Broadway may welcome Peggy soon

A.G.Billig, Tudor Petrut and Dr. Delia Tamasan

Tudor Petrut, the algebra professor who won the Americans’ heart by being Peggy in a famous TV commercial, is ready for a new artistic challenge. Broadway may welcome him soon as director of the play he wrote recently. Tudor Petrut was a big movie star in Romania when he decided to move to US more than two decades ago. I interviewed him at the Honda Center Arena in Anaheim, during a break of the hockey game that opposed the “Ducks”, his favorite team to the “Coyotes” from Arizona

Not many of your fans know it, but you are a fan of the hockey game? What do you like most about it?
Back in Romania, my native country, I was a huge soccer fan. But when I moved to the United States, 20 years ago, nobody played that kind of European soccer.  Still, I needed to be a supporter of a team and since it takes time to understand American Football, I turned to hockey. A sport I discovered the same year the greatest hockey player of all times Wayne Gretzky, started playing for Los Angeles Kings. In the meantime, Anaheim Ducks, the team we are watching play today, was founded. They represent the county where I live, Orange County, and I’ve been following them since their second game. I admire hockey for the outstanding individual technique of the players, their amazing speed on ice. I think keeping balance on the skating ring is something extraordinary, let alone playing hockey and score!

You were a movie star in Romania yet when you came to US, you decided to focus on screenplay writing. Why?
It is difficult for creatives to be accepted in Hollywood. I thought there were already countless actors and directors in this city and they all needed scripts. I though that writing screen plays was my golden key to Hollywood. Reality proved though that acting was the way. It was acting that brought me back on screen. The idea is to start by doing what you feel you’re best at and take baby steps towards your goal. All those who aspire to become famous need to learn patience, be prepared for many rejections – you may get 99 rejections before getting to do something small,  and not give up their dream.

What do you like most about the Americans? 
Americans are very helpful. They are simple yet they have manners, they are very warm with their friends. Saying hello to a stranger is a sign of basic respect towards another member of the community. I don’t like when people say that Americans are racist. The United States are a paradise for all languages and  human races, a place where you find all the cultures of the world. I can say that in California people get along well.

What is your next artistic project?
I just finisher a play which I cowrote with my friend, Dimiter Marinov, a wonderful and talented actor of Bulgarian origin. We already submitted it by request to a theatre producer and we expect to get on Broadway. It’s going to be tough. I will be back in the limelight, as a director. We are looking for actors who can play musical because it’s going to be music in the play.