# Michael Trucco

Edward Michael Trucco (born June 22, 1970) is an American actor known for his role as Samuel Anders on the reimagined Battlestar Galactica and his recurring role as Nick Petteruti in How I Met Your Mother. He also appeared on the 2017–2018 Netflix series Disjointed, as Tae Kwon Douglas, a local martial arts instructor who was anti-drug.

## Early life

A native of San Mateo, California, Trucco attended Junipero Serra High School where he played football and wrestled. He is the son of a police officer, and was once interested in becoming one himself until college, when he was attracted to theatrical performance. He took a theatre course for non-majors while he was studying Criminal Justice, but he did so well that he was asked to consider changing majors. He changed majors and completed his bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts at Santa Clara University. He has Italian and Norwegian ancestry.

## Career

Trucco became active in television in the late 1990s with appearances in episodes of Touched by an Angel, Silk Stalkings, Beverly Hills, 90210, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, and Pensacola: Wings of Gold among others. He continued appearing in shows of similar genres like CSI, Heartbeart, Strong Medicine, CSI: Miami, and others into the 2000s. He played Cooper Lee in six episodes of One Tree Hill from 2005 to 2006.
In 2002, Trucco starred in Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled. In 2005, he joined the drama Battlestar Galactica in the role of Samuel Anders. In 2008, he guest-starred on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The Big Bang Theory. In 2010, he guest-starred on ABC's series Castle as Detective Tom Demming. In 2010, Trucco was cast as a series regular in the USA Network series Fairly Legal.
Trucco guest-starred in a season 6 episode of How I Met Your Mother in 2011, and had a recurring role in the show's eighth season. He played the recurring character Nate Ryan in the second season of Revenge. He later played Elliot's brother in the 2017 film The Bye Bye Man.
Trucco is also the lead guitarist of the band Simpleworld.

## Personal life

On Sunday, December 2, 2007, Trucco was involved in a car crash with a friend who was driving a Ferrari 360 on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. The vehicle flipped on an embankment, landing upside-down, impacting Trucco's side of the car. Trucco was badly injured in the collision, fracturing four of his vertebrae, whereas his friend walked away uninjured. He has stated that he initially lost feeling in his arms. He was eventually able to get out of the vehicle after regaining feeling in his hands and used his cell phone to call for emergency help. He was airlifted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center for further care. On December 10, 2007 he was released from the hospital’s care. Doctors said he was extremely lucky, suffering almost the same injury as Christopher Reeve.

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | Eyes of Terror | Officer | Television film |
| 1998 | Confessions of a Sexist Pig | Troy | |
| 2001 | Knight Club | Derek | |
| 2001 | Ablaze | Scott | |
| 2001 | A Girl, Three Guys, and a Gun | Trevor | |
| 2002 | Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled | Steven Verdel | Direct-to-video |
| 2003 | The Groomsmen | Scott | |
| 2004 | Perfect Romance | Miles "Boogie" Healey | Television film |
| 2007 | Next | Kendall | |
| 2009 | Battlestar Galactica: The Plan | Samuel Anders | Direct-to-video |
| 2010 | Meteor Storm | Colonel Tom Young | Television film |
| 2010 | All American Tooles | Todd Toole | Short film |
| 2016 | Hush | John | |
| 2017 | The Bye Bye Man | Virgil | |
| 2018 | Hunter Killer | Devin Hall | |
| 2020 | Through the Glass Darkly | Trip Carmichael | |
| 2024 | The Life of Chuck | | |
| 2025 | The Electric State | Ben Abbott | |
Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Hang Time | Tim Ritter | Episode: "Earl Makes the Grade" |
| 1996 | Sisters | Young Elton Grenthal | Episode: "The Best Man" |
| 1996 | The Guilt | Michael McKenzie | Episode: "Dean's Office" |
| 1996 | California Dreams | Dann Hazakoff | Episode: "Babewatch" |
| 1997 | Silk Stalkings | Dave | Episode: "Air-Tight Alibi" |
| 1997 | Sunset Beach | Officer | Uncredited; season 1, episode 215 |
| 1997 | Touched by an Angel | Thomas "Tommy" Doyle | Episode: "Venice" |
| 1998 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Josh Hunter | 3 episodes |
| 1998 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Patrick Collins | Episode: "Seeds of Doubt" |
| 1998–2000 | Pensacola: Wings of Gold | Lieutenant Tucker "Spoon" Henry | Main cast (seasons 2–3); 40 episodes |
| 1999 | Charmed | Alec | Episode: "Love Hurts" |
| 2000 | Nash Bridges | Gil Vallone | Episode: "Missing Key" |
| 2000 | Freedom | Nolan | Episode: "Siege" |
| 2001 | Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | Kevin | 4 episodes |
| 2001 | Family Law | Lee Bigelow | Episode: "Bringing Up Babies" |
| 2001 | Arliss | Rounder Fleming | Episode: "The Price of Their Toys" |
| 2001 | That's Life | Jason Prader | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Arliss | Fred Russell | Episode: "Playing It Safe" |
| 2002 | Bram & Alice | Robert | Episode: "Required Reading" |
| 2002 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Fred Dacks | Episode: "High and Low" |
| 2003 | Tru Calling | Nick Kelly | Episode: "Putting Out Fires" |
| 2003 | The Parkers | Bill | Episode: "Out with the Old, in with the New" |
| 2004 | Strong Medicine | Victor | Episode: "Selective Breeding" |
| 2005 | Strong Medicine | Zack | Episode: "First Response" |
| 2005 | CSI: Miami | Mitch Lockhart | Episode: "One Night Stand" |
| 2005 | Joey | Paul | Episode: "Joey and the Wrong Name" |
| 2005–2006 | One Tree Hill | Cooper Lee | 6 episodes |
| 2005–2009 | Battlestar Galactica | Samuel Anders | Recurring (seasons 2–3) Main cast (season 4) 35 episodes |
| 2008 | Eli Stone | Adam Mitchell | Episode: "One More Try" |
| 2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Eric Lutz | Episode: "Smut" |
| 2008 | The Big Bang Theory | Dr. David Underhill | Episode: "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis" |
| 2010 | V | John May | Episode: "John May" |
| 2010 | Castle | Detective Tom Demming | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | 100 Questions | Luke | Episode: "Have You Ever Dated a Bad Boy?" |
| 2011–2012 | Fairly Legal | Justin Patrick | Main cast; 23 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | How I Met Your Mother | Nick Podarutti | 7 episodes |
| 2011 | Psych | Cal Eason | Episode: "Dead Man's Curve Ball" |
| 2012 | Young Justice | Adam Strange (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 2012–2013 | Revenge | Nate Ryan | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | Killer Women | Billy Parker | Main cast; 8 episodes |
| 2014 | Intelligence | Secret Service Agent Charlie Griffin | Episode: "Secrets of the Secret Service" |
| 2014 | Criminal Minds | Owen McGregor | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Scandal | Charles "Chip" Putney | Episode: "Baby Made a Mess" |
| 2014 | The Exes | Jeff | Episode: "Love and Death" |
| 2015 | The Librarians | Sam Denning | Episode: "The Librarians and the Infernal Contract" |
| 2016 | Grandfathered | Craig | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Disjointed | Tae Kwon Doug | Recurring role |
| 2017 | Chicago P.D. | Frank Barrett | Episode: "Rabbit Hole" |
| 2019–2024 | The Rookie | Shawn Del Monte | 9 episodes |
| 2019, 2024 | The Good Doctor | Ethan Murphy | 2 episodes |
| 2021 | FBI | Ethan Shaw | Episode: "Leverage" |
| 2021 | Midnight Mass | Wade Scarborough | Main cast; 7 episodes |
| 2022–present | Fire Country | Luke | Main cast |
| 2022 | Young Sheldon | Dusty | Episode: "Passion's Harvest and a Sheldocracy" |
| 2023 | The Fall of the House of Usher | Rufus Griswold | 8 episodes |
| 2023–present | Average Joe | Benjamin "Touch" Tuchawuski | Main cast |