Actor feels blessed by career -- and plum new "Night Falls in Manhattan"
By By JOHN URBANCICH, Executive Editor
From Sun News, May 15, 1997
LOS ANGELES -- It's a special day for Andy Garcia, and the brand new 41-year-old is celebrating with an exceptionally busy blitz of interviews to tout his newest film, a drama called "Night Falls on Manhattan."
The birthday boy seems especially relaxed on this April 12 morning. In fact, there's no sign of the trademark intensity that marked his performances in "The Godfather, Part III," "The Untouchables" and "Internal Affairs," and probably got him hired to play the lead here.
"I think that Andy is one of the best young actors in film," says writer/director Sidney Lumet, who has visited the moral dilemmas of the legal system before in such noteworthy films as "12 Angry Men," "Serpico," "Prince of the City" and "The Verdict."
"Since that wonderful generation of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and then Pacino and De Niro, there hasn't been a solid group like that coming along," Lumet says, "and boy, Andy's right in there."
Garcia is quick to praise Lumet, too. The actor says the legendary director's name on the screenplay was instrumental in his eagerness to play an idealistic street cop who is forced to tackle issues of police cover-up, professional betrayal and personal integrity after becoming a district attorney.
"The way I was trained as an actor is to personalize the part. So you are forced to look into your own world, and your own past or potential future," Garcia says. "Usually what attracts you to a part is when subconsciously those things are there. You read a part and you go, "Oh, I've gotta play this.' And you realize it when you're in the middle of it.
"Of course, the more intellectual choice is when you're saying, "Sidney Lumet called, he says he's a fan, and he wants to send me a script.' I've got to like it. I have to find a way to like it."
The father of three daughters -- ages 13, 9 and 5 -- Garcia feels the ideals set forth by his Irish/Latino prosecutor in "Night Falls" are extremely important ones.
"I'm a great admirer of what Sean Casey stood for and what he aspires to," Garcia says about the character. "I think we have a duty as citizens of this world to try to set an example, especially to our children. And, to be a good friend and to be a responsible citizen.
"I'm a sucker for all those regards, and I have idealism about that. The alternative of being someone who is uncooperative or disrespectful -- that's just not my style. I care for the integrity of our society as a respectful society."
"Night Falls in Manhattan" is the first of four Garcia films to be released this year. "Hoodlum," in which he plays notorious gangster Lucky Luciano; "Death in Granada," in which he is Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca; and Barbet Schroeder's "Desperate Measures" all follow.
Born in Havana, Garcia moved with his family to Miami at age 5. He attended Florida International University and spent several years performing in regional theater before moving here in the late '70s.
The former waiter and very talented drummer (Garcia also has co-produced a Grammy Award-winning album) recently made a brief return to his homeland.
"I went with (singer) Gloria Estefan back to Cuba, to the Guantanamo Naval Base," he says. "She took me as her conga player for a concert she was doing for the refugees there. It was the first time we had been back to Cuba in 35 years, and although the naval base is isolated there, you're still on home turf.
"Between the sound check and the performance, we snuck out and went swimming in the ocean. It was like going back to the womb.
"I feel I'm blessed," Garcia says, "and I know I've been given a gift, in terms of what I do, by someone. I try to stay devoted to letting that gift flourish, and paying attention to it, and not be haphazard about it."