Andy Garcia (3:11)

So you. Were you nominated? Were you there as a nominee? Oh, so you were in the, like, processing that whole situation.

Ted Danson (3:17)

Yeah. Feels like you're far more serious man than I am.

Andy Garcia (3:21)

So. I don't know.

Ted Danson (3:22)

You don't dabble in the silly stuff.

Andy Garcia (3:24)

Obviously. It's a. It's a huge compliment, you know, privilege to be recognized by, especially your peers. Yeah, that's the most important, I think. Your peers, you know, your colleagues and. And of course, critics are part of our industry, and they're recognizing your work, which is, well, always well deserved. Mr. Danson, your work is always well deserved and well to be celebrated. But like you said, you can get sucked into the. I guess this is my philosophy about it. Years ago, I had this incredible blessing to. To be in this movie, The Godfather Part 3, which is a movie that. That was the film that made me become an actor, you know, and the first Godfather. The first one, yeah. And so I started studying seriously after that. And, you know, you end up, by the stroke of, you know, you got nominated.

Ted Danson (4:18)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (4:19)

And then you. You were in this process of, you know, the movie comes out, and I remember the head of marketing at the time at Paramount, forget the gentleman's name, ran into me on the lot. I was there on the lot, and he said, we're going to build

Ted Danson (4:38)

a

Andy Garcia (4:39)

campaign for you for a nomination. And that really kind of my immediate thing that happened to me when he said that to me, and I kind of took me away, you know, that kind of went off. And I went. I said, campaign. I said, I campaign. I said, I'm sorry. He says, I really. I'm not comfortable campaigning for an award.

Ted Danson (5:02)

Please like me. Please like me. Yeah.

Andy Garcia (5:04)

I said, I. This, you know, I was 32 years old. I was still processing the whole aspect of people recognizing you and the sort of this wave of, you know, fame that comes along when something, you know, the attention on. Comes on you for a moment. And I said, I. And I went like, oh, this is not. You know, personally, I just kind of shied away immediately in my mind, and. And he said, oh, don't worry, we'll. We'll do it for you. And I said, okay. I mean, that's up to you guys. But the conceit of that, you. That you have to go out and campaign for something.

Ted Danson (5:38)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (5:39)

That's where to me, it gets kind of tricky. And I don't mind supporting things that I'm proud of, you know.

Ted Danson (5:44)

Sure. Sure, sure.

Andy Garcia (5:45)

But there's a very thin line, you know, to, you know, William Soyan said something in that I read when I was developing one of his plays once, and he said, award. Awards will make the. The prince of the child and the fool of the man.

Ted Danson (6:03)

That's great. Wait, do break that down for me.

Andy Garcia (6:06)

Awards.

Ted Danson (6:07)

I got the fool of a man.

Andy Garcia (6:10)

Awards will make the prince of the child and the fool of the man.

Ted Danson (6:16)

Boy, I got fool of the man last night in spades.

Andy Garcia (6:20)

Yeah. So, you know, it's, you know, it's that thing, you know, and then, and then, like I said, I think it's a. It's an extraordinary privilege to be honored by your colleagues, you know, but take it as a privilege, you know, a blessing, and definitely put it aside, you know.

Ted Danson (6:39)

Definitely.

Andy Garcia (6:39)

Okay. Don't, you know, go like, hey, I got this now, and I got this now and.

Ted Danson (6:43)

Right.

Andy Garcia (6:44)

And

Ted Danson (6:47)

it's a good time to also take stock of. Are you being grateful for everything in your life? Are you taking for granted and are you thinking, oh, I'm a little, you know, it's an ego check for me. I always think I'm on top of my ego, and no, I'm not. I fall right into the trap of entitlement and lack of gratitude.

Andy Garcia (7:09)

Well, in our, you know, in our business, because, you know, it's so like, you know, the, the concept of celebrity that get. If you happen to again, have this kind of blessing of having a career and what we love to do, and you kind of sneak through and all of a sudden maybe you become some sort of recognizable figure or whatever, and we've all come across in, in the, in the history of our. Of our time here, you know, people that conduct themselves with a self importance that you, they just. As soon as they walk in through the door, you kind of sense it and you kind of go, oh, my God, here we go.

Ted Danson (7:49)

Really?

Andy Garcia (7:50)

Really? And then, you know, dark glasses in a bodyguard. Yeah, exactly. No, no, I don't want any. I don't want to be noticed. But you got three bodyguards around you.

Ted Danson (8:00)

But, you know,

Andy Garcia (8:06)

At some point you kind of. When that kind of thing is around you, you kind of go, you know, I'll be outside. You know, when you guys figure all this shit out, I'll be outside and I'll come back in and we'll begin to work. You know, so it's. It's. The ego is a very dangerous thing, you know, and I think it's. I mean, it's important to have a healthy ego or else you Wouldn't take a shower in the morning, you know what I mean? Comb your hair. But it's a dangerous thing, you know.

Ted Danson (8:33)

Yeah. You and I kind of got to that place of fame or recognize being recognized gradually in that you started off doing small part good, but small parts here. Small being part of good things, but small parts. Until. I don't know what you consider your boom for me with you is the Untouchables. It was like.

Andy Garcia (8:59)

Oh, yeah. Because that was a very successful film. You know, that's the thing. You're in a movie that's.

Ted Danson (9:03)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (9:04)

Internationally received and does a lot of business. So therefore your stock goes up because now they deem you to be somewhat marketable, you know, and that's what gets you, you know, some.

Ted Danson (9:13)

After 15, 20 years of working very hard to get there.

Andy Garcia (9:16)

Whatever.

Ted Danson (9:17)

Yeah, whatever. It was.

Andy Garcia (9:18)

Yeah, it was. Yeah, absolutely.

Ted Danson (9:19)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (9:20)

And. But, but there were steps to get to that part, you know, the little baby steps.

Ted Danson (9:24)

Me too. And I mean, Mary got shot out of a cannon with Jack Nicholson. She was waiting tables and then co starring Jack Nicholson.

Andy Garcia (9:32)

Exactly.

Ted Danson (9:33)

Like, basically like I remember. Yeah, I did. You know, I was on BJ and the Bears. You know, I was on every different level.

Andy Garcia (9:41)

Onion field.

Ted Danson (9:42)

Yeah, that was a little different, but I was. Because that, that, that was a. Yeah.

Andy Garcia (9:47)

Beautiful film. Yeah. Class act.

Ted Danson (9:49)

But my ego and my ability to deal with fame came gradually, I think, because that's what I needed if I'd gotten shot out of a cannon. I don't know.

Andy Garcia (9:59)

I had trouble with the onslaught myself. I, I naturally were like right side away from it, you know, And I remember there was a. I, I just, it was like, oh, what's going on? You know, and it was Untouchables for you, right?

Ted Danson (10:13)

Wasn't it? That moment.

Andy Garcia (10:15)

Yeah, it started before that. I, I had done like, I, I finally. After many years, and I would say, like, I came here in 78 and started doing improv at Comedy Store and taking class and doing local plays and stuff. And then I got a movie with Kurt Russell called the Main Season. Finally had a part in a movie that was part of the story. Myself and his great actor who became my dearest friend, Richard Bradford, who's passed played detectives.

Ted Danson (10:45)

Right.

Andy Garcia (10:45)

And there happened to be a part of this Cuban detective in Miami story took place in Miami. And before that, all the parts that I would even, you know, really my representation at the time was not very good before that movie. And all the parts that were available to me to audition, the rare audition were in those days, you know, with a Hispanic surname were like, just like Mexican gang members. And I would go into. If. Even if they just brought me in because they saw the name Garcia and I'd walk in, they go like, what are you doing here? You know, you. They were, you know, actor. You know, they were actually real gang members in the hallway that had agents, you know, so it was a.

Ted Danson (11:28)

Seriously. Yeah, yeah.

Andy Garcia (11:30)

You know, because they needed. You know, they. They were. They. They were all great actors, you know, or people that can. Really had more a physical. You know, the physicality that fit those parts. You know, I. I couldn't. You know, the lady would say, like, oh, you're like the diplomat's son. You know, what are you doing here? I said, I'm an actor. I can do, you know, the standard thing. But then there was this one. In this particular movie happened to be a young Cuban detective. So I got this part with Philip Borsos, great director who passed shortly thereafter. He did a movie called the Gray Fox with Richard Farnsworth. Amazing film. And. And. And Philip was amazing Canadian, young Canadian director. And he unfortunately died of cancer shortly after. And that movie, you know, got me some attention, you know, just because there was an actual part that you can watch. And it's a beautiful film. And then Hal Ashby was doing a movie with Jeff Bridges, but with an Oliver Stone script. And it was called 8 Million Ways to Die. It's based on a series of novels. A series of novels. The character he played was Matthew Scudder. He was a alcoholic, you know, down and out, L.A. detective, ex detective kind of thing, private eye. And there was this part in there that Oliver Stone wrote. His name was Angel Maldonado. And he was a drug. Young drug kingpin who killed people. And he was nasty dude, cooked out of his mind all the time. You know, huge ego, that kind of guy. And I would. My agent at the time, Jerry Scott, was desperately trying to get me in to meet Midland star master. And he also said, I know Andy. He's, you know, I've seen his work. He's been nice young actor. But, you know, we're looking for like a Hector Macho Camacho type, you know. And I kept insisting to Jerry, please get me in. I know who this guy is. I know who this guy is. And anyway, I finally came in and auditioned for.

Ted Danson (13:28)

For.

Andy Garcia (13:28)

For Lynn and. And the same day Hal came in and I read for him and he gave me the part. And that movie came out and got a lot of that. The movie. They took the movie away from Hal, unfortunately. And so he never really finished, never cut the film. But the movie had a certain energy that he let us create because Hal was a very improvisational director. You know, the script was thrown out several times. It was. And Jeff basically improvised all our scenes. So the movie had that energy which most of house movies have, like the last detail and all those stuff. And so because of that, I got a lot of, you know, attention for that part. And that's what got me. Lynn was casting the Untouchables and he brought me in to play. I've said this story before, but to play Frank Nitty, who was the killer in the Untouchables, that was beautiful.

Ted Danson (14:20)

I haven't heard this story.

Andy Garcia (14:21)

Yeah, but by Billy Drago, who recently also passed. He was great in the film, if you remember him.

Ted Danson (14:27)

Lean, sort of like, yeah, yeah, Scary,

Andy Garcia (14:29)

feline, you know, kind of quality about him. And I read the script and I said, no, no, I want to play this young Italian kid that's. No, no, I want to work with Sean Connery, you know. And so I met with De Palma and then I read for him and Art Linson, I think, was in the room also. And then they gave me the part. And then that movie blew up. And then all of a sudden, you know, the. Mr. Mancuso was the head of Paramount at the time. Frank Mancuso took me under his wing and we said, we, I want you here with us. And. And he's. He's like my second father to this day, you know.

Ted Danson (15:03)

And I remember one gentleman, the best. Frank.

Andy Garcia (15:06)

Yeah, And I remember they wanted to do like a three picture dealer at the time, during that time period. And he came to get me to his office and stuff, and. And I just said, I don't need any deals with you, Mr. Mancusa. I just shook his head and said, as long as you want me here, you know, I'm here. The moment you don't want me here anymore, you don't, you know, I'm out. And I did a lot of movies for them, including. Including the Godfather, you know, who he wanted. That was his choice. I had to convince Francis, you know, there's a whole history between, in the Godfather, who the studio wants compared to who Francis wants, you know.

Ted Danson (15:38)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (15:39)

So I was the studio guy, you know, But I finally got to meet Francis. I was the last guy to screen test. And a day later I had the part and we started rehearsal the day after that. So he kept it to the last moment, you know.

Ted Danson (15:53)

God, I remember, for me, it was the Untouchables. The first time I went, I went, wow. And it was like, Sean Connery is all of our.

Andy Garcia (16:03)

The best. He's James Bond.

Ted Danson (16:04)

Yeah. And also kind of that male energy, macho.

Andy Garcia (16:11)

Just, you know, he was my childhood hero, you know, growing up, because he was the guy, he was the cat.

Ted Danson (16:17)

First scene, you. You come on.

Andy Garcia (16:20)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (16:20)

And you go, don't fuck with me. Yeah. To Sean Connery. Which I know sounds silly because we're actors, but there was that energy in you.

Andy Garcia (16:30)

We had to protect our own. Who we were, the characters. Like the old saying, the boards. You know, the boards, people. It's like the stage right. He's the great equalizer. You know, you can be whoever you are, you know, in the limo, coming to work, but once we're in the room, all bets are off, right? I mean, you gotta look after your character, you gotta look after ours. And.

Ted Danson (16:49)

Yes, and because we pretend we can act and we can do things that we aren't necessarily. But I will argue that if you don't have that sense of that inside of you, it'll be not the same as somebody pretending to have the craft that gravitas that you have made me. When I listened to some interviews recently about your father, your family being exiles, there was nothing frivolous or silly about your growing up. There were a lot of huge sacrifices being made by.

Andy Garcia (17:32)

By.

Ted Danson (17:32)

For you. For you.

Andy Garcia (17:33)

For me. Yeah.

Ted Danson (17:34)

You know, and your. And your siblings that I'm sure didn't, you know, you. You there. I don't see a glib bone in your body. I grew up silly. You didn't. And I. I just wonder how much, when you look back at your family's history, how that informs.

Andy Garcia (17:53)

Oh, completely.

Ted Danson (17:54)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (17:54)

Completely.

Ted Danson (17:55)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (17:56)

Because first of all, it's the example that is set before you by your. In my case, I was fortunate to have parents that, you know, we were a family that was united. And also my older brother and my older sister. But, you know, it's the work ethic. It was very important in our family. Not only my father and mother who came. You know, I've said this before, it's not the. We came from Cuba in 61. We were under Fidel Castro for two and a half years. Finally he passed a law that after they took everything from your properties, your money, everything, you were zero. But then they also had, across the

Ted Danson (18:36)

board, it didn't matter what your politics.

Andy Garcia (18:38)

There was only one politic. There was. Either you're with the revolution or you're against the revolution.

Ted Danson (18:43)

And if you're with the revolution, you don't own a lot of stuff.

Andy Garcia (18:45)

You don't own anything. Everything's taken away from everybody. And you either go, yes, here, take it and we're behind you, or you go like, what the hell's going on? But then they took the rights to your children away. And so at the age of five, you. You basically hand over the rights to education and everything to the state, which is where they indoctrinate you, you know, to be like they want you to be and to worship Fidel. Remember, there's no religion now. There's no. On the wall, there's a picture of Papa Fidel, you know, so my parents said, we're out. This is not.

Ted Danson (19:15)

How did you, I mean, how did you get it? How did they get out?

Andy Garcia (19:18)

We were lucky that we got out.

Ted Danson (19:20)

We have, legally, I mean, it's, we

Andy Garcia (19:21)

got some visas and we, they, they closed the country down, I think around 64. And it was, that was after that. I think it was much harder to get out. But somehow we went out first and my father came like a month later. And we started in Florida there, Miami beach, in a little efficiency, those little motels where the northerners would come down.

Ted Danson (19:40)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (19:41)

And you. It's basically a, it's a one bedroom suite with a, with a kitchenette, you know, and it's like little, little horseshoe. Yeah, horseshoe. It's called the, the one we stayed is called the D is still there on Harding Avenue, like 84th. And that whole stretch of Miami beach is public beaches. So across the street on Collins Avenue from the public beaches were all these little motels that people would come down and cross the street to the beach and stuff.

Ted Danson (20:03)

LA has some of those little horseshoe, teeny motel, like down up places.

Andy Garcia (20:10)

Yeah, yeah. Especially back in the older days, you know, so we, I mean, we grew up there, but that, you know, we had, you know, the. You, you start from scratch, right? So you have. In the case of my family, this is very typical. If I was a lawyer and a farmer, my mother was an English teacher. She went to work as a secretary because she spoke English. And my father went to work in a catering business, you know, running the small little catering business.

Ted Danson (20:35)

Without breaking stride, too.

Andy Garcia (20:36)

No, you can't break stride. You just, you, what's the job?

Ted Danson (20:39)

And you go, boom.

Andy Garcia (20:40)

What's it, you know, you, you, the. This was a small little exile community already there, you know, in that area for obvious reasons, because the little motels and you go like, hey, Ted, I, I just got here, you know, hey, how, how you doing? I just Got here any work? Yeah, there's. Need some, you know, some janitors at the Fountain Blue. Okay, let's go. You know, so you had doctors working as janitor, whatever. You had a. You got to pay the motel rent on Friday, so you just had to go with wherever you go, you know. And doctors began to, you know, work and then later became doctors by studying again and lawyers got their bar again. You know, it was a process.

Ted Danson (21:22)

Do you think there's a difference between. I mean, I've heard you talk about. No, not immigrant. Exile and that. There's a big difference. You got.

Andy Garcia (21:32)

There's a difference, yeah, because the exile, you're. You're sort of like you're forced to leave. But no, but immigration, it's. There's. I guess it's a gray area because sometimes immigration is based on the absolute need, either violence or absolute need to provide for your family where you can't. Where you are. In our case, we're political exiles, you know, because of the political system. We left. We immigrated to another country. But I think maybe the. I think maybe, maybe if in a sort of way, maybe the exile always wants to go back home where the immigrant maybe doesn't.

Ted Danson (22:11)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (22:12)

You know, I'm the general statement, you know.

Ted Danson (22:14)

Right.

Andy Garcia (22:15)

We've come to America to stay in America. The exile is going like, we're here until we can go back. Maybe that's. And that's that kind of longing, that kind of sense of, when are we going back? When are we going back? We got to go. The love, you know, the. The need and the love to go back is the sort of the umbrella of emotional umbrella. I grew up with the idea of always wanting to go back, not because it wasn't great what we were, but that was our home. That's, you know.

Ted Danson (22:49)

Right, right, right.

Andy Garcia (22:50)

So have you. No, no, Actually, I went once to the Guantanamo Naval base. In about 93, Clinton had. He had changed the laws with Cuba to what they call a wet foot, dry foot law. Since the beginning of the revolution in the early 60s, if you were at sea, you were a rafter, which has been hundreds and hundreds of thousands of rafters have come Cuba, if they found you at sea, the Coast Guard, they bring you in and they process you. And you were here. And then he changed that. You had to touch ground. If not, you would be sent back. They didn't have the heart to send back to Cuba, so they sent a lot of people to Guantanamo Naval Base. And you would see on the news that people would be off the off the coast of Key west, usually around Marathon, because that's where the Keys kind of the Gulf Stream takes the rafters to in a certain direction. And Marathon Key elbows there and it's the closest one to the Gulf Stream. So people would get close to Marathon and then, you know, let's go and try to get out of the Gulf Stream and get close ashore. And the. You could see on the news in Florida the police boats confronting these people on the raft that were maybe a mile offshore or a quarter of a mile by then. And they would go in the water and try to swim and not let. Because they had to touch ground. I remember one image where some of the police had these big like fish nets to try to catch the people in the water, you know, so it was. That's. Anyway, so we went to. I went there to do a concert with Gloria and Emilio Stefan and a gentleman that I was working with and a Cuban composer, bass player named Cachao, very famous guy. And that was the first time I went back. But we just, we were at the naval base and there was 16,000 rafters there when I went in like a tent city and we did a concert for them and we spent basically the day there. We came back late at night and that was the only time I went back to the island. You know, you kind of see it. You got to travel around the eastern part of it because they don't let you fly over. And you come into Guantanamo juice on the southern side and you landed and it's, you know, it's amazing because I remember growing up, my parents would always say, oh, the skies in Cuba are so beautiful. Well, it's like going out to the desert here, you know, when there's not a lot of big city in Guantanamo, it's just a naval base, but there's nothing there. So there's no lights to get in the way of the sky, you know, and there's no pollution there or anything. And the sky was like a planetarium. It was incredible.

Ted Danson (25:35)

You know, I don't know that I. This is a half baked thought as we're sitting here talking, but I've always wanted to go to Cuba. It always sounded. Sounds romantic like a stepping back in time, unfortunately, because of the way it is. But you know, and this is the first time I'm going, maybe I should check myself.

Andy Garcia (26:01)

Yeah, well, which I hate. Yeah. Well, what happened? Well, you know. Yeah, Cuba is not. It's beyond stepping back in time. If you, if you want to go to Pompeii, that's Where you're going to find in Cuba now, it's completely falling on top of itself. And the infrastructure of the country has not been touched in 70 years. And of course, there's no food, there's no electricity. It's in its worst situation. That regime has caused this extraordinary hardship there. But also the city has just crumbled on itself. It's an extraordinary city that was like the Paris of the Caribbean. You know, the new republic in Cuba after the Spanish American War was. The city was designed by the same architect that did Washington, D.C. you know, so it has that grandeur. The Capitol building is a copy of the American Capitol. So it's, you know, but the thing is about celebrity. People who go to Cuba, they love for you to go to Cuba because they take pictures of you in Cuba and they go, you see, Ted Danson loves us.

Ted Danson (27:02)

You make it okay.

Andy Garcia (27:03)

Yeah, yeah. He approves of us. He thinks we're great. He thinks our system is great. And you just go in there out of a curiosity. But I've seen them, the government, you know, use the celebrity quotient when people go. But I don't, you know, I don't judge for that.

Ted Danson (27:20)

I don't. Did. My. My thought did not come off of something I was gleaning from you, but it was like, oh, it's more visceral. I mean, I've heard the story. I was around during that time and all that, but I'm sitting there opposite you talking about your family and your experience, and all of a sudden it's more visceral.

Andy Garcia (27:39)

Yeah, absolutely. No, no. Cuba has been a place of. There's a lot of curiosity for a lot of people. You know, the people, Cuban people are joyous people and they'll take you in even though they have nothing and. But unfortunately, it's in a terrible, terrible situation there. And, you know, there's always hope that there'll be change, you know, but we've been hoping for a long time.

Ted Danson (28:01)

You know, I don't mean to imply you can't be silly, but it does explain, I think, a little bit, the gravitas that you put out into the world.

Andy Garcia (28:08)

Yeah, but I can be very silly, Ted. Trust me. Trust me.

Ted Danson (28:13)

I suppose I can be deep. Upon occasion, if forced together, we make

Andy Garcia (28:18)

this extraordinary bear, like foreign.

Ted Danson (28:25)

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Andy Garcia (30:45)

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Ted Danson (30:57)

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Andy Garcia (31:00)

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Ted Danson (31:18)

You, it seems to me from your upbringing and you know, your family experience had to have your your your, you know, your eyes on the high beams. You had to be focused. I kind of described my upbringing until Jesus, until I was in my 40s. Basically I went through life as if I were sitting in the back of a pickup facing backwards, looking at life Come past me going, wow, look at that. I'll be damned. I never really turned around.

Andy Garcia (31:51)

That's amazing.

Ted Danson (31:51)

And went, I want this or I need to be going in that direction.

Andy Garcia (31:56)

That's incredible.

Ted Danson (31:57)

Yeah, but that's because I, you know, I grew up with a family that my mother, you know, didn't have a dime growing up.

Andy Garcia (32:04)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (32:05)

My father was Cincinnati, Ohio, upstairs, downstairs mates, depression, less so. Then he fell in love with Arizona, became an archaeologist and never made more than $10,000 a year. But it was his passion and love. And he's beautiful. So I grew up around. We don't seem to have any money, you know, when I look around me. Because their values were different, but money was never an issue.

Andy Garcia (32:34)

Right.

Ted Danson (32:36)

And that was kind of a nice luxury to grow up in. But the one thing I will say I got this is all because of the fucking awards show the other night.

Andy Garcia (32:48)

It's going to be okay, dad. No, but I got you. I got.

Ted Danson (32:52)

I'm self examining. What's your worth? Who are you, Ted? The one thing I say that I got from my family, so many things. Sorry. So many things, mom and dad. But one is curiosity. So I love, I love, you know, being able to do this.

Andy Garcia (33:08)

Yeah. Yeah.

Ted Danson (33:09)

Because I want to know what makes you tick.

Andy Garcia (33:11)

Well, like what makes me tick obviously is my passion for the thing I love, which I loved since I was a child. Films and. And then later the stage. I was a huge film buff as a kid and would go to see Sean Connery and double features in Lincoln Road in the summers and I'd go at noon and I'd watch Thunderbolt and Dr. No and then I'd stay and watch Thunderbolt and Dr. No and then I'd stay and watch like all for about a buck. Yeah, whatever. It was a buck 75 for the summer for kids. And I go in at noon and I take the bus home at 10 at night. And I just stayed there the whole time. So that's. That was my passion and that was that eventually it was like. It's like a virus. It picks you, you know, and eventually you got to deal with it. I got this is what I want to do. And you kind of start figuring it out. That makes me take my work.

Ted Danson (34:05)

Sports must have had some.

Andy Garcia (34:06)

Yeah, I was, I was an athlete growing up. I played baseball and basketball in high school and stuff. But at some point it's, you know, I wasn't going to be playing for the Lakers, you know, so.

Ted Danson (34:15)

Right.

Andy Garcia (34:16)

But. But that. This other passion and actually. And I've Said this. It's, you know, it's hard, these podcasts, but you end up telling the same damn stories all the time.

Ted Danson (34:24)

You know, we'll get you in a minute.

Andy Garcia (34:26)

Yeah, but the thing, the thing is I got mononucleosis in my senior year. And then I was like, I couldn't play basketball. It was like right when the season was starting and I was in this kind of limbo and I stayed home for like a month because I, you know, couldn't do anything. And, and I took an acting class. And that kind of, it caught me in this kind of vulnerable space. And I was encouraged that I felt stimulated. And the Godfather came out, I saw it and I said, I want to try to this privately to myself. I didn't go around say, hey, I want to, you know. Yeah, yeah, because people think you're crazy. But the most important lesson I learned as an actor was the first lesson, like, I think it was like the first acting class I ever took. And maybe not the one in high school, but one in college. But it was the exercise where you had to fall backwards and someone would have to catch you.

Ted Danson (35:19)

You know, trust.

Andy Garcia (35:20)

Yeah, that's the trust, actually. And that's, that's the essence of it. You have to, you have to be able to be willing to fall backwards and know that someone's going to catch you.

Ted Danson (35:31)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (35:31)

If not, nothing, really nothing real spontaneous happens. I got you. You got me. Let's see. Kind of goes right. The other thing is also exile, you know, when you come into a country as a five year old again, I've said this story, but you asked me what, what makes me tick and you don't know the language and you're thrust into a public school in the kindergarten, and you go in and you're going like, and people are talking and you have no idea what they're saying.

Ted Danson (36:02)

Wow.

Andy Garcia (36:02)

Are they talking about me? Why are you looking at me that way? So I had, you know, there was a transitional time there, and it manifested in me having to constantly feel like I had to fend for myself because I was alone.

Ted Danson (36:21)

Right.

Andy Garcia (36:23)

And, and that also informed, you know, who I am, you know, and I'm not that, obviously, I'm not that person. I'm exactly that person. I just, I don't, you know, I don't get in fights every day like I did when I was in first getting first grade. You know what I mean? Yeah, I don't, I don't go to the principal's office, but I, I, I do channel that in my work If I need to, you know, was there

Ted Danson (36:49)

a fork when you could have gone, the fuck you. I'll punch in the face? Or. Okay, I don't have to do that. Maybe I won't. Where did you get.

Andy Garcia (37:00)

I mean, because I think after. Once I left grade school in seventh grade, I started to, you know, it kind of. I had adapt, you know, sort of made the transition and adapted myself and with friends and sports and then, you know, it kind of that calmed down. But I would say after. After, like the sixth grade, going into

Ted Danson (37:28)

junior high, before we leave your parents behind, were they. Are they alive?

Andy Garcia (37:32)

Not anymore, no.

Ted Danson (37:34)

Did they get to see Andy Garcia, you know, the actor, before they passed?

Andy Garcia (37:40)

Yeah, I took them to the Oscars, you know. Yeah. Yeah.

Ted Danson (37:45)

That was great.

Andy Garcia (37:46)

Yeah. Yeah. He was the. You know, my father at the time had been dealing with illnesses, you know, for a while, and we almost lost him several times. But, you know, he got it together and he was at the Oscars with my mom. My mom lived to be 100. Wow. So he died, I think, like, maybe like 73 or 4. And so she had another, like, 25 years alive. And she recently passed. But, yeah, they went, you know. You know, they don't. Like many parents like yours also, they had no idea what, you know, connection to the entertainment business or anything. Like my kids, I have two actors, actresses in my family, my daughters, you know, and they grew up in it. They know the pitfalls. They know what they have to do, you know. But my parents, who. When, you know, when you say, I want to go and I'm going to move to Los Angeles or to Hollywood, you know, and be an actor, it was like, what's going on with this kid? You know, I mean, they had seen me on stage in college and stuff, but they thought it was just like, okay, you're doing that, but, you know, you're in the family business. And. And so it was like, you know, they. They could not. Especially my dad, he could not understand. How do you make a living doing that? You know, I mean, I joke to myself that I would say, like, my parents would go like, you know, I love my son, but he's not Humphrey Bogart. You know, that to them, that's the actor that makes my living. You know what I mean? Mark Gable makes a living. That's their generation, you know.

Ted Danson (39:23)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (39:24)

So I can understand the. The worry, extreme worry. My mother was more reckless. My father was more privately. Here's an interesting anecdote. I was doing a commercial. I was directing a commercial in South Florida On Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.

Ted Danson (39:40)

Recently.

Andy Garcia (39:41)

About four years ago, yeah. In Miami Beach. And I'm directing this commercial and on Lincoln Road, and a young priest, maybe 34 years old, you know, comes up to me, says, hi. Hi, Mr. Garcia, can I speak with you? I said, of course. And I said, oh, give me a second. And then they were setting up a shot. So I went over and I said, sit down. What's going on? And he said, my grandfather is the owner. I'm going to see if I can get the story correct. But it's the owner of Navarro Pharmacies. Okay. And I believe he said, navarro, I'm pretty sure. But someone out there may listen to this, because it wasn't Navarro. It was, you know. But, yeah, I think it was Navarro Pharmacy. And he told me the story. Navarro Pharmacy was a series of small pharmacies in Miami, and my father used to sell to them. And he had developed his friendship with the owner of the. The chain of little small pharmacies. And he says. He told me the story that your father came to see him when you left, when you were leaving for Los Angeles in 1978, and that he was very concerned and he came to seek solace to my grandfather, who was my father's age, you know, and. And like a confession, saying, you know what? I gotta. I'm having a lot of trouble. My son is leaving. I've been training him in the business all his life, and he's leaving now to la. He wants to be, you know, that story. And he came like, you know, hat in hand, kind of saying, I need help, you know. And the grandfather told this young priest that he told my father, you gotta let him go. You gotta let him go. You gotta. And it was interesting that this story came all the way around to this young priest to me on Lincoln Road, you know, whatever it was 30 years later, you know, and he had died,

Ted Danson (41:44)

your daddy, long before that.

Andy Garcia (41:46)

Yeah, but I. It just. It just. I had heard from my mom and stuff, you know, his. His concern. And you also expressed concern to me, you know.

Ted Danson (41:54)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (41:55)

You know, he's a very traditional. You know, you say, like when you. When you go on an interview, wear a tie, you know, that kind of thing.

Ted Danson (42:01)

You know, mine was maybe, you know, maybe get a degree so you could teach acting. Because I know you love acting, but maybe you should.

Andy Garcia (42:07)

Yeah. Something back on, you know, something to fall back on.

Ted Danson (42:11)

But my mom was supportive of anything creative, right? Anything. Yeah. Follow your creative heart.

Andy Garcia (42:16)

Yeah. My mother was more reckless. Like I told you, she was like saying fly. If you break a wing, you can always come back and heal. But go.

Ted Danson (42:25)

Which reminds me of another phrase I heard you say, or was it your father or somebody? You're gonna fall. Just fall forward all the time.

Andy Garcia (42:34)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (42:35)

Keep going forward.

Andy Garcia (42:35)

Yeah. His classic thing was he was. He said it's the only phrase from the revolution that he agreed with. You know, the revolution had a lot of propaganda phrases. Some are very, you know, indoctrinating kind of thing. But the one he says, I only agreed with one thing in the one phrase, one thing in the revolution. It was a phrase called never take a step backward, not even to gain momentum.

Ted Danson (43:03)

How is it in Spanish?

Andy Garcia (43:05)

Paratrad ni para cojeri impulsu. And basically, you know, because when you. When you go like this to try to move forward, you're off balance.

Ted Danson (43:13)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (43:13)

You can. You can easily be pushed or fall that way.

Ted Danson (43:16)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (43:16)

But if you're always leaning forward.

Ted Danson (43:18)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (43:18)

If you fall, you're going to fall one step closer to your destination. So it's a. It's a very basic thing, but I must say that it's been a philosophy that I've had all my life.

Ted Danson (43:28)

I think it's a truism, one of those.

Andy Garcia (43:29)

Absolutely.

Ted Danson (43:30)

I mean, law of attraction kind of.

Andy Garcia (43:33)

Yeah. And just hold your ground, even if you just don't lose ground, you know?

Ted Danson (43:36)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (43:37)

And if you happen to lose ground, just get back up and try to gain that thing back as quickly as possible. Because as you know, in life, we only know this through wisdom, you know, is. Or through example. In the case of my parents or people. People come before you that you know the story.

Ted Danson (43:54)

You.

Andy Garcia (43:57)

Everything is accomplished through persistence yeah. And work ethic.

Ted Danson (44:02)

A little suffering along the way.

Andy Garcia (44:03)

A lot of.

Ted Danson (44:04)

A lot of you get up and

Andy Garcia (44:05)

keep going, keep going, and eventually. And you trade whatever you want to do. You keep training and. And then when that little creek in the door opens and you step in, you got to be ready. That's.

Ted Danson (44:16)

That.

Andy Garcia (44:16)

That's. That's the door. And if you don't do all this before that and train and prepare and be ready to go when that door opens, you got to make that impression. Right. You know, in our case, you might not get the part, but they'll take. They'll take the. Your resume and they go, oh, they put it in here. My go to drawer. And the casting director puts it here, not in the stack over here.

Ted Danson (44:41)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (44:42)

And that's what keeps you. You develop a little reputation amongst the casting people. And eventually they say, can I get. Hey, Baby, can you think Ted could come in tomorrow? I have something I think it'd be great for. And you walk in and you get the part like this. It's like, what was it like?

Ted Danson (44:56)

Because you showed up a year ago or a month ago and gave it your all, and you were just wrong.

Andy Garcia (45:03)

I got the guy. I got the guy. The thing with, with Phil Borso, Jane Jenkins, who cast me in that, when I went in, it was the easiest job. I mean, I had been turned down forever on jobs. But I met with, we talked, and he says, I want you to meet the director. I met the director. Done. It was like that. Like that. I don't even know if I read. Maybe I read a little bit, but it wasn't. It was nothing. It just. The part was right for me. And, you know, they had seen me audition a million times for things and they said, no, that's the guy. There's no need to look any further kind of thing, you know? But you, you. That was after eight years of being here, floating around, you know, trying to get that little break myself. And the thing is, it's what we do is how we. How it's done, basically.

Ted Danson (45:50)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (45:50)

Not many people just step out of the. Step out and they go like, hey, I had a actor friend of mine, Stephen Bauer, who I grew up with in Florida, and he came out and had an opportunity, right? He said, come on, get over here. You know, it's great. It's working. And of course, I got here and. And it wasn't the same experience for me.

Ted Danson (46:09)

Yeah, but he was great. He's great.

Andy Garcia (46:12)

He's great.

Ted Danson (46:12)

Great actor. Yeah. Really good.

Andy Garcia (46:13)

But, you know, and it's just one of those things, sometimes you catch a break early. But you were saying it earlier that sometimes it's better. You're not, you're not. You're not really ready yet. And you have to realize you're not ready yet. And you have to know inside of yourself where you go, like, I'm ready right now. I'm ready. I'm ready right now. Before, it's like, I can do it. I want to do it. I can do it. I know I can do it. I'll give it my all. But at some point in the craft, you get to that point, you go, yeah.

Ted Danson (46:46)

I sometimes think it's a bore for other people, that my insecurities are also a fuel for me because it's like I. I go, oh, God. I go, full self doubt. And then another voice comes in that get up. You're, you know, I. I do combat with myself as opposed to other people telling me I can't. I end up. Because I do feel like I. I know I haven't done it.

Andy Garcia (47:11)

Yeah, well, you know, there's a great technique teaches, you know? Yes.

Ted Danson (47:15)

Did you study?

Andy Garcia (47:15)

Yeah, I did.

Ted Danson (47:16)

Me, too.

Andy Garcia (47:17)

Not with him, but actually, I studied with an actor who worked with him. His name is David Proval. It was a great teacher who studied in Hollywood and.

Ted Danson (47:31)

Don't do anything.

Andy Garcia (47:32)

No, the thing is that in that repetitive thing, it's like. Even if you're, like, saying, well, that. Even say in film, you do a tag and you go, well, the hell was that? You know what? That was just. I'm just not connected. That was a shitty take. Well, how does that make you feel? Yeah, how does it. How does incompetence make you feel? And all of a sudden, bang, You're. Now you're into something. Well, it makes me angry. Okay, let's do another thing. Stop angry right now, you know? Yeah, yeah.

Ted Danson (47:58)

So.

Andy Garcia (47:59)

And speaking of Meisner in the Neighborhood Playhouse, Diane Keaton. Yeah, yeah, Keaton. That's where she comes from. Yeah, that's where she started.

Ted Danson (48:07)

Mary came from there, too. Also.

Andy Garcia (48:08)

Yeah, they had that.

Ted Danson (48:10)

You can tell I met you. I remember the first time I saw you. I do this. I'm terrible. It's like. First thing I asked was, can I give you a hug? I just love you. I love actors, and I love good actors. And it just felt like, oh, man, I gotta hug you.

Andy Garcia (48:27)

I give people hugs and kisses all the time. My wife said, you can't kiss everybody you meet.

Ted Danson (48:32)

And I said that.

Andy Garcia (48:33)

That's just kind of the way. That's. It's an instinctual thing. I don't even think about it, you know?

Ted Danson (48:38)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (48:38)

You know, here comes Andy.

Ted Danson (48:39)

Be careful.

Andy Garcia (48:40)

He's probably gonna kiss you, you know,

Ted Danson (48:42)

but that was book club.

Andy Garcia (48:44)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (48:45)

Four amazing ladies.

Andy Garcia (48:47)

Oh, my God.

Ted Danson (48:48)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (48:48)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (48:49)

And I think it's fair, just for a second to say, what a magnificent creature.

Andy Garcia (48:57)

Amazing. You know, I met her on the Godfather because she was right back then. And we. And she was living with Al at the time. And we used to go to dinner, you know, four times a week. You know, Al would always go, what are you doing tonight? You want to have dinner with. Yeah, sure, let's have dinner. Like. And I have my two kids, and they come with us. The kids. Or the kids would stay. We had some help in. In Rome, and we go to dinner with D. So we got to know each other pretty well. And then, you know, Once the movie's over, it, like, happens a lot in our.

Ted Danson (49:29)

In our world, you kind of find another instant family.

Andy Garcia (49:33)

Yeah, instant family. I never really saw her that much, but when I would see her someplace, it would be like, you know, we had made a connection, you know, a friendship. And I remember she was always very curious, which is kind of her work. When she looks at you in her work, it's like this Meisner curiosity, and she's bouncing off of anything you're doing all the time like that. Right. And she was always very curious about, like, who are you? Who are you?

Ted Danson (50:06)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (50:07)

Kind of thing, you know, And I remember my daughters would one time, and we were at thing where she was being honored, and I was there, and it was Daniela that came with me. And Daniela said, Diane came up because. Said, we need to talk, me and you, to my daughter. He goes, I need. We need to talk about your dad. What's going on with this guy, you know?

Ted Danson (50:29)

Yeah. So she loved working with you.

Andy Garcia (50:32)

Likewise. I know she. She requested me, you know, and the. The director came to our. To our h. My house.

Ted Danson (50:39)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (50:40)

And said, you know, Diane asked me to talk to you about this movie. And I said, there's nothing to talk about. I'm in. You know, it's Diane King. And. But I did say to her, I tell you one thing, that I. That I.

Ted Danson (50:51)

That.

Andy Garcia (50:51)

That I know in my heart that will work very well together, because with Diane, first of all, I have maximum love and respect for her, and there's a comfort there that I know exists between us, which is important and important

Ted Danson (51:05)

for her, maybe even more than for you.

Andy Garcia (51:08)

Yes. And she's very comfortable and. And that she. The important thing, I think, for. For Diane is to. Is to not keep her on her toes, but keep her just throw stuff at her. Yeah. Because when. When she. Having to deal with improvisation, she's magnificent, too. And that will be my. My task.

Ted Danson (51:28)

Oh, that's so smart of you.

Andy Garcia (51:29)

And that's. And then that was. You know, that was the way I approached it, you know, just to keep her. Just to. Like that.

Ted Danson (51:35)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (51:36)

But, you know, and. And you know, Diane probably better than I do. I don't know. And very merry. But I remember the first day of the first book club we did. I got to the set, and I was in my little trailer, you know, and they said, they need you in hair, makeup, you know, to go powder you up and whatever. And I got out of the trailer, and I started walking towards where the. And she was coming out of the hair and makeup Trailer. And it was about, you know, 15 yards or 20 yards away, you know, they were passing. It was 8:00 clock in the morning or 7:30 in the morning. And I said. I called the lady die. You know, say, lady D. Morning. And she said, are you allowed to curse on this show? Are you allowed to curse on this show?

Ted Danson (52:23)

Yes.

Andy Garcia (52:23)

Yes. She said, what the are you doing here? These guys. What the are you doing? Really? Really? Go home, please. Really, you have to be here in this movie. Really? And walked over in the void. That drive trailer.

Ted Danson (52:35)

That was. That was her.

Andy Garcia (52:36)

Hello?

Ted Danson (52:36)

Yeah. I hate you.

Andy Garcia (52:38)

I hate you.

Ted Danson (52:38)

I hate you.

Andy Garcia (52:39)

He would say that all the time. What are you doing here? I hate you. Why are you here? I hate you.

Ted Danson (52:43)

Really?

Andy Garcia (52:43)

Again, this is the second movie, you know, anyway, that movie, once we were going to do it, then I was doing another show and we couldn't. The schedules didn't work out. The first one. First book. Yeah. And I said, you. And I said to the director, I said, I'm all in, but I can't start till, you know, a week after the date. You need to start. I'm working on the show that I can't get out. And then when they. They could. They couldn't figure out the thing, so they had to recast the part.

Ted Danson (53:14)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (53:15)

And Diane, apparently, he told me later that she turned everybody down.

Ted Danson (53:19)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (53:20)

And she kept saying. She kept saying, and when is Andy available again? This is how he told me the story.

Ted Danson (53:26)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (53:26)

And eventually they shut the movie. They shut down for a week and then pick back up. So she would. She wanted to do it with me.

Ted Danson (53:33)

That's. That's very cool.

Andy Garcia (53:35)

And. And then the second one, when they said they're doing another one. When I got to Rome. Yeah. You were there with Mary. We were on that rooftop. Yes. A little soiree that they did.

Ted Danson (53:47)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (53:47)

Soon as I got into there, Diane was already there. She saw me and there it was again. Really? Really. I mean, really? In Rome? Now I gotta deal with you in Rome?

Ted Danson (53:57)

Really?

Andy Garcia (53:59)

You know, this is how she spread her love to me, you know, Then she calls me, I don't know, a year and a half after that or something, with a producer friend of hers. And they had another project and she called me, hi. And he goes, what are you doing? I have a movie you have to do. I said, diane, really? Really Die.

Ted Danson (54:17)

That's great.

Andy Garcia (54:18)

Really. I have to take this abuse yet for another movie. So. And then, you know, the movie didn't come together. But, you know, then shortly thereafter, I started to hear that she was having some issues and stuff. But she is an American original. She is this very. She was in the way that maybe like Judy Holiday was in that way, you know.

Ted Danson (54:40)

Yeah, yeah.

Andy Garcia (54:40)

This kind of

Ted Danson (54:44)

kill off kilter.

Andy Garcia (54:46)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (54:47)

Magical. Magical.

Andy Garcia (54:48)

Magical. Magical. Which is what. I guess, you know, when you hear the stories about Annie Hall.

Ted Danson (54:54)

I was just about to say that.

Andy Garcia (54:55)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (54:56)

She wasn't an actor doing this Annie hall part.

Andy Garcia (54:59)

No.

Ted Danson (55:00)

That Woody wrote.

Andy Garcia (55:02)

She.

Ted Danson (55:02)

She was. She was Eddie Hall. Yeah.

Andy Garcia (55:04)

In fact, I don't think the movie was even called any hall at the time.

Ted Danson (55:07)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (55:08)

It's only after the story I heard was that the movie had. They had, you know, tested the movie. I put the movie together and everybody would just go like, Annie Hall. It was a character's name, right?

Ted Danson (55:22)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (55:23)

We need more of Annie hall in this movie. And he went back and, you know, they did some additional shootings and I think the movie maybe was called something else and then that's called Annie Hall. But it's like they saw that and he goes, just right. You know, just get on those coattails.

Ted Danson (55:41)

I worked with her once in a film called Mad Money, someplace in Louisiana, and played her husband. And it was. It was a ladies picture kind of. So I. It was a kind of supporting part or whatever. I was there for about three weeks and as she was saying goodbye, the rap or something, she looked at me and said, you're a revelation, and walked off. And I don't really know what it meant, but I felt seen by Diane.

Andy Garcia (56:18)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (56:19)

Keaton. And that meant so much to me. I have no idea what it meant. But she looked at me, she saw me and this was her opinion.

Andy Garcia (56:27)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (56:27)

And she had me from. From then on.

Andy Garcia (56:29)

Yeah. I remember one time we were in like having these flashes. We were staying at the Village jail there in. In Italy, in Sicily, in Palermo. My family had just left. My wife and kids getting back in school. We had like one more week or 10 days left in the shooting before we wrapped back to Los Angeles. And I think we're going to meet Al in town or anything, but we. We left the hotel walking to the. To the. I think we were meeting out somewhere and it was just a st. She had this big camera that she took pictures with, like the Ouija camera. It's big thing with a big flashbulb. And we were talking, you know, and they said. She says, do you have any girlfriends? And I said, kind of going like, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're my girlfriend, Diane. What are you talking about? Do I have any girlfriends? I'm Married. I got two kids.

Ted Danson (57:36)

What do you mean?

Andy Garcia (57:37)

What are you talking about? It kind of threw me. Like girlfriends. Yeah. I guess I have a lot of girls that are friends of mine, you know.

Ted Danson (57:44)

Right, right.

Andy Garcia (57:45)

But the way she asked it was that curiosity thing, you know, like.

Ted Danson (57:48)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (57:49)

Which is the way she looks at, you know, the way her work is that has that acute curiosity about her. She's so president in what you're doing and what's going on and process. She's kind of process it in that la di da way, you know, that eventually was in the movie La dee da, dee da, la dee da. Okay, we're out of here. She walks out and it becomes this iconic moment, you know, in films, you know, and she was just. Probably just going, like, improvising lady, da di da. Because she was going to. Okay, I guess that's all there is, you know, And I'm out of here.

Ted Danson (58:23)

And I wonder if, like the. I hate you and you again, Andy, Really? Really. I think poking you to see what comes out of you was more interesting to her than if you were just presenting normal. She wanted to jostle you.

Andy Garcia (58:40)

Yeah. But also what the subtext was. Thank you for being here. I love you. You know how much I love you.

Ted Danson (58:45)

Yes, yes.

Andy Garcia (58:46)

You know, and I knew that, you know, and I go, I love you. I would never do the opp. I wouldn't go there with her. I just say, let me. I understand. But I. I still love you kind of thing, you know.

Commercial Narrator (59:00)

Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can set up chores, automate allowance and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications. Kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Sign up for Greenlight today@Greenlight.com podcast.

Andy Garcia (59:27)

Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster? I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires. I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end. This is very strange, Angie.

Ted Danson (59:38)

Go into trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects@angie.com Catholicism where are you in the.

Andy Garcia (59:49)

I was raised Catholic.

Ted Danson (59:50)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (59:50)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (59:51)

Still.

Andy Garcia (59:51)

Still am.

Ted Danson (59:52)

Still. May I ask questions like church going. Do you go?

Andy Garcia (59:56)

I go to church occasionally. Not every day or. But church. But I. I'm faithful I have faith and, and I, I have a, I, I feel that, that I, that I have the blessing of having a direct, a direct line to the, the man upstairs. And I think that's important for people to have someone upstairs.

Ted Danson (60:23)

Yes.

Andy Garcia (60:23)

Regardless.

Ted Danson (60:24)

Someone is okay, you know, but someone, someone. Yeah, yeah.

Andy Garcia (60:28)

As long as that's someone representing something that is good.

Ted Danson (60:31)

Yes, yes.

Andy Garcia (60:31)

And not evil, you know.

Ted Danson (60:32)

Yes.

Andy Garcia (60:33)

And so I think it's important to have very much a higher spiritual order that you can speak to. And also I. People who had been in part of your life that are no longer with you, they're up there also.

Ted Danson (60:51)

Very much so.

Andy Garcia (60:52)

Yeah. So it's all there. And you can, you could not argue, but you can accept the, the absolute reality that they're up there with him, whoever that him is for you, you know. But they're up there, you know, and as long as you know in your heart that they're up there, they're up there.

Ted Danson (61:19)

I often think that totally believe that, you know, and, and in some ways feel like I've experienced that.

Andy Garcia (61:28)

Oh yeah.

Ted Danson (61:29)

I mean like vividly.

Andy Garcia (61:31)

Sure.

Ted Danson (61:32)

Not to convince anyone else, but I'm

Andy Garcia (61:36)

right there with you. Yeah.

Ted Danson (61:38)

I sometimes think that science and theology, if really pursued is headed in that direction where they will intersect. You know, I came from a science family background.

Andy Garcia (61:52)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (61:53)

And there's no contradiction in my mind.

Andy Garcia (61:58)

I have things that have happened to me that people have observed things or have told me things that it's impossible to them to know this fact. It's impossible. It's not something that's googleable. It's never been articulated to anyone. It's impossible for you to know or that person to know this situation or that person.

Ted Danson (62:22)

Right.

Andy Garcia (62:23)

Was part of my life. It's not even. You couldn't. I could tell you right now, try to find this. And you couldn't find it.

Ted Danson (62:31)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (62:32)

You'd have to go on that guy finding your roots, you know.

Ted Danson (62:35)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (62:35)

And he'd have to do like a

Ted Danson (62:36)

six month search and still probably wouldn't.

Andy Garcia (62:38)

No. You'd have to go through records, you know.

Ted Danson (62:40)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (62:42)

And I've had situations like that where you go like, yeah, okay, I got you.

Ted Danson (62:48)

But just physics. Why wouldn't it be that way?

Andy Garcia (62:52)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (62:52)

You know, now that we know that thoughts are energy, have weight, have. They are matter.

Andy Garcia (63:00)

Yeah, man.

Ted Danson (63:00)

You know, and just because your cells die off in your body doesn't. Energy doesn't get.

Andy Garcia (63:06)

But also, you know, we, we also because of our training have been trained to access all that stuff as part of our sense Emotional memory, sense memory, all that stuff that we've been trained with. And it's part of our accessing our subconscious and all these things that fuel our work.

Ted Danson (63:28)

And not denying possibility, no, accepting them

Andy Garcia (63:33)

and taking this kernel of thing of thought and amplifying it through your imagination or amplifying the emotional element of that, because it's what the character needs or whatever.

Ted Danson (63:44)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (63:45)

So we have that training already, you know, to be open to that. To that stimulus, you know, that you might do something, that might stimulate something. And all of a sudden we're. You know, I'm. You know, what just happened? You know, that door opened, I went through it and. Are you okay? Yeah, I'm okay. I'm all right. You know, so that's.

Ted Danson (64:09)

We're. We're there.

Andy Garcia (64:10)

You know, that's part of our training. You know, people. You know, people. You know, people think that just acting as people get up there and just do it. You know, it's. It's not easy, man. It's very hard to make it look like it's easy.

Ted Danson (64:25)

You know, I give myself a lot of credit when I say I'm about to 50. 50.

Andy Garcia (64:30)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (64:31)

Meaning 50% of the time, I may actually be present in this moment.

Andy Garcia (64:36)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (64:36)

And other times, I'm. I've just gone, wow, I'm really present. Oops.

Andy Garcia (64:42)

No longer present. Oh, no. I know. My, my. You know. You know, I think most creative peoples have this kind of. Back in the day, you know, you'd go at school, and I was always the daydreamer in school, you know? You know, I was daydreaming all the time. I think people in the arts or in our world, that's what they. And now they have some scientific terms for like ADD or whatever, but. Did you hear what I just said? Ted? Did you hear what I just say?

Ted Danson (65:13)

Yes, I did.

Andy Garcia (65:14)

Okay. But I get that all the time. You know, it's like. Andy. Andy, did you hear what I just said? What?

Ted Danson (65:19)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (65:20)

What's going on?

Ted Danson (65:21)

Or just flat out lie? Yes.

Andy Garcia (65:24)

No, I said no. I'm sorry. I was. Sorry. I just said no. And. And the imagination is like, you know.

Ted Danson (65:33)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (65:36)

And you're off. And I. I think it's. But then also in that world, there's a hyper focus. You think you can't focus at this task, but all of a sudden it's. Then it's. This task is a hyper focus. Because that's what really interested you.

Ted Danson (65:53)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (65:54)

And then all of a sudden it's like. So that's all you think about.

Ted Danson (65:58)

I faked my way through until I found acting. I was at Stanford University.

Andy Garcia (66:03)

Faking your way through Stanford.

Ted Danson (66:04)

Faking my way.

Andy Garcia (66:06)

That's a NASCAR winning performance, man.

Ted Danson (66:08)

Actually. Actually, I didn't even fake. I went about. About maybe two months of the two years I was there. I went to classes and then I realized, oh, this. This professor has written a book and he's really proud of the book. So everything. Just read his book.

Andy Garcia (66:26)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (66:26)

You know, and you'll be fine. Or get your name on the rolls the first day, come back on the second last. On the last day to take the exam, and they were fine. I just faked my way until I found acting, and then I became the most serious student.

Andy Garcia (66:43)

That's what I said joyfully.

Ted Danson (66:45)

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Andy Garcia (66:46)

You found your passion, your focus. You know, it's like, this is. I'm going to figure this out, you know, because I have a passion for it. And listen, there's a lot of, you know, I. There's a lot of embarrassment thinking back. There's a lot of embarrassing moments of terrible auditions or it's just trying too hard, or you think that this is what it is and all. Until. I said, until you continue to try to figure it out, you know, and then slowly, by studying and in class and teachers and you start getting an understanding of. Until one day you have this kind of epiphany or a breakthrough and this thing happens physically and emotionally in the exercise or in the repeat exercise or in a scene, and the whole place goes like, yeah. And you go. People go like, that was amazing, man. And you go like, oh, that's it. That's what it. That's what it is. Oh, oh, okay. And you. That's what you say.

Ted Danson (67:52)

Boom.

Andy Garcia (67:52)

And you land. Finally, your feet are. That just seem. Doesn't mean you don't keep growing through it, you know, but boom. You know, I wasn't ready to direct a film in 1978, but through time, I've directed things that I've developed and produced out of sheer interest in doing that, you know, and the desire to do it and to learn it and to learn the craft and to tell a story film, you know, not only as an actor, but as. As a director, as a writer. But that doesn't come from day one. It comes from what lens is that? Or what's going on. Watch how they do this. How do you. Sitting in cutting rooms, you know, sitting in. In the dailies with Gordy Willis, you know, sitting. Taking all this opportunity that you're given as an actor by Working with all these people, if you're really interested, it's right there. The masterclass is right there.

Ted Danson (68:45)

I never had that brain. I do admire it. I never was that person who looked at writing, directing, producing. I never went there. That side of my brain, I'm happy to. No, no. But put it elsewhere. I've been an Ocean Advocate for 40 years and, and I get to play with really bright people and they let me in the room and that gets set, that satisfies that the directing is

Andy Garcia (69:14)

different than just producing a movie. You're acting because you know that, you know, it's a different responsibility. The director there come day one, answering questions through prep and having to. In the case that you're also acting in the movie. And directing is an added thing. The first movie I directed, Lost city, took me 16 years of my life. It's about Cuba, obviously about a family leaving Cuba. So it's very personal. Not necessarily our story, but our story is like a universal story, you know. But the thing is that. And then just recently I directed a movie, I'm in post right now. That took me another. That one took me 16 years. This one took me 12, 13 years to get it made. And we just shot it in 25 days. When you write something, because both of them, I develop this one in particular, last one, I actually wrote the other one. I took a 300 page document and format, you know, formulated into a screenplay, but it was written as a 300 page screenplay by a novelist. So. But once you have it and you have the movie in your hand, you go like, here's the movie. It's done.

Ted Danson (70:17)

It's in there.

Andy Garcia (70:18)

Read it. It's all there. There's the story, there's the film. And then you go like, you mean I actually have to shoot it?

Ted Danson (70:26)

Right.

Andy Garcia (70:28)

And now I have to actually do it. But it's right here.

Ted Danson (70:32)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (70:32)

Now you got to bring that to life. And the first task is where you're going to get the money to do it. And then you show it to everybody. In the natural places, you would show the film to the studios and now to the streamers and every. And then everybody turns you down. And as Sean Connie was saying the Untouchables to Alien Ness, what are you prepared to do? Yeah, right.

Ted Danson (70:55)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (70:56)

Now what are you going to do? Just everybody just turned you down. You're a baby. What are you going to do? What are you going to do about it? That Ted, do you go like, okay, I guess it's not going to happen. Or you go like, okay, Here we go. And it fucking haunts you every day of your life to try to get this damn thing made. It just haunts you. You have nightmares. You're dreaming about the material. You wake up at four in the morning going, oh, I gotta. Oh, yeah, let me write that down because I have an idea about that scene and thing. And the thing. And he says, why? And you're asleep and you're crying in your sleep. Why are you crying in your sleep, Andy? You know, that'd be interesting for the character, you know, that's in the movie.

Ted Danson (71:51)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (71:51)

You know what I mean?

Ted Danson (71:52)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (71:52)

Oh, I see. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's. That's why. That's why guy cries in his sleep. I understand. That's why he does that. That's why I'm doing it, because I'm thinking about, you know, and all. It's this constant subconscious that's. In the meantime, you try to find someone to give you the money to make this movie because everybody's turned you down. Then you have a new draft three years later or two years later, and you see if you have, like, oh, they have a new head of Amazon. Throw it over there. See if they bite. No, they didn't buy here. It goes back to you. And you just constantly, like, you know, throwing. Keeping the bait in the water to see who bit for this last independent money. Independent equity. No. No studio, nothing. We made it outside the system, now we got to sell it.

Ted Danson (72:36)

Yeah, yeah, but what's the name of your movie?

Andy Garcia (72:38)

It's called. It's called Diamond.

Ted Danson (72:40)

Diamond?

Andy Garcia (72:41)

Yeah, diamond, after the character. His name is Joe diamond, and it's a. It's a private eye. Like a Raymond Chandler.

Ted Danson (72:47)

Right?

Andy Garcia (72:48)

Private eye, 40s, period. No, he's in period, but, yeah.

Ted Danson (72:58)

That's great.

Andy Garcia (72:58)

So the world he creates for himself is all period. The way he dresses is. His apartment is loft.

Ted Danson (73:06)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (73:07)

He's a. His office in the Bradbury Building is in period.

Ted Danson (73:12)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (73:12)

His assistant is dressed in period, like he is latanya Richardson. And. But he operates as this gumshoe in contemporary Los Angeles.

Ted Danson (73:22)

So a little, you could say off balance,

Andy Garcia (73:27)

you find out, you know, through the course of the story why he is the way he is. And he. And, you know, the character is like an urban legend because he's been successful as this private eye. So it's been in the news. If he would. If we would go out to have a coffee and he'd pull up in his old Ford, we'd go, like, there's Diamond. You see? That was him, right? Yeah. That was him. Because you've seen him on TV and some.

Ted Danson (73:49)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (73:50)

And one of the cases that haunts him in the story is that he, he was hired to track down a flock of stolen flamingos from the zoo. They were kidnapped, taken for the feathers, and he was the one who found them. And of course he was on the TV all over California. And that case haunts him, you know, because they go, hey, Flamingo man. He's going on, you know, he's going like, oh, you know. So this character was born out of basically my imagination, was actually my daughter Daniela had an English paper in her senior year, says, dad, I got to deliver this English paper tomorrow, can you help me? And I want. He goes, just a short story, two couple pages of, you know. And I said, sure. And she said, I said, get your computer out, you know, a moment for us to play, you know. She goes, okay. I said, what is it? He goes, well, you just have to pick a. He goes, what? He says, they said to pick locations in LA and you know, use that as a tool to open up a story.

Ted Danson (74:52)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (74:53)

I said, okay, how about Bob's Big Boy? You know, because it's near, in our neighborhood.

Ted Danson (74:59)

He said, yeah, and goes way back. It's, that's.

Andy Garcia (75:01)

And I, and, and, and I. Because of that, I started improvising an inner monologue, a voiceover. I woke up in the bed of ice plants that will always have the imprint of my out of shape torso, you know, that kind of thing, you know.

Ted Danson (75:15)

Oh, that's great.

Andy Garcia (75:16)

I looked up and I saw Big boy smiling at me and I thought, why is he always smiling? You know, things like that. So that, that voice came out of me like that. And I wrote like three scenes right there. You know, she was typing away and I was just improvising and then it just sat in my computer for years and I kept going like this character. What's going on with this guy? You know, who is this guy and why is he the way he is? Then I thought, oh, he could be an interesting series character. Like for the. The streaming was starting and I'm going. So I just started to dig in, you know, and then wrote a screenplay about it, create a case and, you know, it's the whole process. Yeah, yeah, it was very challenging and. But here we are, you know, God bless. And here we are. And I got this extraordinary cast that jumped on board to support it. Vicky kreeps and Rosemary DeWitt, Brendan Frazier, Danny Houston, Bill Murray. Dustin Hoffman.

Ted Danson (76:09)

Wow.

Andy Garcia (76:10)

Yule Vasquez, Rachel Ticketon Latonya Richardson Jackson. My daughters are in the picture with me.

Ted Danson (76:16)

That's fantastic.

Andy Garcia (76:17)

Yeah.

Ted Danson (76:17)

And because of you, I, I started watching Landman and I. It's really good.

Andy Garcia (76:23)

It's a good show. You know, Taylor is an extraordinary storyteller and writer.

Ted Danson (76:28)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (76:29)

And you start from the voice that he's created for Billy Bob.

Ted Danson (76:32)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (76:33)

Which is like his music, you know, that character is like Hamlet, you know.

Ted Danson (76:37)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (76:37)

And then you, then you surround him with all these great characters and beautiful actors.

Ted Danson (76:42)

Yeah.

Andy Garcia (76:42)

And now we have Sam Elliott in

Ted Danson (76:43)

the mix, who's just spectacular. Billy Bob is definitely a puncher, counter puncher, man. You're in a fist fight.

Andy Garcia (76:51)

Oh, my God, it's amazing. And to watch them too. I mean, all the characters he has to deal with because he has to deal with, including my character, he has to deal with. Everywhere he turns is like another punch he's got getting hit. And, you know, with Ali, his wife and his daughter and all the guys and, you know, in the, in the Permian basin and, you know, and the me. But, but that relationship with his dad is just so beautiful.

Ted Danson (77:14)

You know, this has been lovely.

Andy Garcia (77:17)

You know more about me than most people. And now people know stuff that I.

Ted Danson (77:23)

Well, I really appreciate.

Andy Garcia (77:24)

Yeah. You call. You caught me in a vulnerable state.

Ted Danson (77:28)

Yeah. Well, thanks. She. Your mom and dad would be super proud of you, man.

Andy Garcia (77:33)

I'm proud of that.

Ted Danson (77:33)

You're a very impressive guy.

Andy Garcia (77:35)

I'm proud of that. You know, I try to make him proud, you know.

Ted Danson (77:37)

Yeah. Thanks, Andy, for sharing yourself with us today. I really appreciate it. Catch him on Landman streaming on Paramount plus now. That's it for this week. Special thanks to our friends at Team Coco. As always, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and maybe give us a great rating and review on Apple podcasts if you're in the mood. If you like watching your podcasts, all our full length episodes are on YouTube. Visit YouTube.comteamcoco See you next time.

Andy Garcia (78:15)

Where everybody knows your name. You've been listening to where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Liao. Our executive producers are Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross and myself. Sarah Fedorovich is our supervising producer. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Grohl. Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Bautista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Anthony Yen, Mary Steenbergen and John Osborne.

Commercial Narrator (79:02)

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Andy Garcia (79:31)

why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kid's legal guardian?

Commercial Narrator (79:36)

Because he took such good care when

Andy Garcia (79:37)

redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids, all eight of them, should something happen to us. Are you my dad now?

Ted Danson (79:47)

No, sorry. I do basements.

Andy Garcia (79:51)

Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years.

Ted Danson (79:54)

Angie the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects@angie.com.