Salvatore Antonio was born in Toronto, Canada, as Salvatore Antonio Alessandro Migliore II. Antonio auditioned for, and was accepted into a High School for the Arts just north of Toronto. In his final year of high school, he auditioned for the prestigious National Theatre School of Canada. After an extensive audition process, Salvatore was one of only eleven actors invited into the school. He was also the first student from his High School for the Arts to be accepted into the highly-respected theatre school. The National Theatre School of Canada is a conservatory of classical theatre training in the European tradition, which required its students to study everything from theatre history and voice, to fencing and gymnastics in addition to acting classes. By the time Antonio had completed the three-year program, he had performed lead roles in main-stage productions of plays by great writers ranging from Shakespeare to Shaw. He had the opportunity to work some of North America and Europe's finest artists and directors, including Uta Hagen and Pierre Lefevre. Upon graduation form the conservatory, Salvatore Antonio began working professionally in live theatre, playing on many of Canada's established stages. He ventured into television and film, following in the footsteps of fellow alumni like Colm Feore and Sandra Oh. In a few years Antonio had played lead and supporting roles in feature films and episodic television, working with the likes of Dick Wolf, Russell Mulcahy and Jerry Ciccoritti.