Michael Trucco

Edward Michael Trucco is an American actor best known for portraying Samuel Anders in the reimagined science fiction series Battlestar Galactica. He is also recognized for his recurring television performances, including the role of Nick Podarutti in the comedy series How I Met Your Mother and his portrayal of martial arts instructor Tae Kwon Douglas in the Netflix comedy series Disjointed.

Raised in San Mateo, California, Trucco attended Junipero Serra High School, where he participated in wrestling and football. The son of a police officer, he initially aimed to pursue a career in law enforcement and studied criminal justice in college. However, after taking an introductory theater class, he excelled in the subject and was encouraged to switch his field of study. He subsequently earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from Santa Clara University. He is of Italian and Norwegian descent.

Trucco began his professional acting career on television during the late 1990s. His early work featured appearances in various episodic series, including Touched by an Angel, Silk Stalkings, Beverly Hills, 90210, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and Pensacola: Wings of Gold. He continued working in episodic television throughout the 2000s, landing guest roles in programs such as CSI, Heartbeat, Strong Medicine, and CSI: Miami. Between 2005 and 2006, he portrayed Cooper Lee across six episodes of the drama series One Tree Hill.

In 2002, Trucco starred in the film Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled. His profile expanded significantly in 2005 when he secured the role of Samuel Anders on Battlestar Galactica. Following this success, he appeared in guest roles on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Big Bang Theory, and Castle, playing Detective Tom Demming in the latter. In 2010, he joined the main cast of the USA Network series Fairly Legal.

Trucco continued to maintain an active presence on television, appearing in How I Met Your Mother during its sixth season and returning for a recurring arc in its eighth season. He also landed a recurring role as Nate Ryan in the second season of Revenge and later appeared as the main character's brother in the 2017 feature film The Bye Bye Man. Outside of his acting work, Trucco serves as the lead guitarist for the music group Simpleworld.

In December 2007, Trucco survived a severe automobile accident while riding as a passenger along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. The vehicle flipped onto an embankment, causing him to sustain four fractured vertebrae and temporary loss of sensation in his arms. After regaining feeling in his hands, he managed to call for emergency responders and was airlifted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was successfully treated and discharged eight days later.