Spano turned in sturdy performances as part of talented ensembles in Sayles' "City of Hope" (1991), "Alive" (1993), the second film about a rugby team's 72-day survival in the Andes Mountains after their plane crashed, and "Indian Summer" (1993). He played a freedom-loving Italian prisoner intent on escape in the World War II drama "The Ascent" (1994) and a father who must protect his adopted daughter from her birth parents in the thriller "The Tie That Binds" (1995). On TV Spano made his directing debut with the "In the Groove" (1994) episode of HBO's "Tales from the Crypt", starred in the Showtime movie thriller "Downdraft" (1996) and appeared ever so briefly as a series regular in NBC's short-lived cop drama "Prince Street" (1997). He also joined a sterling cast, including Christopher Noth, Kevin Dillon and Martin Sheen, in the ABC miniseries "Medusa's Child" (1997).