After the nomination for "The Godfather III", Andy García risked to get stuck in the role of the "fascinating Latino man".-------------------------------------------------
From a Italian magazine "TV Sorrisi e Canzoni" 1999
By Alberto Anile
Translated by Leticia Martinez del Moral
After the nomination for "The Godfather III", Andy García risked to get stuck in the role of the "fascinating Latino man".
Andie MacDowell, protagonist of "Sex, lies and videotapes" continued to choose especially independents productions.
Two very good actors, who often prefer to remain outside the big Hollywood circus, Andy & Andie meet today for the first time in "Just the ticket", a little love story, entanglements and tasty dishes, which is the first title from "Cineson", García production company.
The idea came to Richard Wenk, Andy's basket companion: a movie to be shot in the chaos of New York, using hidden cameras and telephoto lenses.
The scenes where Gary the scalper (Andy García) and his picturesque partners sell tickets for exhibitions, concerts and gatherings, were shot among the unaware passers-by, like in a big "candid camera" show.
Andy García mentions the realism of Cassavetes and Rossellini as an instance, but it is clear that the first target was to save money: on supers, scenography and time.
"There is a quite dramatic scene in the movie", the actor remembers, "when I have to discuss with Richard Bradford. We chose a crowded situation for shooting the scene, with thousands of people approaching Penn Station during the rush-hour. We are really proud of the work we made in that sequence: it has been a very difficult work to do, not only technically but also emotionally, to find yourself among a lot of astonished people looking at you and asking themselves what the hell was happening."
"I was not obliged to work the way Andy did in that kind of situations", Andie Macdowell says, "but I spent some interesting moments in New York, at 2:00-3:00 am. And I was impressed by the number of people who are disposed to stay there at that hour in the night to look at a movie being shot!"
Also the sequence where García sells the tickets for the visit of the Pope was performed by using reality and fiction.
"We could use some documentaries regarding the presence of the Pope in New York", García explains; "the crowd and the Yankee Stadium that appear in the movie were filmed during a Yankees vs. Mets match. There were thousands of people; we added 400 supers dressed like priests and nuns. We had five cameras and we did it in one hour and a half. Then we assembled all the sequence, including a double of the Pope."
Dark and sun-tanned, Andy García is sitting near Andie MacDowell, a splendid 40 years old woman with a very clear complexion. As the two actors answer to our questions, they get easier and easier: they exchange compliments and play, breaking each other words.
Him: "Prior to this project, we only met casually".
Her: "We had no chance to be requested to work together, but I did really appreciate his work. More than this, I really admired his passion for his family."
Him: "That was the same for me."
Her: "But it is unusual for a man."
Him: "The more I come to know her, the more I think that we have a lot of things in common. Other movies together? Why not? Andie says I have more energies than she has, but this is not true. We work with a different clock: when I go to bed, she is ready to go out."
When we talk about cooking, the two actors become excited.
Her: "I like every kind of cooking, with no exceptions."
Him: "and she eats a lot, you should see her! I must say that there is nothing sexier than a woman who likes eating."
Her: "The Italian cuisine is certainly the best. Moreover, it is the only cooking I can do."
Him: "Strange but true, when I was here to shoot "The Godfather III", I ate like an animal."
Her: "but he does not get fat! Funny that!"
Him: "I must say that eating the same quantity of food in the United States."
Her: "I do not know what the reason is, but it seems that here in Italy you can eat everything without getting fat!"
A last question. In the movie Linda would like Gary to be more responsible, less childish: how are the two actors in their private lives?
"They accused me of both things", Andie says, "to be childish and too much concrete."
"I have been accused to be too childish", García answers, "but I hope to remain a little childish for all my life."