Speaker 1: I remember that first night, Francis started cooking for everybody,
Speaker 1: all the actors and people that were there.
Speaker 2: Mario Pusa was there.
Speaker 1: I went into the kitchen and I said to Francis,
Speaker 1: can I help you Francis with anything?
Speaker 2: And he said yeah.
Speaker 1: So I was just helping him, you know, I wanted
Speaker 1: to immerse myself in him, you know, in his world.
Speaker 1: And then at dinner I sat next to Mario Puoso
Speaker 1: and I said to a Mario, is there anything you
Speaker 1: can say to me about Vincent that I'm inside and
Speaker 1: who you think he is? And he said he has
Speaker 1: the smarts of Veto, the temper of Sonny, the warmth
Speaker 1: of Fredo, and the coldness of Michael. I said, thanks
Speaker 1: very much, I'll work on that.
Speaker 3: Welcome to More than a Movie, a podcast that gives
Speaker 3: you a behind the scenes look at your favorite movies.
Speaker 3: I'm your host, Alex Fumero. Last season we did a
Speaker 3: deep dive on American met This season, I'll focus on
Speaker 3: a different movie. Each episode, feature interviews with the biggest actors, directors,
Speaker 3: writers and producers behind them, and tap into the history
Speaker 3: of Latinos in film. In the life of a young
Speaker 3: Cuban American kid growing up in Miami, there were basically
Speaker 3: two guys I could point to who were in movies
Speaker 3: or TV who felt like me. Desier Nas, who named
Speaker 3: my daughter after, and Andy Garcia. I first saw The
Speaker 3: Godfather three when I was only eight years old, probably
Speaker 3: too young for a kid that age, but the star
Speaker 3: of that movie wasn't just anybody. It was this guy
Speaker 3: my parents were friends with. He'd gone to the same
Speaker 3: high school as my mom, He'd become friends with my
Speaker 3: stepdad in la as two Miami Cubans trying to make
Speaker 3: it on the West Coast, and now he was starring
Speaker 3: in the sequel to what was explained to me even
Speaker 3: then as the two greatest movies of all time. And
Speaker 3: the older I got, the more important that moment has
Speaker 3: felt to me, not just personally, but because it feels
Speaker 3: like a changing of the guard. After decades of watching
Speaker 3: Italians and others playing Latinos and movies like Scarface, here
Speaker 3: was a Latino guy taking on the mantle of the
Speaker 3: most famous Italian character of all time, Nephew. From this
Speaker 3: moment on call yourself, Incent Coleon. It felt then and
Speaker 3: it still does now, like we made it so. Of course,
Speaker 3: when I knew we were doing a new season of
Speaker 3: the podcast. I knew I needed to call upon him
Speaker 3: to do a service for me. Andy. I'm so glad
Speaker 3: you could be here today to talk about.
Speaker 2: I'm so happy I'm still around to talk to you.
Speaker 3: Well, you're not only around. They're making a You grew
Speaker 3: up and so did I. Oh, yeah, I know. He
Speaker 3: tell me about it. You have better hair than I do.
Speaker 2: We'll talk.
Speaker 3: I can talk about I can't take credit for that.
Speaker 3: This is a podcast about male hair care. So and
Speaker 3: he asked you here to talk about your career, but
Speaker 3: especially to talk about The Godfather and Godfather three, a
Speaker 3: movie that for me. I don't know if I can
Speaker 3: overestimate the impact that the movie had. I mean, I
Speaker 3: remember being eight years old. I believe the theater was
Speaker 3: on Miami Beach. I think it was the theater on
Speaker 3: Lincoln Road, and there was a screening, a special screening
Speaker 3: of the movie when it came out in nineteen ninety.
Speaker 3: You know, whether or not my parents should have been
Speaker 3: taking me to see The Godfather at the age of
Speaker 3: eight is a different discussion.
Speaker 2: Well, it worked out for you.
Speaker 3: It worked out, and I remember seeing you on that
Speaker 3: screen and something changed for me, and I realized in
Speaker 3: that moment that I could maybe do that. It put
Speaker 3: the bug in me, of course, of course, and part
Speaker 3: of that is because the representation matters, right. And you
Speaker 3: are a person whose story is very similar to my parents' story.
Speaker 3: You know, in fact, you grew up in Miami Beach.
Speaker 3: My mom grew up in Miami Beach, right, Both of
Speaker 3: you came as exels from Cuba. So I wonder if
Speaker 3: we could just start, maybe at the beginning.
Speaker 1: I grew up in Miami Beach, and that's where I
Speaker 1: got exposed to films, you know, as a young boy,
Speaker 1: going to the cinemas from a very early age. There
Speaker 1: was one there around where we lived called the Surf Theater.
Speaker 1: The summers, they had these programs in Miami Beach where
Speaker 1: you saw The Godfather at the Lincoln Theater. They had
Speaker 1: all these double features and during the summer and I
Speaker 1: would leave the house and I would go see these
Speaker 1: double feat features, and usually there were adventure movies, but
Speaker 1: you saw movies like The Crimson Pirate and Captain Blood
Speaker 1: and a Great Escape, and of course the Bond movies
Speaker 1: that began to come through, and I was very enamored
Speaker 1: with cinema. Obviously, it was a thing that I was
Speaker 1: very attracted to and I would get lost in.
Speaker 3: Do you remember the first time you saw a Latino
Speaker 3: actor on screen? Do you have any notable memories of like, oh,
Speaker 3: this is a guy with an last name like mine,
Speaker 3: or maybe you.
Speaker 1: Know some of those old films, you know, those pirate
Speaker 1: movies and stuff had people like Gilbert Rowland and those
Speaker 1: guys that the Hispanic but that changed their name. But
Speaker 1: I wasn't really saying that there was one particular then
Speaker 1: at the time. Actually, the one person that you really
Speaker 1: identified with was Desi Arnas, who was on television in
Speaker 1: the Lucy Show that was on all the time. So
Speaker 1: that was kind of like, he's of your culture, He's Cuban,
Speaker 1: and it was going, wow, you know, this is interesting.
Speaker 1: But I was not thinking consciously about that I wanted
Speaker 1: to be an actor, but subconsciously I was being totally
Speaker 1: set up for it and influenced by it to the
Speaker 1: degree that in my senior year in high school, at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the school ye at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the basketballs season, I got a very bad case of
Speaker 1: mono nucleosis, and my doctor, doctor Pedro Greer, gave me
Speaker 1: the terrible news saying, you can't play basketball, you cannot
Speaker 1: exercise for six months, or your spleen could burst. And
Speaker 1: so I was in this kind of emotional limbo. First
Speaker 1: of all, I was at home for like a month
Speaker 1: in bed. You're trying to shake this thing. And I'd
Speaker 1: watched a lot of television, a lot of I Love
Speaker 1: Lucy and you know. And then that year I took
Speaker 1: an acting class in at the High School of Miami
Speaker 1: Beach Senior High and there's a teacher that named Jay Jensen,
Speaker 1: who was very well known, who taught Mickey Rourke, ellen
Speaker 1: Bark and a lot of folks. And I was very
Speaker 1: stimulated by the class, and he was very encouraging, and
Speaker 1: he kept encouraging me, you have something here, kind of
Speaker 1: you should call them. And so that I guess when
Speaker 1: I was in this sort of vulnerable state of not
Speaker 1: being able to have anything that was occupying my mind,
Speaker 1: which was sports, this other thing that I had inside
Speaker 1: of me, sort of like a virus took over my body, everything,
Speaker 1: my soul, and so it picked me kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: it was there all the time, and it took over.
Speaker 1: And then I saw the Godfather. I was seventy two
Speaker 1: when I was graduating, and like you said earlier, privately,
Speaker 1: I said to myself, that's what I want to do
Speaker 1: with my life. I want to aspire to do that.
Speaker 1: You couldn't tell anybody that because they think you were
Speaker 1: absolutely nuts.
Speaker 3: You know, what's the reaction when you're like, mommy and baby,
Speaker 3: I want to be an actor.
Speaker 1: Well, they have no relationship to it, you know, they
Speaker 1: have no conceit of how you make a living as
Speaker 1: an actor.
Speaker 3: There.
Speaker 1: To them, an actor is Humphy Bogart for Clark Gable,
Speaker 1: you know, and it's like I can imagine, is I
Speaker 1: love my son, but he's not Humphrey Bogart, you know,
Speaker 1: that kind of thing. So, you know, it was very
Speaker 1: difficult for them.
Speaker 2: They was very concerned.
Speaker 3: What were the kind of things they would say to you.
Speaker 2: Well, the thing was, it wasn't overnight thing. You know.
Speaker 1: I went from that moment in high school. I went
Speaker 1: to college at the local community college and I took
Speaker 1: acting classes there, and then I went to FIU this
Speaker 1: last two years because at the time FIU was only
Speaker 1: a two year school, and the last two years at
Speaker 1: that time, and then we went to school there and
Speaker 1: I was in the theater department. They were doing plays,
Speaker 1: so they would come see me perform and all that,
Speaker 1: and they just felt it was like he likes doing this.
Speaker 1: But when you're finished with college, you know, I was
Speaker 1: involved in the family business. I've been trained there. It
Speaker 1: was flourishing. But then after college it was time to
Speaker 1: you know, sort of fish or cut bait. And I said,
Speaker 1: I'm going to la to look for work.
Speaker 2: I guess.
Speaker 3: When we come back. Andy Garcia plays tennis with the
Speaker 3: cast of Scarface. But before that, say hello to my
Speaker 3: little commercial. Welcome back to More Than a Movie. I'm
Speaker 3: your host, Tony Montana. Let's continue our conversation with Andy
Speaker 3: Garcia as he makes his way out of the vortex
Speaker 3: that is Miami and out to Tinseltown. So you moved
Speaker 3: to Los Angeles, he flew out here. And then was
Speaker 3: there anyone here that you knew?
Speaker 1: Yes, actually, Stephen Bauer was here. I had known from my.
Speaker 3: Better known as Manolo from Scarface.
Speaker 1: Yes, Stephen, and his original name was Stephen or Rocky,
Speaker 1: So he had called me. We were friends from Miami.
Speaker 1: I had done an episod sort of that show that
Speaker 1: he was doing in Florida, and we rolled together.
Speaker 2: We are friends.
Speaker 1: And he said he came out here, he had representation,
Speaker 1: he got he got a job, he got hired by
Speaker 1: Columbia Pictures Television as a contract player, and he said, hey,
Speaker 1: there's work out here, come on out. So that encouraged
Speaker 1: my move. And when I came out here, there was
Speaker 1: nobody waiting for.
Speaker 2: Me here, you know.
Speaker 1: And I didn't have an agent, and so it so is,
Speaker 1: you know, the process began, you know, of trying to
Speaker 1: find representation, trying to find work, pay the rent, you know.
Speaker 3: So and you've done some TV and film projects, very
Speaker 3: small ones get past a us ahead.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, and I did a movie in the Dominican
Speaker 1: cold Wawa see which was one scene in a movie.
Speaker 1: But no, I hadn't really been on you know, I'd
Speaker 1: done this theater. And when I came here in those days,
Speaker 1: I kept studying and I went to take classes and
Speaker 1: eventually became a member of one of the house improvisational
Speaker 1: theater groups at the Comedy Store. And that's where I
Speaker 1: start to get some exposure to casting people and got
Speaker 1: a little work here and there because people would come
Speaker 1: to the show, you know, just trying to stay at honed. Yeah, active, yeah,
Speaker 1: while you try to find an agent. That was the
Speaker 1: most difficult thing is to find someone that could get
Speaker 1: you out an audition, because if you don't audition, you
Speaker 1: can't get work.
Speaker 3: And agents would say kind of out of pocket stuff
Speaker 3: to you back then, right like they would be like,
Speaker 3: you need to change your name or completely fix your teeth.
Speaker 1: Fix your teeth, change your name, lose your accent and
Speaker 1: come back to me.
Speaker 3: Were you aware you had an accent when you got
Speaker 3: you were? And how did you feel? Did you work
Speaker 3: on it?
Speaker 1: I went immediately to a speech therapist and worked on it,
Speaker 1: and they dissect where your issues are, where you tend
Speaker 1: to lean on that side of it, and you become
Speaker 1: aware of it, and you do exercises to train your
Speaker 1: mouth and your tongue. Yeah, you know, without losing sort
Speaker 1: of your character, but just to neutralize it. And as
Speaker 1: an actor, you want to be able to play other
Speaker 1: things and you don't want the accent to get in
Speaker 1: the way. Of course, you can put on an accent.
Speaker 1: It's like you see all these great actors and actresses
Speaker 1: from Australia or from England and they're on a show
Speaker 1: or in a movie and they have a completely neutral
Speaker 1: sort of American accent, and then when they're being interviewed,
Speaker 1: they go right back to their things.
Speaker 3: So so you so you work on the trip, but
Speaker 3: you almost right away, it seems how long did it take?
Speaker 3: I mean you start, you started on shows like Hill
Speaker 3: Street Blues. I know you did, like an episode of Murder.
Speaker 3: She wrote, you got these kind of like big parts,
Speaker 3: But I mean that's you know at the time, did
Speaker 3: you feel like they were bit parts? I mean I
Speaker 3: would have been excited, I think.
Speaker 1: Sure, I mean, you know, but literally there were like
Speaker 1: bit parts, like one scene or a bit in a scene.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like you were there for the whole story,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: But yes, I was excited to work and to get
Speaker 1: Mike zachcard and to make some money, to validate that
Speaker 1: you can function. You're also learning actually being on set
Speaker 1: and being in an environment, and slowly those things would
Speaker 1: turn into something else. But at the time I was
Speaker 1: working many other jobs. I was loading trucks at roadway,
Speaker 1: you know those trucks that say roadway in the City
Speaker 1: of Commerce. I would load and unload trucks in the
Speaker 1: night shift from seven in the night to like five
Speaker 1: in the morning or something like that.
Speaker 2: All night long.
Speaker 1: In fact, I worked with a lot of actors that
Speaker 1: were there at Brian Kreston work with me in the
Speaker 1: There Roadway and so you know, we all did all
Speaker 1: kinds of jobs. I worked as a waiter at the
Speaker 1: Beverly Hilton Hotel, banquet waiter. That was pretty steady because
Speaker 1: I can call in and work when I wanted to.
Speaker 1: At one time, I went in there. He's a curious thing.
Speaker 1: I went into this place I was working, and I
Speaker 1: would just call in. I wouldn't say, well, what's the event.
Speaker 1: I just say do you need an extra waiter and
Speaker 1: say yes, come in. And then I got there and
Speaker 1: it was the Golden Globes and I was assigned to
Speaker 1: work on The Coming Home Table, which was directed by
Speaker 1: Hal ashby John Voyd, Jane founder Bruce Dern right when
Speaker 1: the movie won. It was a very celebrated film. But
Speaker 1: how was one of my heroes as a director, and
Speaker 1: then later on I actually got the opportunity to work
Speaker 1: with him eight Million Ways to Die, which was a
Speaker 1: movie that really changed my life. You know, let's talk
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 3: I mean, you're doing these kinds of parts, You're booking
Speaker 3: seemingly larger roles now in film, but not huge sort
Speaker 3: of plant your flag in the sand kind of roles,
Speaker 3: and then you book eight million ways to die.
Speaker 2: Well, it's a process. You know.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing. When I came here in those days,
Speaker 1: as you know, the parts that were written that were
Speaker 1: characters that were Latin predominantly they were nurses or maids
Speaker 1: or gang members. Basically, that's what it was, the predominant
Speaker 1: ninety percent of all the parts. And there were basically
Speaker 1: parts in a movie there weren't a character necessarily that
Speaker 1: was part of the story. They weren't writing lawyers and
Speaker 1: you know, like Hillstory Blues. Although they had a lot
Speaker 1: of sort of delinquents and gang members, they also had
Speaker 1: the Nae and Riquez played like the chief of police
Speaker 1: or one of those.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: The thing is that those parts that were available for me,
Speaker 1: I could never because my name was Garcia. People would
Speaker 1: see me just for those parts. I'd go in to
Speaker 1: play a gang member, specifically a Mexican American you know,
Speaker 1: Chicano gang member. Physically, I didn't fit in that group,
Speaker 1: you know, so they would look at me and go,
Speaker 1: what are you doing here? I said, well, you called me,
Speaker 1: and he goes, I'm sorry, we saw the name Garcia
Speaker 1: and we called you in, but no, you you know,
Speaker 1: you're like the diplomat's son. You can't play this part
Speaker 1: because so and I said, I'm an actor, you know.
Speaker 1: You argue and they go, no, I understand, but we'll
Speaker 1: call you in for something. Anyway, there was no something else,
Speaker 1: and I wasn't being considered like many actors with a
Speaker 1: Latin name for parts other than those Latin parts, right,
Speaker 1: So I was in a quandary of no opportunities until
Speaker 1: a movie came up that was shooting in Miami called
Speaker 1: The Mean Season with Kurt Russell, and it so happened.
Speaker 1: And because it was Miami, the young cop detective was
Speaker 1: Cuban and so now I became one of the shortlists
Speaker 1: to potentially play that part. I got that part very quickly.
Speaker 1: Jane Jenkins was the casting director, and she brought me
Speaker 1: in met her, the director says at parts of yours.
Speaker 1: And then from that movie I started to get interest.
Speaker 1: They asked me to come in. They wanted me to
Speaker 1: be a reoccurring character for the season on Cagni and
Speaker 1: Lacey as a kind of a love interest. And because
Speaker 1: in those days television there was this sort of thing
Speaker 1: about taboo that if you did TV you couldn't fill
Speaker 1: for some reason now, And so I rolled the dice
Speaker 1: and I turned down the part to stay in like
Speaker 1: in the game, sort of in the film game. And
Speaker 1: I was working doing voiceovers in Walla and supporting my
Speaker 1: family that way. I had a little girl at the time, Dominique. Yeah,
Speaker 1: she was very young, and and that work was providing
Speaker 1: the rent and insurance. And then eight Million Ways to
Speaker 1: Die came in and I just said, you know, this
Speaker 1: is how Ashby movie. They're looking for this antagonist opposite
Speaker 1: Jeff Bridges. I read the script. The first script that
Speaker 1: they started the movie was with an Oliver Stone script,
Speaker 1: and later on that was changed, and there was a
Speaker 1: rewrite and another rewrite, and we ended up basically at
Speaker 1: the end improvising all our scenes. Wow, Linn Stallmaster was
Speaker 1: casting it, and I couldn't go in to see him.
Speaker 2: He wouldn't see me.
Speaker 1: He kept saying to the agent, I know, Andy's a
Speaker 1: lovely actor, but we're looking for someone like a hector
Speaker 1: macho camacho type. You remember the boxer, Yes, and Andy's
Speaker 1: more like the diplomat's son, you know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: And I kept pressing. I said, please just ask him,
Speaker 1: just get me in. I know who this guy is.
Speaker 3: It's already so hard because there's so few Latin roles,
Speaker 3: and then to be told, well, we need you know,
Speaker 3: Latin point zero one three, this very specific type cast.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there were you know, kind of this urban, tough,
Speaker 1: crazy guy. Sure, I said, I know who this guy is.
Speaker 1: I know who this guy is. And eventually my agent
Speaker 1: was relentless and Linz said, okay, I'll, you know, bring
Speaker 1: him in. And then I knew when I went in
Speaker 1: there that I had to go in in the character.
Speaker 1: You know, I couldn't go in there casually and they
Speaker 1: just do the scene. So I just went in in
Speaker 1: character and I read for Lynn. But basically, you know,
Speaker 1: you kind of roll the dice. You got to roll
Speaker 1: the dice and make an impression because you only got
Speaker 1: one shot. And I used to smoke in those days,
Speaker 1: so I started to smoke before you know, I was
Speaker 1: we're about to do the scene. I started to light
Speaker 1: a cigarette and lin said, I'm sorry, we can't, there's
Speaker 1: no smoking here. The character's name was Angel, and I said,
Speaker 1: Angel doesn't give a fuck what you thinks, and he
Speaker 1: kind of looked.
Speaker 2: At me, and he knew that it was an actor thing.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: He kind of shook his head and go, oh shit,
Speaker 1: here we go, you know. And then he said, you
Speaker 1: mind if we go to another room. And I said
Speaker 1: to him, wherever we're going, I've already been and wherever
Speaker 1: you've been, I don't need to go.
Speaker 3: He was like, that's it, yeah, and just followed me and.
Speaker 2: Then you know, we went then I met you know,
Speaker 2: the story goes on, right.
Speaker 1: He was a coked out, you know, no morality, no
Speaker 1: remorse kind of guy. And how just after the reading,
Speaker 1: How said okay, and I got the part. So that
Speaker 1: got me a lot of attention, and that's what opened
Speaker 1: up the door for the untouchables.
Speaker 3: So you do these movies with these incredible directors Brian Palmer, Ridley,
Speaker 3: Scott how Ashby and.
Speaker 2: Then Jerry Schatzberg early on too, and.
Speaker 3: Then tell me about how does this Godfather three thing materialized?
Speaker 3: Because as you told us, you know, as we know,
Speaker 3: like The Godfathers, this movie that you watched and said
Speaker 3: I want to do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, it's it's almost like a thing that you
Speaker 1: manifest your own destiny, you know, in a way in life.
Speaker 1: In the early eighties, when I was loading trucks, there
Speaker 1: was a rumor, not a rumor, there was public like
Speaker 1: in variety that they were going to do god Father
Speaker 1: three and there was a new part, the Son of
Speaker 1: Sonny All that was kind of leaked, and that they
Speaker 1: were looking at actors like John Travolta or Sebasti Stallone, whatever,
Speaker 1: the people that were known, and they were Italian, the
Speaker 1: usual suspects that were you know, especially John. It was
Speaker 1: a big star. And I remember saying to myself, that's
Speaker 1: my part, that's my part. But you know, I had
Speaker 1: nothing to show. But internally I didn't tell anybody, you know, hey,
Speaker 1: that's my part. I just said to myself, that's my part.
Speaker 1: That's my part. So when it did happen in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty nine, it gave me an opportunity to do some
Speaker 1: work where I had done a lot of work at Paramount.
Speaker 1: Like you mentioned, what was it, Untouchable's Black Rain you said,
Speaker 1: Dead Again Internal Affairs, which they wrote for me, right,
Speaker 1: and that was like eighty eight or something like that, right,
Speaker 1: And we were doing the film and Frank Mancuso, he said, hey,
Speaker 1: the chief wants to come and have lunch with you.
Speaker 2: This is like May.
Speaker 1: So he comes to the set and we're having lunch
Speaker 1: and he says, the movies going great. We've seen Dailysus
Speaker 1: going great. He says, what are you doing in September.
Speaker 1: Remember it's like May June, because I'm going to talk
Speaker 1: to Francis. I want to be Vincent and the new Godfather.
Speaker 1: And I said, I'll check my schedule. I'll get back
Speaker 1: to you.
Speaker 3: Quick pause for all the stronsos out there who don't
Speaker 3: know the Francis he's talking about. Here is the Godfather
Speaker 3: director Francis Ford Coppola.
Speaker 1: And I told him I'd be honored to do it.
Speaker 1: And so what happened was from like May or June,
Speaker 1: throughout the whole summer, there were other people that wanted
Speaker 1: that part. Of course, it was a beautiful part. Every
Speaker 1: actor in town wanted that part. Who wouldn't want that part?
Speaker 1: And Francis started to screen test people. Now, if you
Speaker 1: know the history of the Godfather with Francis and the
Speaker 1: struggles he had with the studio when they would suggest
Speaker 1: people for the movie, it's become like film or right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I was the guy the studio wanted, and
Speaker 1: I wasn't Italian, but then't again, neither was Brando and
Speaker 1: neither was James conn No, I wasn't Italian, right, So
Speaker 1: didn't bother mister Mancuso.
Speaker 3: A lot of people don't realize Marlon Brando, it's not talent.
Speaker 2: Right, But I had played Italian and.
Speaker 3: You know in a couple of times, right, yeah.
Speaker 1: In the Untouchables in Black Ray, and you know, so
Speaker 1: I purposely was you know, I had shots now to
Speaker 1: play things outside of my own culture. So anyway, he
Speaker 1: was screen testing people, and I was always asking, why
Speaker 1: can't I just go with screen test. I'm going to
Speaker 1: lose the job because I'm not getting a shot to
Speaker 1: meet Francis. And finally, like in August, they called me
Speaker 1: and I flew in and met him, the beautiful meeting
Speaker 1: and I left. There was no reading or anything, and
Speaker 1: then they kept screen testing and I kept saying, why
Speaker 1: can't I just screen test for him? And the agent says,
Speaker 1: don't worry, don't worry, the studio wants you. I said,
Speaker 1: I understand, but people are going screen testing. Let me
Speaker 1: just screen test. And finally, on a fright before Labor
Speaker 1: Day weekend a Thursday, I got a call Francis wants
Speaker 1: to test to you and get on a plane. And
Speaker 1: I met frances that afternoon on Thursday. They gave me
Speaker 1: the size, he talked about the character together and this
Speaker 1: and that. I went home, not home, to the motel
Speaker 1: there in Napa Valley, which is if you ever met
Speaker 1: in Napa Valley at night, it's pitch dark, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: and whatever little light there is, it's just like if
Speaker 1: you're in a motel or so this was little Bungalow motels,
Speaker 1: and there was an electrical shortage, you know, all the
Speaker 1: lights in the valley went out. So now I was
Speaker 1: sitting in my hotel room with one of those little
Speaker 1: you know, candle light things like Scrooge that they gave
Speaker 1: me at the office, trying to work on the material.
Speaker 1: Eventually that gets you very tired, goes your eyes and
Speaker 1: I went to sleep. I woke up early, looked at
Speaker 1: the material again, went in and screen tested, and I
Speaker 1: went well, and as I was taking my wardrobe off
Speaker 1: and putting my cla, Fred Russe, who was the casting
Speaker 1: director and one of the producers, said, well, I met
Speaker 1: doing the Mean season, so he was supportive. He was
Speaker 1: one of the guys that was saying to Francis, also,
Speaker 1: this kisses the guy. Yeah, but I was the last
Speaker 1: guy in, you know, to test. He said, the Francis
Speaker 1: would like you to stay for dinner. And then by
Speaker 1: the time I put my own clothes on, there was
Speaker 1: another knock on the door and he said there's been
Speaker 1: a change of plans. You can go home, you know.
Speaker 1: So I said, okay, well, and I knew that, you
Speaker 1: know that I felt good about what I did, and
Speaker 1: that's all I could do. The next morning, I got
Speaker 1: a call on Saturday saying you got the part and
Speaker 1: go fly back up on Monday. You start after that weekend.
Speaker 1: Were started rehearsal in Napa Valley.
Speaker 3: And I know, look, I know for years in your
Speaker 3: mind you're like, this is my part, and you've been
Speaker 3: sort of preparing yourself for it, but you don't know
Speaker 3: the details of the arc. You don't know exactly what's happening.
Speaker 3: And this is a movie. No.
Speaker 2: I knew that this character was going to be handed
Speaker 2: the family.
Speaker 3: Right, but you didn't know where all the road posted.
Speaker 2: No, no, right. I hadn't seen the script yet. I
Speaker 2: just seen sides.
Speaker 3: So what I think is so beautiful about this performance
Speaker 3: is that It really does justice to the idea of
Speaker 3: someone who is Sonny's son, you know, right, who makes
Speaker 3: this transition to essentially being Michael's son.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: Yes, I wonder like, did you talk to James Kahn?
Speaker 3: Did you talk to Pacino?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: I worked with Pacina, of course, but before starting was
Speaker 3: there any kind of lie?
Speaker 1: I actually knew how because we used to play paddle
Speaker 1: tennis together. I met him because when they were doing Scarface. Stephen,
Speaker 1: you know, is the friend and I love to play
Speaker 1: paddle tennis, and Stephen said, come play with us. And
Speaker 1: I met Al that way, and we would play paddle
Speaker 1: tennis in Studio City. There was a course there and
Speaker 1: sometimes we go out to the beach and one of
Speaker 1: those beach clubs out there.
Speaker 2: So Al is the warmest guy in the world.
Speaker 1: And I remember when Steven introduces and he said, oh,
Speaker 1: look you see I told you guys look alike, right,
Speaker 1: And I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, but he
Speaker 1: was very warm. We laughed a lot, so I knew
Speaker 1: I'll just socially a little bit, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So when I got to you know, to Nap on
Speaker 1: that Monday, the first day, and you know, we kind
Speaker 1: of said hello and I gave him a hug. It
Speaker 1: was kind of like I said, you know, of course
Speaker 1: it's got to be. You know, you have a resemblance,
Speaker 1: you know, for the family and all that stuff, you know.
Speaker 1: But no, I didn't talk to anybody. Oh I had
Speaker 1: the material. I remember that first night, Francis started cooking
Speaker 1: for everybody, all the actors and people that were there.
Speaker 2: Mario Puosa was there.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: I went into the kitchen and I said to Francis,
Speaker 1: because you know, because I like to cook your dad
Speaker 1: and our culture, and I said, can I help you
Speaker 1: Francis with anything? And he said yeah, and he took
Speaker 1: ahead of garlic. I'll never forget this, and he with
Speaker 1: his hand, He's got very strong hands. He just pressed
Speaker 1: on it and the whole garlic just fell apart, like
Speaker 1: crushed it. And he said, peel those for me, and
Speaker 1: I said sure, and then I started peeling the garlic
Speaker 1: and he said, wait a second, hold on a second,
Speaker 1: and he grabbed them like that, you know, scooped him
Speaker 1: off the table and put them away. And he said, no, no,
Speaker 1: I'm going to do as that Mario likes instead, which
Speaker 1: is just with onions. So he said, cut these onion
Speaker 1: I guess I cut the onions and he said, go
Speaker 1: out to the garden and bring me a big bushel
Speaker 1: of basil. You got in the garden outside his house
Speaker 1: at Napa. So I was just helping him, you know.
Speaker 1: I wanted to immerse myself in him, you know, in
Speaker 1: his world. And then at dinner I sat next to
Speaker 1: Mario Puzzo and I said to a Mario, is there
Speaker 1: anything you can say to me about Vincent that you
Speaker 1: know I'm inside and who you think he is? And
Speaker 1: he said he has the smarts of Veto, the temper
Speaker 1: of Sonny, the warmth of Fredo, and the coldness of Michael.
Speaker 2: Oh. I said, thanks very much, I'll work I'll work
Speaker 2: on that.
Speaker 3: No pressure, right, I'll work on that.
Speaker 2: Please don't tell me anything else. Yeah, sorry, I asked.
Speaker 2: We're good.
Speaker 3: We're good, We're good. If this podcast was The Godfather,
Speaker 3: my producer Chloe would be Michael, I would be Sonny,
Speaker 3: and this commercial break would definitely be Afraido. Stick around,
Speaker 3: We're about to bite off Joey Zaza's ear. Welcome back
Speaker 3: to More Than a Movie. I'm your host, Alex Fumetto.
Speaker 3: I'm talking to Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia about being
Speaker 3: cast as Vincent Mancini aka Vincent Corleone in the nineteen
Speaker 3: ninety sequel to arguably the greatest films of all time,
Speaker 3: The Godfather Part three. So I'm wondering, you know, talking
Speaker 3: about that performance. Movies are not typically shot in sequence.
Speaker 3: You know, you don't shoot it in the order that
Speaker 3: you see it in the film. No, you see this
Speaker 3: very I mean, look, the reviews say what they say, right,
Speaker 3: I mean, like New York Times that everybody talks about
Speaker 3: how great your performance is in the movie. You're nominated,
Speaker 3: you know, so it is a great performance. But I
Speaker 3: want to sort of talk a little bit about the
Speaker 3: work that goes into that performance, and how did you
Speaker 3: map starting in this place where you're like literally biting
Speaker 3: Joey'szaza's ear, you know, to you know, these final scenes
Speaker 3: sitting in the chair very reminiscent of that Godfather one
Speaker 3: shot with you know, Diane Keaton sort of watching in
Speaker 3: the distance as the door closed. So how do you
Speaker 3: do that as an actor? What's the process?
Speaker 1: Well, you talk with Francis a lot, because, like you said,
Speaker 1: it was a shot in sequence. The script was changing
Speaker 1: a lot from the first script I had. Dean Tavolara
Speaker 1: is a great production designer who worked on all those
Speaker 1: films with Francis. In our film, he said something, it's
Speaker 1: like the screenplay is with Francis, like a newspaper comes
Speaker 1: out every day, so you would get sometimes new pages
Speaker 1: every day, and I would ask him where am I
Speaker 1: at frances in the situation? You know, some of it
Speaker 1: was obvious that was in the first act. Some of
Speaker 1: it was like I had done this preparation with Melina Cannonaro,
Speaker 1: just with hair, where my hair started.
Speaker 2: I kept all those shots.
Speaker 1: It's about fifteen images that start with very curly hair,
Speaker 1: and then it slowly gets more and more slick. Like Michael,
Speaker 1: he gets refined where he's not as hot tempered, and
Speaker 1: he's colder. He's prepared to kill anybody, but he's more Alice.
Speaker 1: You know, Michael has mentored him and now all that.
Speaker 3: Stuff don't ever tell anybody what you're thinking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and all that stuff was talked about and evident
Speaker 1: in the material. But there was this one thing where
Speaker 1: there was a scene in the script that we all
Speaker 1: read where he gives me the family, and that scene
Speaker 1: as we got into scenes towards the end of the film.
Speaker 1: We hadn't shot that scene at all and asked Francs.
Speaker 1: I said, Francs in this scene because it was kind
Speaker 1: of like borderline. I said, where am I at with?
Speaker 1: Have I gotten the family yet? Or he says, we
Speaker 1: haven't shot that scene yet, and I would go like, okay,
Speaker 1: I got you. And then we just work and work
Speaker 1: and work, and I actually finished shooting the film and
Speaker 1: we never shot that scene. The studio wanted it to happen,
Speaker 1: but Frances never shot the scene in the original production time,
Speaker 1: and he went and cut the film together, and then
Speaker 1: he came back to the studio and said, Okay, now
Speaker 1: I have what I.
Speaker 2: Want to do.
Speaker 1: I need to do this, and we shot like another
Speaker 1: thirty days. Oh wow, and he says, and now I have.
Speaker 2: The scene where Vincent gets the family.
Speaker 3: One of the most notable elements of Andy Garcia's performance
Speaker 3: in this movie is how he's able to capture the
Speaker 3: spirit of both his father Sonny and his uncles Michael
Speaker 3: and Fredo at different times in the film. His arc
Speaker 3: from Sonny to Michael is what gives credibility to Vincent's
Speaker 3: ascension to the Godfather throne. Listen to this clip from
Speaker 3: the beginning of the film, where the character is still struggling,
Speaker 3: like his father, to control his temper, especially where his
Speaker 3: family is concerned. It's a quality that ultimately got Sonny killed.
Speaker 2: I'm not here to ask you for any kind of help.
Speaker 2: I could just skill this bastard.
Speaker 1: He's the one who needs to help kill him.
Speaker 4: What does all this have to do with me? What
Speaker 4: is going on behind your back? Saying fuck Michael Corleon
Speaker 4: all the time? That's it, That's one thing it has
Speaker 4: to do with you, right, Say to his face one time.
Speaker 4: Say to his face.
Speaker 3: One time, mister Corleone, al Bester's a liar. Shakespeare wrote poems.
Speaker 3: That was Andy Garcia trying not to kill Joey's Azza
Speaker 3: as played by Joe Mantegna, after he's allegedly caught Zaza
Speaker 3: speaking ill of his uncle Mike aka Michael Corleone. So
Speaker 3: there's a few moments in this movie that I adore.
Speaker 3: A couple of them revolve around Joey's Ozah. So Joe
Speaker 3: Montigna's character exactly so you bite Joey'saza's ear off in
Speaker 3: an early scene right basically the beginning of the movie.
Speaker 3: More us and then Joy's as puts a hit on
Speaker 3: you famously. I think it's Bridget Fondough right as the
Speaker 3: well she she's the journalist.
Speaker 1: She's a journalist that I take home from the party
Speaker 1: and the guys come to try to take me out.
Speaker 2: She happens to be there.
Speaker 3: Which is a great scene where like, I want you
Speaker 3: to watch me very carefully then shoot the guy in
Speaker 3: his mouth. But then you go to see Michael sort
Speaker 3: of as like, you know, hey, this happened kind of thing,
Speaker 3: and Michael says something to the effect of, you know,
Speaker 3: now Joey's as is going to come back on you,
Speaker 3: And you say, oh, Joey's as is going to come
Speaker 3: back on me, and you flick your ear a couple times.
Speaker 3: Was that in the script? You just decided to flick
Speaker 3: your ear.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that's a gesture that Joey.
Speaker 1: That gesture is sort of like that he doesn't really
Speaker 1: have where with all the toughness or you know, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean you're definitely like emasculating the guy
Speaker 3: dressing him down there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3: But it's just like you just bit his ear and
Speaker 3: then we see you do this. It's so like delightful.
Speaker 3: But that was just like.
Speaker 1: A you know, in the cavan he bites that's from
Speaker 1: the opera. Oh right, my step brother, you know.
Speaker 3: Michael the singer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he bites the guy's ear. And so France has
Speaker 2: had that set up.
Speaker 1: You know, that was part of his from a script idea,
Speaker 1: story idea, and there's a very nice moment when he
Speaker 1: does that in the opera.
Speaker 2: They cut the vincive like a smile, you know.
Speaker 3: Him Yeah, yeah, he pulls on his yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It was interesting that the first take we did, Joe
Speaker 1: had a prosthetic ear, you know, and I went in
Speaker 1: and you know, they had a shot.
Speaker 2: They're very fairly close shot.
Speaker 1: And after I bid it, I came away and I
Speaker 1: had the ear in my mouth, you know, the prosthetic
Speaker 1: ear in my mouth, and it was on camera like
Speaker 1: you could see it, and I think Francis said a
Speaker 1: little bit to my whatever.
Speaker 2: And then we did another take. What's in the movie,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 3: Where you don't like bite it off, you just right right.
Speaker 1: Suppose Francis said to me after, you know, when I
Speaker 1: step away, and he said, why don't you catch yourself
Speaker 1: like that? Do we have it like a piece of
Speaker 1: a hot dog or something, so you can have it
Speaker 1: in your mouth because you a piece of it, And
Speaker 1: there was no one, and I said, don't worry for us,
Speaker 1: I'll play it and you see me kind of take
Speaker 1: me something out of my tongue, like if I have something,
Speaker 1: you know, a piece of his ear in my mouth.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's visceral. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So that actual scene was the one I auditioned. The
Speaker 1: screen test was the scene where I come into the
Speaker 1: office for the first time. That's one of the scenes.
Speaker 3: Just to clarify, So do you think that the wicking
Speaker 3: of the ear thing? Do you think that's because of
Speaker 3: your like improv comedy training, Like where does that kind
Speaker 3: of come from?
Speaker 1: It's just for my own imagination, you know. It's the
Speaker 1: things that that I you bring to a part.
Speaker 3: Does it happen in the moment or do you plan it? No?
Speaker 1: I had the thought of how do you degrade that
Speaker 1: Jos's ability to retaliate or yeah, yeah, yeah, Joe's as
Speaker 1: a Putts kind of thing, you know, exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And then the other great moment, which I'm very curious
Speaker 3: about the timing of, is when you finally put the
Speaker 3: hit on Zaza and you ride up in the horse.
Speaker 3: This is like I've memorized this in my and you
Speaker 3: say hey Joe, and he turns around, and you shoot twice,
Speaker 3: and then the horse turns, you shoot a third time,
Speaker 3: and then you go zaza and you ride away dada.
Speaker 3: And I've always wanted to know is that sequence something
Speaker 3: that you planned or was that all?
Speaker 2: Francis?
Speaker 1: There was actually a scene that doesn't exist in the
Speaker 1: movie where you saw me getting dressed at the stable
Speaker 1: in a police uniform like a matter door, getting ready
Speaker 1: for a bullfight. It was a beautifully shot scene because
Speaker 1: you had like the horse was there. It was dimly lit,
Speaker 1: like light was coming through like a skylight, and you
Speaker 1: imagine Gordon Willis. But the reality is that spoiled the
Speaker 1: surprise once you knew I was in a police right.
Speaker 3: So I only have one last question. It's a true
Speaker 3: or false question. You were inspired to start acting because
Speaker 3: of The Godfather. I was inspired to start acting, and
Speaker 3: then you know, by extension producing watching Godfather three, you're
Speaker 3: now here doing my podcast? Am I now the Godfather?
Speaker 1: I haven't retired yet. One day, one day, one day,
Speaker 1: and that day may never come. Oh I might come
Speaker 1: to you for a favor.
Speaker 3: Oh, there's hope, all right, man so much, I really
Speaker 3: appreciate it. Just when you thought you were out, we
Speaker 3: pulled you back in with next week's episode of More
Speaker 3: Than a Movie featuring actor and honorary Latino Lou Diamond Phillips,
Speaker 3: who will be talking to about his role as Richie
Speaker 3: Vallen's in Labama. More Than a Movie Season two was
Speaker 3: produced by Chloe Taglia Ganbe with the help of Reynolds
Speaker 3: Gutierres and Veronica Hernandez in partnership with Iheart's Michael Durda
Speaker 3: podcast network, hosted by me Alex Fumeto, edited by Rose
Speaker 3: Red and Chloe Tauglia Gmbe with the help of Cida Cavedo.
Speaker 3: Executive producers are Carmen Gratto, Rose Red, Isaac Lee, and
Speaker 3: me Alex Fumetto sound designed by Gonzalo Messi, original music
Speaker 3: by Golden Mines, Darko and Ieme recorded at JTB Studios
Speaker 3: and Vaudeville Sound Our. Executive producers at iHeart are Gazelle
Speaker 3: Bansis and Arlene Santana. For more Michael Durda podcasts, listen
Speaker 3: to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Speaker 3: your favorite shows,