True Blood's Sam Trammell Surprised by Career

When Sam Trammell lists the things he studied while at Brown University as a semiotics major... it's a little intimidating.

"... I majored in semiotics, which refers to the interdisciplinary study of sign systems and how they work, including linguistic theory, Marxist theory, psychoanalysis, feminist theory, and film theory. I did most of my work in contemporary French philosophy."

What, no philosophy of shape-shifters? How Sam went from Brown to Bon Temps is a twisted tale of discovery and work ethic and he discussed it all with Business World Online. He begins by admitting he was never really a big fan of television, even looking down on it from an actor's point of view. But nowadays, he's changed his tune, believing we're in a "golden age for television." And it is hard to deny the genius that is Alan Ball.

"Alan Ball is a genius and he writes about character. He is wired into the Zeitgeist and bridges genres. The show is campy, funny, serious, sexy, bloody, and it's a gothic romance."

Beyond the difficulty of portraying the complexities written into each True Blood script for the character of Sam Merlotte, Sam also has to fall back on his past with that Louisiana accent. Sam hails from New Orleans but over the years, the Southern accent disappeared. He has to concentrate when filming True Blood to stay consistent with his accent. Sam got the acting bug after performing in a play in college. It prompted him to head to New York and attend open calls, even dropping off his resume at casting agencies - not usually a wise move. But it paid off. He landed a screen test with Al Pacino and the agency took notice. He worked in regional theatre and independent films, including off-Broadway productions of Dealer's Choice and My Night with Reg. He earned a Tony nomination for his performance in the Lincoln Center Theater's production of Ah, Wilderness! before finally moving to L.A. to pursue film and television. While casting for True Blood, Alan Ball liked Sam's audition tape so much, he pushed him forward into a test for the network executives. Sam passed with flying colors, obtaining the role just four hours later. Eventually, Sam would like to try his hand at directing and he's definitely looking forward to some more stage time. Be sure to check out the entire article here. Scroll to the bottom to see a few fun trivia facts about our Sam Trammell. Source: bworldonline.com - An Unexpected Career (Photo credit:  HBO Inc.)

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