Andy Garcia on the Mentor Who Shaped His Path
Andy Garcia reflects on the director who inspired his career, shares insights from his role in Landman, and talks about stepping behind the camera for his own film.
It’s hard to ignore the way Taylor Sheridan has shaken up the world of film and telly with his gritty, modern westerns. He’s managed to bring out top performances from actors some punters thought had drifted off the radar, Andy Garcia being a prime example. Garcia’s latest gig sees him in the second season of Landman, where he first popped up as cartel boss Galliano at the tail end of season one. The show, set in the oilfields of West Texas, has Garcia working alongside other familiar faces from the ‘90s like Billy Bob Thornton. Garcia, now 69, has said he feels right at home in this crowd, and he’s grateful to Sheridan for crafting the part just for him. Turns out, Sheridan was a fan of Garcia’s old flick 8 Million Ways to Die from 1986, which also starred Jeff Bridges.
Garcia’s big break came with the 1987 classic The Untouchables, where he starred with Robert De Niro and Kevin Costner. Over the years, he’s worked with some of the best directors in the business, but there’s one who stands out. When Francis Ford Coppola was casting for The Godfather: Part III in the late ‘80s, he picked Garcia to play Vincent Marcini, Sonny Corleone’s son—a role that changed the course of Garcia’s career. Garcia describes Coppola’s influence like this:
“Francis inspires you to dream… (he) inspires you to go out and try things. That’s why he inspired a great director in his daughter, Sofia. He has that effect on you. I see [Coppola] as the man on the mountain you go to for advice and knowledge.”
Finding Inspiration on Set
The third instalment of The Godfather has always divided fans—some reckon it never should’ve happened, while others see it as a fitting end to the trilogy, with Garcia’s performance often singled out as a highlight (though Sofia Coppola’s acting didn’t get the same praise). No matter what the critics say, Garcia’s admiration for Coppola is unwavering. He credits the director with sparking his own interest in filmmaking. Garcia shared,
“He (Coppola) has done it for me. I’ve shown him movies, and he’s taken time out to sit in a cutting room for 48 hours straight, to talk about it philosophically, and why is that scene there, and why are you going there.”
Reflecting on his time filming The Godfather: Part III, Garcia said,
“I went into that movie as an actor, and I came out of it a filmmaker.”
Stepping Behind the Camera
Garcia is now set to put those lessons to use, taking the director’s chair for an upcoming film called Diamond. The cast is stacked, with Brendan Fraser, Bill Murray, and Dustin Hoffman all on board. The story follows a bloke with a knack for solving crimes, but he’s got a past that won’t let him be. It’s a modern noir, and Garcia seems keen to bring his own vision to the screen.
Meanwhile, Coppola, now 86, has had a rough trot with his latest project. He poured $120 million of his own cash into the sci-fi drama Megalopolis, starring Adam Driver, but it only managed to scrape together less than $15 million at the box office. The film was a long time coming—nearly five decades in the making—with studios hesitant to back it and setbacks like the 9/11 attacks forcing more than 30 hours of footage to be scrapped. Not exactly a great look, but it shows Coppola’s determination to see his vision through, no matter the odds.