CSI: crime scene investigation

“Greg Sanders” (Eric Szmanda)

Since picking up his first amateur chemistry kit when he was seven, Greg Sanders has always wanted to be a scientist. Wary of the social stigma of being perceived as a “geek,” he has always managed to balance lab work with athletics; studying with dating; and computer programming with Playstation. Addicted to the pursuit of knowledge and always eager to impress his coworkers, he has been on a quest to learn all he can about scientific breakthroughs, both past and present. After years of lobbying for a shot at working in the field with the CSI team, Greg is finally taking baby steps toward that career change under the watchful eye of Grissom and his co-workers. The sometimes-overzealous Sanders realizes he has much more to learn in his professional transition to the world outside the lab.

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Born in Milwaukee and raised in the small suburban town of Mukwonago, Szmanda’s love for acting began at an early age.  Throughout high school, he was very active in local theatre. At the age of 17, he toured Russia and the Ukraine in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

 Szmanda moved to Los Angeles and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1996. While he studied acting, Szmanda worked as a marketing intern for the record label BMG, beginning an ongoing love affair with music. After school, he accepted a position with BMG as an Alternative Music Product Development Coordinator, and produced a compilation CD entitled Mojave. Even while he was auditioning for acting jobs, he continued to work in the music industry, until he decided to commit solely to his acting career.                                                                                          

One year later, Szmanda appeared in the L.A. Odyssey Theatre’s world premiere of Black Box.  His first regular television role came for the USA Network in the series The Net, in which he played Jacob Resh. After the show was canceled, Szmanda appeared in a pilot, and several recurring and guest-starring roles in television.  He also landed the lead in the independent film True Vinyl, and continued to appear on stage in various productions, including the Stages Theatre world premiere of The Bullfight, in which he played a passionate matador. Most recently, Eric appeared in director Roger Avery’s film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel Rules of Attraction, and will next be seen in the independent feature Little Athens and starred in the one-man stage play Hyenas.

 Last season, Szmanda starred with Mary Tyler Moore in the CBS' telefilm Snow Wonder and the one-man stage play Hyenas.

Szmanda remains interested in music, and started his production company – doop – with the goal of fusing music and acting.  Recently, he was tapped to be music supervisor of the Irwin Winkler film Life is a House. When he isn’t acting or producing, he is a volunteer in the Big Brothers program.