Top Twelve Trivia about Isa Totah
1. Born in Jerusalem to Palestinian parents, he learned to command spoken language by age two, only to have his parents emigrate to America where his fluency in Arabic was essentially useless. He learned his first English word at age three, and became fluent enough by age four for his mother to convince the nuns at Holy Name to accept him for kindergarten a year earlier than the norm. To this day, he wonders what was his mom's rush.
2. He performed his first lead as The Professor in his grammar school's annual play, an original piece written by the renowned Mrs. Kashaveroff — his sixth grade teacher. His mom and dad raved about his performance.
3. His first appearance on TV was on the Meet Mr. Mitch Show, a children's show on the local UHF channel. His appearance gave him his first fifteen minutes of fame with his schoolmates and extended family. Many years later, he had his second fifteen minutes when he did his first guest star role on Married with Children. Seeing him on national TV, it dawned on his parents that acting was not "just a phase" he was going through.
4. He signed his first autograph in Mendicino, California, after performing in his very first play. He tried to explain to the adoring fan that he wasn't famous, but the six-year-old wouldn't have it.
5. He was both an actor and writer in a musical comedy about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The team of Jewish and Arab writers fought over every syllable yet somehow managed to open to rave reviews and win the prestigious Obie Award in New York, proving that peace in the Middle East is possible.
6. Before embarking on his acting career, he studied Business Administration at San Francisco State University. After six grueling years of study, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and a Masters of Business Administration, only to decide he'd rather be an actor. It was a good decision.
7. His first screenplay was a five-page opus he wrote after seeing Pinocchio at age twelve. He attached himself to act and direct, and it would have been great if his parents had the vision to green light the picture. He later would learn that searching for funds to make a movie was not an uncommon experience.
8. He studied acting and directing with legendary coach Milton Katselas for over a decade. Learning from Milton that successful people never take "no" for an answer, Isa got Milton to say "yes" to letting him apprentice in his private directing sanctuary, direct him in two original plays, and accept him into his Master Class. Milton was so impressed with Isa, he invited him to teach acting at his school. Not wanting to distract from his acting career, Isa politely said "no."
9. In his spare time, Isa teaches acting to new and veteran actors alike. For Isa, the hardest part of teaching is not what you say to actors, but what you don't say. Actors need confidence to act well, and all the brilliant critiques in the world are meaningless if they strip an actor of their confidence. Thus, all his critiques are couched in a positive light of encouragement. There are occasions, however, where Isa doesn't say much.
10. He portrayed real-life Apollo astronaut scientist, Farouk El Baz, in the Emmy Award winning HBO series From the Earth to the Moon. His best review came from Farouk's daughter who kept calling Isa "dad" at the premiere.
11. Beat Magazine raved about Isa's portrayal of iconic Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, saying that he was "practically channeling the poet…" In exchange, Isa gave the reviewer a pair of free tickets and a promise to read one of Ginsberg's poems at a birthday party.
12. A while ago, Isa took a short break from acting to focus on his passion to write and direct. Somehow, the short break turned into an unintended "break up." But he has no regrets, as he reconnected with his first love, "directing" and ignited his long-term relationship with "writing." It's been quite the adventure. One of his screenplays, America, is being produced by legendary producer, Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, The Notebook). But the good news is that Isa and "acting" are back together again.