Dreaming of Havana: Andy Garcia, actor, producer, director, composer, and musician, tells us about his goals, his life, and gives advice to young actors - Telephone Interview

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, August-Sept, 2003 by Susan Hornik

Andy Garcia has established himself as one of today's most talented and versatile actors. Because he has worked so successfully with many of the industry's top directors, he has become known as a "director's actor." He has also established himself as a producer, composer/ musician, and as a director in his own right.

Under Cineson, his production company, Garcia made his directorial debut with Cachao ... Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos (Like His Rhythm There Is No Other), a feature-length documentary concert film about the co-creator of the Mambo, Israel "Cachao" Lopez.

He also composed four songs for the Disappearance of Garcia Lorca soundtrack and produced, wrote and performed several songs on the 1999 film, Just The Ticket soundtrack.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Garcia's family fled in exile to Miami Beach, Florida, as a result of Fidel Castro's takeover of his homeland at the age of five. As a youth, he performed in community theater productions and variety shows.

He attended Florida International University as a theater major. Garcia performed in regional theater productions in the Miami area before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a film careel in the late 1970s.

Garcia has been married to Marivi Lorido Garcia since 1982. The couple lives in Los Angeles with their four children Dominik, Daniella, Alessandra, and Andres.

In addition to numerous other awards, Garcia has been honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Star of the Year Award from the National Association of Theater Owners, a PRISM Award, a Harvard University Foundation Award, and a Hispanic Heritage Award for the Arts. He is also the recipient of an Oscar de la Hoya Foundation Champion Award, Father's Day Council Father of the Year Award, and an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts Degree from St. John's University.

Q. Were you always interested in becoming an actor?

A. Not really, no. Acting chose me when I was in high school, going into college. I wasn't looking at acting as a career. I was more interested in who was playing basketball that afternoon. But I was always attracted to films as a young man, and that laid the foundation and set the fire as I got older for my career. Seeing great acting and musical performances was an unconscious elixir that began to brew in my mind.

Q. As a young Latino actor, you must have found it difficult trying to break into Hollywood.

A. You can get stereotyped based on your ethnicity, which sometimes doesn't work in your favor. But I really don't consider myself to be a Latino actor. I'm just an actor. I didn't study Latino acting. I think it's dangerous to hyphenate people unless you are going to in your life.

Q. Music, too, has always played an integral role in your life.

A. Absolutely! Music plays a daily role in my life. It's hard for me to do anything without incorporating music within it. I have a small studio in my house. I don't formally record in there, but it is really just for my own personal purposes. A few years ago, Rhino Records asked me to write a short story for the Mongo Santamaria anthology they were doing. I got to talk about some of the memories I had when I was a young boy seeing Mongo perform on stage. It was very special.

Q. And you also received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for your starring role as the legendary Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval in HBO's movie, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story.

A. Yes, I was executive producer of the film and also produced the soundtrack and the Emmy Award-winning score. HBO developed a script based on Arturo's life, and they came to me. I was very intrigued, as our backgrounds are very similar. We both left Cuba due to Castro.

I did not like the script at first, so we did some rewrites after spending a week with Arturo and his wife. Listening to all his stories was a great experience for everyone.

Q. You also produced and performed with Cachao.

A. I have been dedicated to Cachao since the early 1990s. We've done three albums together, and I produced a documentary on his life. And we're starting yet another album this week!

Q. You formed your own production company in 1991. Why did you decide to do that?

A. There were personal stories I wanted to tell, and I really wanted to find a home for them. This enables me to express the ideas I have that are close to my heart. Usually, I'm attracted to projects that are outside the realm of the common denominator. Going in, it's pretty apparent that it's not going to be easy to get the film made. Lots of the time, for example, projects exist but no one is paying attention to them. So with Cineson, my production company, I get to play much more of a pivotal role in bringing these scripts to fruition.

Q. Of acting, music producing, or filmmaking, what's your favorite?

A. I have no favorites. It's all part of who I am. It's all an extension of what I'm interested in.

All of my personal projects become my babies, a cross I bear until it is done. I can't abandon my child until I see it to fruition.

Q. What's next for you?

A. I am working on a film that details the life of the artist Modigliani. I am fascinated by his life and am looking forward to the challenge of playing him. Another project with HBO is called Waking Up in America. There is also a project I have been developing over the past 10 years with Lions Gate, called The Lost City. It is an epic love story set against the cabaret scene of Havana in the late 1950s at the brink of the Cuban Revolution. I've dreamed about making this film, which I hope to do in the near future.