Profiles: Edgardo Román | Proimágenes Colombia

Jose Edgardo Roman Cruz was born in Bogotá August 4, 1950. He began acting in 1971 and has had one of the longest stage, film and television careers of any actor in Colombia, appearing in more than 20 stage plays and numerous international theater festivals, in 22 films and countless productions on Colombian television.
 
His training includes acting workshops with Boris Roth in 1981. From 1976-1993 Roman taught Stanislavski’s method acting at the Luis Enrique Osorio Theater School (now the ASAB) with Spanish director Alfonso Graiño and Colombian directors Jairo Aníbal Niño and Rafael Moreno. Roman researched and wrote curriculum for the ASAB (Bogotá Academy of Fine Arts) for 13 years and was an acting coach and director with the Banco Cafetero theater group from 1982-1986. In 1993 he founded and became director of ACTUEMOS (Artistic Stage Research Lab) where he currently teaches the “Organic Acting” method. He also directed the first improv contests at the Teatro Popular de Bogotá (TPB).
 
He has acted in numerous productions including the Chekhov plays “The Anniversary”, “The Bear”, “The Proposal” and “On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco”; Euripides’ “Medea”; “La zapatera prodigiosa” by García Lorca; “Romance de lobos” by Valle Inclan; “I Took Panama” by Luís Alberto García; “Aquí no paga nadie” by Dario Fo; “Titus Andronicus” and “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare; “La Cándida Eréndira” and “Crónica de una muerte anunciada” by Gabriel García Márquez; “Ejercicios para equilibrista” by Luís Mantilla; “La Fiesta del Chivo” by Germán Vargas Llosa; “Caudillo”, “Interludio a la mortal exposición”, “Edipo Rey Black”, “Lo que por la boca se dice del espíritu predice” and “Érase una vez la historia del Quijote sin mancha” by Mauricio Goyeneche. He has worked with companies such as the TPB, the Colombian Actors Theater and the National Theater under directors Alfonso Graiño (Spain), Juan Margallo (Spain), Carlos José Reyes (Colombia), Jorge Alí Triana (Colombia), Paco Barrero (Colombia), Luís de Tavira (Mexico), Mauricio Goyeneche (Colombia) and many others and on major stages such as Denmark’s Odin Theater and the San Martin Theater in Buenos Aires.
 
Highlights from his television career include “La abuela” (1978); “Tiempo de morir” (1985), “Cuento del domingo”, “El Bogotazo”, “Extorsión”, “Caballo viejo” (1988), “Los pecados de Inés de Hinojosa” (1988), “Maten al león” (1989), for which he was awarded Catalina and Simon Bolivar awards fro Best Actor, “Romeo y Buseta” (1987–1992), “Si mañana estoy viva”, “Los Victorinos” (1991), “Crónicas de una generación trágica” (1993), “Guajira” (1996), “Carolina Barrantes” (1998), “¿Por qué Diablos?” (1999), “La reina de Queens” (2000), “La baby sister” (2000), “Amantes del desierto” (2001), “Amor a la plancha” (2003), “La saga: negocio de familia” (2004), “Lorena” (2005), “Los Reyes” (2005), “Hasta que la plata nos separe” (2006), “Pura sangre” (2007), two episodes on the first season of “Tiempo Final” for Fox-Telecolombia, “El fantasma del Gran Hotel” (2009) and the Spanish TVE series “Operación Jaque” (2010).
 
His film work includes Colombia Connection (1979) by Gustavo Nieto Roa; Remolino sangriento (1980) by Roberto Montero and Jorge Gaitán Gómez; Padre por accidente (1981) by Manuel Busquets Emiliani; Ayer me echaron del pueblo (1982) by Jorge Gaitán; Cóndores no entierran todos los días (1984) by Francisco Norden; Pisingaña (1986) by Leopoldo Pinzón; the Italian/German feature Tre giorni ai tropici (1986) by Tommaso Dazzi; Crónica de una muerte anunciada (1987) by Francesco Rosi; El embajador de la India (1987) by Mario Ribero; Técnicas de duelo (1988), La estrategia del caracol (1993) and Águilas no cazan moscas (1994) by Sergio Cabrera; Amar y vivir (1990) by Carlos Duplat; Soplo de vida (1999) by Luís Ospina; La toma de la embajada (2000) by Ciro Durán; La historia del baúl rosado (2005) by Libia Stella Gómez; Las aventuras de Beto y Roberto by Miller Almario and Oscar Botía; Karma (2006) by Orlando Pardo; Nochebuena (2008) by Camila Loboguerrero and Retratos en un mar de mentiras (2010) by Carlos Gaviria and was the voice of one of the characters in Guillermo Rincon’s animated film Bolívar, el héroe (2003).