By J. Peter Orr
From The Official Movie Magazine
The Untouchables
1987 O'Quinn Studios
Paramount Pictures Corporation
Photos taken by Zade Rosenthal
He was a natural to play George Stone. Of all the casting decisions made for The Untouchables, choosing Andy Garcia for the role of George Stone may well have been the most subtly accurate. "As I did research to play him," the Cuban-born actor reveals, "I started to find many parallels between him and myself. For instance, like me, he arrived in the United States at a young age, and his values reflect that."
Garcia, best known for 8 Million Ways To Die and numerous TV appearances, says David Mamet's script provided his initial eagerness to do The Untouchables. He was equally enthusiastic about working with Brian DePalma.
"Yes, I'm a fan of Brian's," Garcia concedes. "And he had seen me in 8 Million Ways to Die. The fact that I played a bad guy in that picture probably helped, too, since in some respects the Untouchables aren't that different from Capone's men. You can tell both Stone and Malone (Sean Connery) have spent considerable time on the streets, just as Nitti (Billy Drago) and Bow Tie (Vito D'Ambrosio)have. The difference is that Stone and Malone made a decision to oppose crime, rather than take the easy route and go along with it. I don't think too many people would have the guts to do that."
The Untouchables brought Garcia to the mountains in Montana, where some location scenes were filmed involving him, Sean Connery, Kevin Costner and Charles Martin Smith. "Being an Untouchable was terrific all around. We even got along with the bad guys!" he adds.
Long accustomed to the comparatively static approach of most television shows, Garcia found DePalma's direction a revelation, and, while the complex and carefully arranged shots often required hours of preparation, the results more than justify the effort, he says.
"That one shot in the police station that just introduces the audience to the whole place - man, that was artistry," Garcia recalls with more than a little admiration. "Just being a part of it really taught me a lot."