjodin)

Even when making questionable choices, Arman still tries to do some good, according to the actor. “He’s not somebody who particularly enjoys doing these evil deeds, but he knows that in order to arrive at a certain place there are things that he has to do,” explains Canto, “But he wants to do right for the people around him.” 

As a thespian, Canto has certainly done right for himself. He originally started performing as a singer at age 7 and left home after turning 16 to pursue a professional career in music on both sides of the border, reportedly collaborating with San Antonio-based Studio M and also writing and producing songs for Mexican films and television. He then turned to acting, first appearing in commercials in Mexico City and later cast in a television series Estado de Gracia, a political suspense series in which he plays a popular actor with a drug habit. He also did theater and was cast in the Mexican adaptation of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s Oscar-winning drama All About My Mother. 

Adan Canto, left, as White House Chief of Staff Aaron Shore, and Kal Penn in Designated Survivor (Photo: ABC)

The year 2013 marked Canto’s debut in American television with the Fox drama series The Following, which led to his appearance in other series like ABC’s dramedy Mixology and Netflix’s Narcos, and the blockbuster superhero movie X-Men: Days of Future Past–playing mutant Sunspot. Other shows featuring Canto in recurring roles are ABC’s drama Blood & Oil and Fox’s sci-fi drama Second Chance.

Canto eventually joined the cast of the ABC political drama series Designated Survivor, playing White Chief of Staff Aaron Shore opposite Kiefer Sutherland. After two seasons on ABC, the show was acquired by Netflix for a third and final season that was released in 2019–and which is still available on the streamer.

The year 2021 is ending well for Canto. He appears opposite Halle Berry in Netflix’s Bruised, a sports drama that marks the Oscar-winner actress’ directorial debut. He plays Desi, the love interest of Jacky, the movie’s central character. 

While Bruised is helping Canto conclude the year on a high note, the actor is also looking forward to 2022. T

he Cleaning Lady debuts Jan. 3. “New year, new show,” Canto posted on Instagram. “Thrilled for you all to see this one.”