trained at the Paul Arts Center at the University

[yaosangjian]

Fmulder: Thank you Ed for taking part in the Q&A. Please tell us a little bit about yourself and some of your stage and screen roles.
Ed Trotta: I’m a native New Yorker, trained at the Paul Arts Center at the University of New Hampshire for a BA in ‘Speech and Drama”. I spent the first twenty years of my career based in New York, and much of that time on the road with “Godspell”, “Hair”, and “Equus”. When I wasn’t gainfully employed by others, I would start a theater company, with the help of colleagues, to “hire myself” for roles; I was a founding member of The Green Mountain Guild, The Roundhouse Theater, and The Portland Stage Company.

I also performed on most of the soaps produced in NY (must say “daytime drama” these days to be PC) “Edge of Night” (final episode), “All My Children” “Another World”, “Somerset”. I also did a couple of “General Hospital” episodes later on when I got to LA. Switching from stage to screen in ’87, when “Sweet Bird of Youth” closed prematurely 4tWeS9p6 at The Ahmanson, I found work on “Hunter”, “McGyver”, “Max Headroom”, “Babylon 5″, “Star Trek / Voyager”, and a bunch of pilots and MOWs. I had film roles in “Liar Liar” and “Desert Heat”, as well as less ‘significant’ indies and such. I describe it as ‘big roles in small movies and small roles in big movies’. I supplement the career with commercial work, especially portraying Abraham Lincoln for Honda, Wendy’s, Library of Congress, Cartoon Network, etc. Lincoln is my specialty. I also do a one man play titled “Two Miles a Penny” about ‘the life, legend, and likeness of Lincoln’.

Fmulder: How did the role of Tyrael come about? What was the audition like?
Ed Trotta: Earlier that year (?) I moved to The Wallis Agency for representation. Kristene Wallis has a strong background in Voice Over, having been in that market when only a few VO agents ruled the town. She got me an audition with Pemrick & Fronk, casting directors for that project. I wasn’t in a sound booth for it, but spoke at a bitchin’ mic in a regular conference room setting. I had fun, which is what an actor is supposed to do at an audition; drive safely, park legally, and have fun.

Fmulder: How did you find the “right” voice for a character whose face was perpetually cloaked in shadows? Were you given any information about Tyrael’s background and motivation?