MEDIABLVD: INTERVIEW WITH SOLOMON TRIMBLE

MediaBlvd.com Born in Wichita, Kansas, Solomon Trimble started performing at a very early age. Apache and Lakota Indian, Trimble has studied dance, guitar and voice, and even has a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics. After trying his hand at acting for a few years, he was brought to the attention of mass audiences in the role of Sam Uley, in the vampire flick Twilight, one of the top-grossing films of 2008.

MediaBlvd Magazine> How did you get into performing, since you started so young?

Solomon Trimble> I’ve done cultural dancing and powwow dancing, since I can remember. I attribute my confidence to having been rooted in my cultural upbringing. I’ve been in a few plays, PSA’s, and whatnot, but my love for performing started in high school. I went to boarding school in New Mexico, where I found my love of poetry and was introduced to “slamming,” from a teacher named Mr. Pett. I’m glad I found slamming as an outlet because I hated when writing teachers would tear apart my work. Slamming allows for my voice to imprint inflections where I want to emphasize or pause to show true meaning of what I wrote. I’ve written a lot of poetry. I’ve even written at least 12 poems from my character’s perspective to his girlfriend Emily, and three to his ex. I ended up talking to Stephenie Meyer about it and she said, “Your character’s not really a poet.” Regardless, I sometimes post them on Facebook or MySpace.

MediaBlvd> Even though you had a small role in Twilight, did you do any research into Sam’s back-story?

Solomon> I did hard-core research. I already had connections to the Northwest customs, through my brother Marcus, who is Lummi. The biggest connection is with my aunt, Liz Sanchez, who teaches on the Quileute reservation. She connected me with a few fluent native speakers. I worked with wardrobe a lot, mostly trying to capture the authenticity of current native clothing. I had a whole lot of conversations with wardrobe about what the current-day Quileute on the reservation wore. We talked about how they dressed. One Quileute kid said “We’re somewhere between skater and gangster.”

MediaBlvd> You mentioned having written poetry from your character, Sam, to his fiancée, Emily. Do you want to share any of those?

Solomon> I will be publishing these in June.

Here is “Honey Rose”:

Her beauty has me

It nourishes the air enough

That roses grow in the wind

Without soil

I could scream sweet nothings in her ear

But they can’t be heard

Not over the volume at which I adore her face.

I thought I was so clever and keen

Dipping a rose in honey

And her the butterfly to suckle

I’m such a fool

Standing at the ebb of her iris

I realize how lucky I am to be reflecting

When she blinks I’ll be trapped in her moods forever

This is a place I will call home

A place where roses grow from honeycomb.

Read the complete interview here

(thanks hugz & Kaly)

This interview is a lot like the one we posted a week or so ago. But I do like his poetry. And his committment to his character is amazing! What do you think? Do you like his poetry?