The entertainment world lost a number of talented actors in 2023, and unfortunately it wasn’t long into the new year before sad news struck again. Adan Canto, who was known for roles on multiple movies and TV shows including Designated Survivor, Narcos and The Cleaning Lady, died January 8 at the age of 42 after a private battle with cancer. Members of the Kiefer Sutherland-led political drama reunited to pay tribute to the late actor.
Adan Canto, whose death was attributed to appendiceal cancer, per Variety, portrayed Aaron Shore on Designated Survivor, the former White House Chief of Staff who became the Vice President-elect. Maggie Q, who played CIA case officer Hannah Wells, posted a photo to Instagram featuring her former co-stars, as they gathered to honor their friend:
The death of a loved on is such a somber thing to bring friends or colleagues back together, but it’s sweet that so many of Adan Canto’s Designated Survivor co-stars were able to pay their respects. Tagged in Maggie Q’s post are Kiefer Sutherland, LaMonica Garrett, Italia Ricci, Kal Penn, series creator David Guggenheim, costume designer Nancy Gould and Adan’s widow Stephanie Ann Canto.
Maggie Q expressed love “forever” for Adan Canto in the caption, with LaMonica Garrett adding prayer hand and heart emojis in the comments. Malik Yoba, who played FBI deputy director Jason Atwood, seemed anguished in his own response, writing:
Uuughhhh 😢❤️❤️❤️❤️ What a sweet sweet soul! Love you babes
Designated Survivor aired for two seasons on ABC in 2016 and 2017, before being canceled and picked up by Netflix for a third and final season. In addition to his role on that drama, Adan Canto appeared in several other projects. His most recent role was on the Fox crime drama The Cleaning Lady, in which he played the gangster Arman Morales.
On that series, Adan Canto’s character recruits Élodie Young’s Thony De La Rosa into his criminal organization after she witnesses a murder, and while Arman was a major factor in The Cleaning Lady’s first two seasons, THR reports that Canto was not able to be a part of the upcoming Season 3 — which premieres on Fox on March 5 — due to his health.
The actor’s other TV credits include The Following, which starred Kevin Bacon, Mixology, Blood and Oil, and Second Chance. Adan Canto also appeared on Narcos as Rodrigo Lara Bonilla. On the big screen, he may have been best known for playing Sunspot in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. He was also part of the cast of Bruised — Halle Berry’s directorial debut — in 2020, and most recently, 2022’s Agent Game starring Dermot Mulroney.
Adan Canto is survived by his wife Stephanie Ann Canto and their two young children, 3-year-old Roman Alder and 1-year-old Eve Josephine. Our condolences go out to them during this difficult time. If you want to honor the actor by reliving his days as Aaron Shore, all three seasons of Designated Survivor can be streamed with a Netflix subscription.
