At the same time as his successes as a composer, Novello was making a career as an actor. With "a classic profile that gained him matinee idol status amongst the film-going public", he was sought out, on the strength of a publicity photograph, by the Swiss film director Louis Mercanton. Mercanton offered him a silent-film role as the romantic lead in "The Call of the Blood" (1920). In the same year, he made another film for Mercanton, "Miarka". Novello made his first British film, "Carnival", the following year.