GRATEFUL DOESN'T DESCRIBE IT

This past Monday I made my network television debut in NBC's show Trauma and I was not at all prepared for the amazing day that was to come. I didn't sleep the night before, mostly because I was unsure about my performance. As a theatre actor, one has a consistent idea of what one's performance feels like but in television, it is the director and editor who shape your performance. Having no control makes one feel very nervous.

I invited some dear friends to come and watch the episode at my parents' home. My friends Maryann & Natali (who are dear supporters of my work) and my new friend Aya were there as I made us all my special shrimp pasta. As I was making dinner I got a text from my friend Kris who lives in the East Coast who was watching my scene as he was texting me. My friend Klahr sent one right after that. It was so great to hear some positive feedback before I got a chance to see it. Nervousness now turned into what I can only describe as giddy anticipation.

We had dinner, a few laughs and sat in the living room waiting for the show to start. I have to say that I thought this was one intense episode. I remember reading the script and thinking "wow." From the set-up crash to the credits, I was in awe of the writing. Around 9:30 or so I saw Cliff Curtis close the helicopter door and head towards the beach and then...there I was. My heart was racing and then the scene started. Norberto Barba was a wonderful director and the scene turned out to be pretty amazing. My friend Richard Connema told me it reminded him of the closing scene in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (one of my favorite movies). I can actually say that I am very proud of the work I did. What I wasn't prepared for was the outpouring of love from friends in the manner of e-mails, phone calls, texts and many facebook messages telling me how proud they were and what a great job I did with the scene (not to mention how awfully mean the scene was.) I remember shooting the scene and I couldn't dare to think about how I, Martin the person, not Martin the actor felt about this humiliation. My job was to be the actor. If I started to think about how humiliating the scene was, I could not give an honest performance.

What I am mostly proud of is the wonderful compliments I got for my acting. As a musical theatre performer, I am constantly trying to prove myself as an actor and not just a singer. I know that being a singer is a wonderful thing but sometimes I get frustrated when people just think of me as a singer. (If I couldn't sing I would still be an actor) This was my chance to prove to millions of people that Martin Rojas-Dietrich is an actor. Gratitude doesn't being to describe it. Never-ending thanks to the wonderful folks at JE Talent who got me the audition, Nina Heninger who was the casting director, the wonderful Norberto Barba who was a wonderful director, very laid back and made me feel very comfortable on the set, Cliff Curtis and Aimee Garcia for their generosity as actors and of course the entire Trauma crew - I never imagined how many people it takes to make a television series. I was so in awe of them all.

Trauma has been cancelled and will only air it's 13 episodes before shutting down production. (It may not even air the remainder episodes) This makes me feel very sad and even more grateful that I was one of the fortunate Bay Area actors who got a chance to appear on the show. I will treasure this experience forever and hope that I have the chance to do it again in the future.

With love,

Martin