Favorite Family Man

       While Andy Garcia has lived almost all of his adult life on the West Coast,

Miami — the city where his family found safe haven from Cuba’s dictatorship — is in his DNA. Born Andrés Arturo Garcia Menéndez in Havana, he spent his formative years in the Magic City, much of it watching films.

“Like most children, I was always a big fan of going to the cinema. It was always a special time for me, and I would always get lost in that world,” Garcia, 66, says.

That world included Hollywood legends Sean Connery, Steve McQueen and James Coburn and comedians Jerry Lewis and Peter Sellers.

“I’d go, especially in the summers, they’d have double features on Lincoln Road, and I’d go there and spend a whole day at the theater.”

Garcia participated in stage performances as a kid, but there were never professional ambitions attached. “It was just always an interest of mine. I had no consciousness that that was something I’d want to do, you know, it’s just a love. I was really an athlete — focused on that all through high school,” he says.

It was in his senior year at Miami Beach Senior High, when Garcia’s ambitions to be a professional basketball player were sideswiped by a diagnosis of mononucleosis and hepatitis, that he turned to acting instead. Studying under renowned drama teacher Jay W. Jensen, his passion came to life. Garcia went on to attend Florida International University and made the leap to Hollywood after that.

“I had to make a decision — if I pursue this formally, professionally, as a career — or if not. If I stayed in Florida…you could be an actor, but you wouldn’t be able to make a career out of it,” he says.

We are thankful Garcia took a chance on himself.

His prolific — and extremely successful — career has included performances in blockbuster hits like “The Untouchables”(1987), considered his breakout role, “The Godfather: Part III” (1990), for which he received an Oscar nomination, as well as the “Ocean’s” movies (2001-2007).  His sultry looks and seductive voice have captured hearts over the decades, landing him roles as leading man in “When A Man Loves A Woman” (1994), “At Middleton” (2013) and “The Book Club” (2018).

Garcia’s latest film, “Father Of The Bride,” (2022) presents him in a new light: that of a harried, yet doting dad preparing for his daughter’s upcoming wedding.  It is the second adaptation of the romantic comedy starring Spencer Tracy (the 1991 version starred Steve Martin), and in a serendipitous coincidence, the film, which was released by Warner Bros. on HBO Max June 16, mirrored Garcia’s personal life to a T. As he was promoting the film,  he was in the midst of, not one, but two of his daughters’ nuptials — his middle daughter, Daniella, 34, wed June 11 and oldest daughter, Dominique, 39, followed suit July 9.

Garcia plays Billy, a Cuban man with traditional values living in Miami. Along the way he must contend with his more progressive wife, a sprawling Cuban American family and relatives of his future son-in-law hailing from Mexico City. It’s a wonderful blend of hilarity, poignancy and heart, and while Garcia says he always draws from personal experience when playing a part, he notes there is a stark difference between himself and his character, even though he can empathize with the part.

“I understand him and understand his values — where he comes from, what his struggles are, what his point of view is, because I share some of them. I know that a lot of people in our culture, especially our parents’ generation, are more traditional in that sense, so I understand it deeply. And they’re real! They’re very real, you know?”

A notable component of this remake is the prevalence of Latinx culture, which is organically woven into the script. Garcia reflects on the changes in how Hispanic actors are represented in Hollywood since the early days of his career, when simply his last name would close doors or box him in a specific role.

“There were really not that many parts [back then]. They were all gang members, basically, written in the shows,”  he says.

He credits producer Paul Perez, who developed this current rendition of “Father Of The Bride” with Garcia in mind.

“I thought it was a great opportunity, a privilege and, even more so, a responsibility to do it and to represent both of these cultures,” he says.

When deciding who would play his wife Ingrid, Gloria Estefan instantly came to mind. The chemistry between the two is palpable, indicative of a friendship that has spanned for decades and grown into the comfortable banter of close pals.

“She jokes that my texts are very short,” Garcia says, recalling her reaction when he first approached Estefan for the role with a five-word message: “I’m sending you a script.”

He chuckles before adding that working with her was “sublime.”

“She’s an extraordinary woman. I respect her so much and she’s been such a person to admire for so many years.”

Music Man

He and Estefan share another bond, an unrelenting passion for music, something Garcia calls his first love.

“Take out the idea of cinema and it was there. For me, it was cinema, music and sports. [It] consumed my life since I arrived from Cuba in ’61 all the way through the rest of my life.”

Garcia’s musical prowess runs wide. “I play all the Cuban percussion instruments and I play piano and I play the harmonica — any percussive instrument I can handle. My main studies have been in the AfroCuban instruments.”

Under his own CineSon label, he’s performed and produced multiple musical projects, including “Volumes I and II Master Sessions,” what would be the first of several collaborations with Israel “Cachao” López, the famed Cuban bassist and composer who passed away in 2008. Cachao, who Garcia calls his musical hero, is hailed as the co-creator of the mambo rhythm.

The list of accolades and achievements for Andy Garcia, the musician, are as long and impressive as the ones for Andy Garcia, the actor: Grammy Award winner, Latin Grammy Award winner and Grammy nominee. He celebrated when “For Love Or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story,” (2000) — where he served as executive producer and first shared the screen with Gloria Estefan — won an Emmy for outstanding music composition.

“It’s part of my life. I still play. I still have an orchestra. I love to compose, I love to jam, I love to listen to it.”

Family First

The father of four (Dominik, Daniella, Alessandra, 31 and Andrés, 20) basks in his role as family man. On the cusp of celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary with wife Marivi Lorido Garcia come Sept. 24, his insight on a successful marriage is endearing and earnest:

“I love that lady! And I respect her tremendously. We joined hands to start a family together, to support each other and we made that commitment to each other and we’re still in it,” he says.

The word “grounded” comes up often when describing his family, in particular his children. His two older daughters have followed in his footsteps as actors, while his youngest daughter works as a model and his son as a DJ. Still, they don’t seem afflicted by the unraveling that is so often a byproduct of celebrityhood. Instead, they try to get together as often as possible and travel back to South Florida often, where there are enduring bonds.

“I have a home there, our whole extended family is there. My kids have 23 first cousins. My sister and brother are still there. On my wife’s side, her older siblings — she has two sisters and one brother — all their kids are there. Her mother is still alive.”

There’s an inspiring calm to Garcia, who is clearly both bolstered and anchored by his family. He’s recently become a grandfather to a baby girl named Violet Rose, and when asked, reveals no preference to whether she’ll call him grandad or “abuelo” once she begins to talk.  Questions like this, or how he and his wife have managed to raise four healthy, productive adults under Hollywood’s scrutinous spotlight are met with a resolute assuredness that is clearly part of his charm.

“We really don’t fall into that trap of, what in Spanish they call, ‘farándula’,” he says, referring to the endless cycle of celebrity gossip that consumes many of his peers.

“We’ve dedicated our lives to our kids. I wake up in the morning as a father, I don’t wake up as an actor. And likewise, [my wife] wakes up as a mother. We try to look after each other and look after our kids, you know? Our kids have been our lives.”