A little-known Italian actor -- who was working as a caretaker when he was discovered -- won best actor at Cannes film festival on Saturday for his portrayal of a cocaine-dealing dog groomer who faces down a local heavy in an urban western. Before being cast by Matteo Garrone of "Gomorrah" fame in "Dogman", a brutal modern parable of the little guy who can take no more, Marcello Fonte from southern Italy had played only minor parts.

He was an extra in Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" (2002) and played a small role in Alice Rohrwacher's 2011 "Corpo Celeste", about a teenager trying to find her place in a Church-dominated Calabria. Garrone met Fonte by accident at a social centre where he went to spot talent among former prisoners auditioning for parts in a play.