From Hollywood Video Insider, April 1999
Andy Garcia Speaks Exclusively With the Insider About His Indie Film, Just the Ticket
by Kirby Dillon
Andy Garcia's dark, smoldering good looks are offset by a monochromatic taupe-colored suit, shirt and tie this late and rainy afternoon. True to his origins he was born Andres Arturo Garcia Menendez in Havana, Cuba, this month in 1956 cigar smoke lingers in his Beverly Hills hotel suite.
To talk to Garcia is to get an education in independent film making. He has earned industry clout in a string of big-budget studio hits, including The Godfather: Part III (earning him both Oscar and Golden Globe nods), Internal Affairs (the latter two films winning him ShoWest's Male Star of the Year for 1991), When a Man Loves a Woman, Night Falls on Manhattan, 8 Million Ways to Die and Desperate Measures. He used that muscle to bring Just the Ticket to the screen.
Co-starring Andie MacDowell, Just the Ticket is about a small-time scalper who needs to make one big score in order to prove to the woman he loves that he is not a complete loser. Garcia's enthusiasm for this labor of love is apparent.
"My company, CineSon, produced the film. It was very difficult and took about eight years. We had been turned down by all studios. You never know why, but I would imagine the whole standard list of no's. Richard [Wenk, the writer/director], and I showed Andie the script and test footage of me scalping tickets here in L.A. She committed her name to the project. We were able to raise enough money to make the movie on a shoe-string."
Reportedly, MGM paid $2 million for the North American rights to the film, which was shot in Manhattan, not the normal location for a low-budget film. Garcia improvised. "We filmed 33 days on location," Garcia recalls. "A majority of the film took place on the street. Our attitude was to not try to control the street. Once you decide that, nothing's in the way. You just point and shoot. We posted signs that said, ‘Anybody who walks in the street will be in the movie. If you don't want to be in the movie, don't walk in the street.' People said, ‘I don't care if they're shooting a movie, I've got to get to work!' So you have all the extras you want."
"Obviously, a commercial success helps everybody. A lot of parts go to people who have been in a commercial movie and not necessarily to the best actor for the part. It's not personal, it's business. So, first and foremost I'm an actor. I can only choose from the things that I'm offered. I would have made Forrest Gump, but they didn't offer it to me!"
Garcia is driven to survive. "It's the one thing you learn as an exile," he smiles. Born to a well-to-do family in Cuba, they relocated to Miami when he was five. His lawyer father was forced to start over and eventually built a multi-million dollar fragrance import company. Garcia credits him with the work ethic that motivates him. "My father always said, ‘Don't ever take a step backward, not even to gain momentum.' He showed me how to be persistent and dedicated. Not to be desperate but to take slow, steady steps. Persistence is the mother of opportunity and luck."
A graduate of Florida International University, Garcia closely guards his private life. As a student, he met Maria Victoria in a crowded disco and instantly knew that she was the one. They married in 1981 and are the parents of Dominik, 14, Daniella, 10, and Alessandra, six.
While waiting for his big break (he was a gang member in the premiere episode of Hill Street Blues in 1981), Garcia did a different kid of waiting... on tables! When he was named Father of the Year in 1998, one of his proudest moments, he was pleased that the awards banquet was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where he once served. Many of his buddies still worked there and were present.
And who does he think will enjoy Just the Ticket? "Anyone who likes god movies," he says. "That's what it comes down to, isn't it? Why would a guy in Wyoming appreciate Shakespeare in Love? It's a great film. It's as simple as that."