Though his all-American looks and athletic build primed him for a succession of roles on the small screen, Michael Trucco’s first love was the stage. Spotted by a talent manager while starring in a stage production of “A Few Good Men,” Trucco soon caught the eye of television audiences as a Marine fighter pilot on the syndicated series “Pensacola: Wings of Gold” (1997-2000) and later as a NASCAR driver who has an affair with a high school student on “One Tree Hill” (CW, 2003- ). It was Trucco’s turn as resistance fighter Sam Anders on the cult hit remake of “Battlestar Galactica” (Sci Fi Channel, 2003-08) that proved to be the turning point in his career, positioning him as a possible leading actor worth watching.Born Edward Michael Trucco on June 22, 1970, Trucco grew up just south of San Francisco in the Bay Area city of San Mateo, CA. He took up acting while in high school at Junipero Serra High School, where he was also active in football and wrestling. Raised the son of a police officer, Trucco decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and major in sociology and criminal justice at the Santa Clara University. Encouraged by his parents to take a theatre class during his second year at SCU, Trucco soon switched majors and graduated with a BA in Theatre Arts. Upon graduating, Trucco remained in the Bay Area for a year, refining his craft in local theatre productions and branching out into commercial and stand-in work for actors such as Matt Dillon. Setting his sights on Hollywood, Trucco relocated to Los Angeles where he continued to work in theatre. Catching the eye of a talent manager while starring as Lt. Daniel Kaffee in a L.A. production of Aaron Sorkin’s play “A Few Good Men,” Trucco was offered the opportunity to audition for a number of television roles. He soon made his television debut in the 1994 TV movie “Eyes of Terror” starring Barbara Eden.
The striking young actor landed small roles on a number of televisions series over the next few years, appearing in episodes of “Touched by an Angel” (CBS, 1994-2003), “Beverly Hills, 90210” (FOX, 1990-2000), “Charmed” (WB, 1998-2006) and “Nash Bridges” (CBS, 1996-2001). Landing his first major television role in 1998, Trucco was cast as Marine fighter pilot Lt. Tucker ‘Spoon’ Henry III in the revamped second season of “Pensacola: Wings of Gold” (1997-2000). The series allowed Trucco to step behind the camera as well – after shadowing some of the series’ directors, he made his own directing debut in the show’s third season with the episode “Return to Glory.” Focusing on acting, Trucco went on to guest star in episodes of “Arli$$” (HBO, 1996-2002), “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (CBS, 2000- ) and “CSI: Miami” (CBS, 2002- ). Next, Trucco guest starred as Cooper Lee on the CW soap “One Tree Hill” (2003- ). Portraying Nathan Scott’s (James Lafferty) uncle on the series, Trucco got to live out one of his own personal passions: racecar driving.
Trucco went on to land his biggest career break in 2005. Guest-starring on the hugely popular remake of the 1970s series of the same name, “Battlestar Galactica,” Trucco portrayed Samuel Anders, a star Pyramid athlete who takes on the role of rebel resistance leader after a race of cybernetic robots - Cylons - wage a nuclear attack on his home colony. Introduced during a subplot in the program’s second season - in which Lieutenant Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) returns to the colony of Caprica - Anders strikes up a romance with Starbuck that leads her to return on a rescue mission for him at the end of the second season. Though Anders was originally written into only two episodes of the series, he later took on a larger role in the series during the third season. As Starbuck’s husband, Anders became part of a love triangle between Starbuck and Major Lee “Apollo” Adama (Jamie Bamber) – a role Trucco had originally auditioned for in the series pilot. Anders became a pivotal player on the series during the third season finale with the reveal that he was one of the 12 humanoid Cylon models – a boost to Trucco’s career as he was added as a regular on “Galactica” for the fourth and final season.
Gaining exposure from his interstellar television role, Trucco soon landed a part in his first major film, “Next” (2007), an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s short story “The Golden Man.” Though the film was not well-received by critics, it offered Trucco the opportunity to work opposite Academy Award-winning actor Nicholas Cage. However, tragedy struck for Trucco on Dec. 2, 2007 when a friend’s Ferrari overturned and went down an embankment. The actor was severely injured suffering four fractured vertebrae; an injury similar to that of Christopher Reeve. Making a miraculous and full recovery, Trucco checked out of UCLA Medical center only 8 days after the accident. Allowed time to recover due to the WGA writer’s strike, he returned to film the fourth and final season of “Galactica” in early 2008. The reinvigorated actor also branched out to more earth-bound roles by guest-starring on an episode of the ABC drama “Eli Stone” (2008- ), ironically portraying a man who has suffered a severe spinal injury from a car accident.
