Men's Health

Andy Garcia Puts Family First

Future Direction continued...

"For The Lost City [about a Havana family during the Cuban Revolution], development to production took 16 years," he says. "I could have done it sooner, but I couldn't get anyone to support it. But when we did, we were ready. We prepped it in four weeks and shot in 35 days. Sometimes it takes a long time to get a break, but when the door opens, you need to go in."

He says acting and directing are complementary, and he doesn't feel that moving toward the director's chair is a significant change. "It's all an extension of my own interests." But he says acting is more stressful because of the emotional demands. "In acting, you want to get to a place where you're completely relaxed. In directing, you have responsibility for a lot of things, but the stimulus is coming from different directions. If you have a particular story you want to tell, and you're stimulated by that story, it can be very rewarding."

Garcia still has plenty of dreams to pursue. He says he has pushed forward his whole life with a work ethic and a drive that have made him who he is today. "The question is: What are you prepared to do if there's no one to support your dreams? Do you give up?"

Years ago his father, who worked as an attorney when the family lived in Cuba, told him: "Never take a step backward, even to gain momentum."

"That's something I've always carried with me," Garcia says. "That's a key to success. Slow and steady steps."