Giacomo Gianniotti just finished his 50th episode acting in one of TVs most durable hits, Greys Anatomy: a heady position for a young Canadian actor. He's inclined to thank marijuana for getting him to this stage in life.

I guess Im really happy for pot, says the actor, smiling, during a Skype chat. Because if I hadnt smoked it . . . I wouldnt have gone to Toronto and stepped into the me that I was meant to be.

Gianniotti, 27, has been a regular on Greys, now in its 13th season, playing Dr. Andrew DeLuca since 2015. You may have caught him on the big screen in last years Stephen Hopkins film Race; hes also enjoyed stints on shows including Reign, Selfie and Murdoch Mysteries.

And it all began, he supposes, in Grade 9 in Parry Sound, when he was caught smoking marijuana. He was kicked out of school and moved to Toronto to live with his dad, where he attended Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts.

In high school, he recalls, he would break into the Kraft Canada headquarters parking lot in North York with his buddies.

Wed have coffee and cigarettes and just talk, says Gianniotti. (There) was this beautiful view of the Don Valley Parkway.

Sometime after Cardinal Carter, he enrolled in Humber Colleges theatre program, during which time he set up shop with some pals in Parkdale in a horrible apartment with cockroaches. It was a far cry from his childhood back in Parry Sound (everybody left their doors open, you shared food with your neighbours, he recalls), but Toronto is where his acting career began.

Before long, though, he was looking south. Greys Anatomy was in its early years when Gianniotti was in high school. The girls at his school watched, but hed never seen it. Fast forward, a bunch of years later . . . I sent a tape out for this Greys Anatomy character.

Four months went by and he hadnt heard back. Gianniotti had begun to feel frustrated with the small pool of acting options in Toronto and he decided to move to Los Angeles.

Driving across America with two Toronto friends who were helping him relocate, he got a call from his agent, telling him that Greys Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes a huge figure in the TV industry wanted to meet with him when he arrived in L.A.

The three men were in Albuquerque and Gianniotti told his friends to take over driving for the rest of the way. In the back of the car he studied his script. When he arrived in L.A., he met with Rhimes and her team a few days later, he had the part.

Joining the show was at first overwhelming.

It was a lot of people, a lot of personalities . . . its hard to get quiet, says Gianniotti.

And quiet is important for the actor, who calls himself really shy and really introverted. He uses his headphones to block out some of the noise on set and he has guitars in his trailer, which he plays to unwind.

But hes found a kindred spirit in actor Martin Henderson, who plays Ellen Pompeos new love interest, cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Nathan Riggs.

Hes from New Zealand and Im from Canada, and weve just drawn a lot of parallels of being mountain men and liking the outdoors, Gianniotti says of his off-set friend.

Getting used to new environments is nothing novel to the blue-eyed Italian-Canadian, who was born in Rome to an Italian father and a Canadian mother, and moved to this country when he was around 5 years old. But he had a lot to learn, it emerged, about one of the staples of his new job: simulating surgery.

Theres just so much protocol in the OR, he says, recalling that one medical producer was especially exasperated with him that first day.

Shes like, If a doctor saw you, they would be like, faker! he says with a laugh. And we dont want that, so my first surgery every two seconds, she was like Cut! Giacomo! What are you your hands are no! oh my God!

It was a little bit of a learning curve and (the other actors were) laughing at me, he chuckles. Because they had all been there themselves and were remembering it.

His character was most recently at the centre of a dramatic, violent encounter with Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), which almost sent the latter (a fan-favourite character) to jail. Gianniotti is excited for fans to see the season finale, which he describes as huge and wild and big-budget, but laments that theres just so many amazing things (about it) and I cannot tell you any of them!

The eventfulness of the deathless Greys is probably one key to its success; the show gained teen viewers last year while staying in the top 10 among TV watchers aged 18 to 34 for the sixth year running, according to ABC. Gianniotti cant comment yet on whether hell be back on the show next season; his own contract is managed yearly and he hasnt received it yet.

How has his life been changed by the gig?

I didnt have much growing up. Im so grateful for what I have now and its kind of ridiculous, to be honest, he admits.

But the actor often talking with his hands during the interview or absent-mindedly stroking his beard doesnt see the point in spending money on material effects.

I dont buy fancy things . . . I have, like, three pairs of jeans, he says.

But he can make a difference for those who are struggling; his platform allows him to call out to fans and quickly raise money for the causes he believes in. Recently hes put a lot of his heart into working with an L.A. charity for homeless youth called My Friends Place.

Its such a massive problem. Literally everywhere you look (in Los Angeles you see a homeless person) . . . and its usually a kid.

He misses Toronto for example, snow, the lakeshore, and getting macaroons and coffee at Queen Wests Nadge before strolling through Trinity Bellwoods. In fact, he returned to town in April to direct a music video for those friends who helped him move to L.A. years ago.

Hes also started his own production company and recently wrote a song, which he tells fans to expect in the next couple of months. He has broader ambitions for his acting career, too, declaring hes dying, dying, dying to explore war films.

Until that offer arrives, I ask him how he has time for it all. Not a lot of sleep, he quips.

Greys Anatomys Season 13 finale airs Thursday, May 18 at 7 p.m. on CTV.

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Giacomo Gianniotti's wayward youth helped bring Canadian to Grey's Anatomy - Toronto Star