Next Monday 12 April Andy García will turn 65 years . At an age when most are entering retirement, the Cuban actor does not slow down. So far 1993 we have seen him in the thriller “Redemption Day”, the comedy “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar ”and at the beginning of May we will see him in a surprise cameo in a film with a lot of action (stay tuned). In addition, it has just been announced that it will be in the remake of “The Father of the Bride” (“The father of the bride”).
Today premieres “ Rebel ” on ABC, a series inspired by the life of activist Erin Brockovich. Katey Sagal -that great Peggy Bundy, the mother of “Married with Children” – plays the main character, Annie “Rebel” Bello, a tireless woman in the fight for causes in which she believes and that, even without having a degree in Law, works in the firm of Cruz, a lawyer of Cuban origin interpreted by García.
The actor attended us from his home in Los Angeles to talk about his latest work, the pride of playing Cuban-American characters, his relationship with the island and exile, and the new version of “The Godfather 3”, perhaps the most important film of his career.
Question: What attracted you to your character as a lawyer in “Rebel ”?
Andy García : One has to contemplate any offer that enters that is interesting. But here I was attracted to the script, the quality of the writing. My character was written for a Latino, but not specific, and I was excited to be able to impersonate a lawyer of Cuban descent. Exiled here, like me, from a young age, and to be able to bring my own history and that of many of the exiles of the early years 60, children of parents who came with their family when they were very young and settled in the United States. It was an opportunity to honor that generation.
P .: You will be in the remake of “The Father of the Bride”, directed by the Mexican Gaz Alazraki, and the family will also be Cuban- American…
AG : One is Cuban -American and the other family, who come to get married, is Mexican. There is a rice with mango, as we say.
P .: You will also like that about the project.
AG: Of course. It was a coincidence those two projects in a row. In “The Father of The Bride” also is not a single character, but a whole family: my parents, me, and my children, already born in the United States, the third generation that is going to have their children and puts me in the grandfather’s age. Those identify themselves as Cuban, but they are as American as they are Cubans.
Q .: The film is being presented as a remake “latinx” of “The Father of the Bride”. What do you think of being called that?
AG : That is part of the classifications they are using today. I am Cuban, and I have never denied it, of course. But I don’t consider myself a Cuban actor. I did not train to specialize in Cuban characters. I am an actor and I have influences from many cultures, specifically from Cuban and Cuban American culture, and I also identify a lot with Italian culture. Those ratings of “Latinx”, or Latino … next year they call it something else. It is to include everyone, but the reality is that all cultures are different. The most important thing is that they make the movies. They can call it what they want, but the important thing is that they support the projects of Hispanic cultures. If calling it Latinx helps, great.
Q .: Do you think we are in a better situation now? Are there more stories from our communities? ?
AG : It is better than before , but there is still a way to win.
Q .: Now you are working a lot, in other times you were less seen, at what point in your career do you see yourself?
AG : An actor’s career has its ups and downs. Sometimes you do a lot of projects that nobody sees. And other times you do a project that a lot of people see. Thank God I have had the blessing of always working. In the projects that interest me, which sometimes are not the ones that interest the public. My time is my time. I don’t have the obsession of being present in the show constantly.
Q .: What kind of projects are you looking for more?
AG : I have my personal projects that I am always writing and trying to achieve. That is my private time, my scripts and my dreams, in which I do not depend on anyone else. Not only in the cinema, but in music, in the things that fill my artistic heart.
P .: Music is very important to you and also your Cuban heritage, as you told us before. How do you see the situation on the island at the moment? Do you see any signs of change?
AG : There is no change in part of the scheme. That regime does not have the capacity to change. Until a democracy that respects human beings is eliminated and established, that will not change. But I believe that there is a more awakened concern within the Cuban people and the youth, who cannot take it anymore. In Cuba, the change is in process of eliminating the existing system and entering a plural, democratic system with respect for all human rights that the Cuban people deserve. This movement grows stronger every day. I hope that this is coming, as Willy Chirino’s song says.
Q .: When that happens, would you like to come back?
AG : Of course. I have a lot of desire. I have only been to Cuba once. I went to Guantánamo with maestro Cachao y Gloria and Emilio Estefan to play a concert for the raft refugees who were there. We did not leave Guantanamo, but we were on the island. It was in 1993. But I have never been to Havana or anywhere else. That is my personal decision. I do not judge those who go, but I am not interested in being involved with that regime. That is a sacrifice, because all the exiles who love Cuba of course want to be there. That regime can take possession of Cuba, but it cannot take possession of the Cuba within me. There is hope.
Q .: Last year Francis Ford Coppola reissued “The Godfather 3”. What do you think of the new version?
AG : Lovely. The changes he made to it bring you into the story much more precisely, without delay, which helps the emotional arc of the film. I was very excited to see her again. I saw her with Al , Diane Keaton and George Hamilton in Paramount Pictures, in a beautiful living room. We were all very excited, it affected us a lot.
Q .: Did you like it more than the original?
AG : It has a different approach that touches the emotional part. It has a different ending. It’s the movie that Francis wanted to make and couldn’t, as he says. At that moment he was quick to get it out, he wished he had more time to chew on the film. I am happy that he is happy that he could have left the film the way he wanted to leave it. That is important. He has done that with several of his projects: “Apocalypse Now”, “The Cotton Club” and now with The Godfather “Coda”, which was the original title when we received the script: “Coda, The Death of Michael Corleone”.
In the channel from YouTube of La Vibra you can see this full interview: