Schuldt originated the role of Ethan Winthrop on the defunct NBC daytime series Passions. “Playing Ethan was definitely one of the most challenging jobs of my career,” he said. “I was very young at the same and I learned a lot doing that show and I made some good friends. It was really nice because we were all in it together, and we were all struggling and finding success at the same time.”
When asked how he handled being dialogue-heavy on the show, he said, “That called for a lot of anxiety attacks. It was very difficult since I was not a good memorizer in the beginning. Because of Passions, I became a very good and quick memorizer. The brain is a muscle and the more you do it, the stronger you get and the quicker you get, and the easier it is to retain all of those words.”
“The new podcast has been a lot of fun,” he admitted. “We have done four episodes so far. Natalie and I have shared a lot of stories with each other over the years, and it was a fun way to rediscover parts of our past when we were both much younger. With this podcast, we want to get as much information out as we can.”
Their “Passions for Life” podcast is available on digital providers by clicking here, including Stitcher. “I hope viewers and fans tune in because we are going to share some stories. We will get to have fun and reminisce,” he said. “We hope to have some guests on as well.”
On being an actor in the digital age, he said, “I did The OA, which was my first show on a digital platform. It was fun, it felt like a movie moreso than a TV show. I enjoyed the digital age and I’ve embraced it since it allows for more opportunities for actors.”
He opened up about life during quarantine. “It’s difficult. We are more fortunate than most. We have more things to do. I started up a garden, which is very fun. We grow cucumbers, cantaloupes, and tomatoes,” he said. “I joke with a friend of mine and I tell him that ‘I grew up in Kansas and I left Kansas to go to California and I ended up becoming a farmer in California.”
For young and aspiring actors, Schuldt said, “Do everything: do shorts, do friend’s projects, put something up on Instagram and put something up on YouTube. Do theater, if it ever comes back. Create your own content, and do as much work as possible, that’s how you get experience.”
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he said, “Just Get Through It.”
If he were to do any track and field event, he revealed that he would do the “long jump.” “It would be fun to throw myself in the air and land in the sand,” he said with a sweet laugh.
Schuldt had nothing but the greatest remarks about acclaimed photographer Bjoern Kommerell. “Bjoern is a wild man. He’s a blast,” he exclaimed. “He has so much energy and he has a million ideas. It’s a lot of fun. I love working with him. The looks that he depicts in his photos are pretty amazing.”
He defined the word success as “hard work with luck and making a little money.” “At the end of the day, you feel like you’ve done something good,” he said.
For his fans and supporters, he concluded, “I couldn’t have done it without the fans. I appreciate them sticking it out. It is good to know that there is love out there for Passions, the characters, and the work that we did.”
To learn more about actor Travis Schuldt, follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
Read More: Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos chatted with Natalie Zea about their “Passions for Life” podcast.
