by Paul Fischer

Andy Garcia, impeccably dressed in a beautiful white satin suit, has opted for a change of pace as both producer and star of The Man from Elysian Fields. A different kind of project to Garcia's mainstream fare such as Ocean's 11, the actor/producer argues that he chooses films that "reflect a particular taste of mine. It's not conscious to make it different, but just something that I'm interested in, and that if it is inherently different, then it is. I just want to do something that appeals to me." He was interested in Elysian Fields, which he was offered initially as an actor alone, because "when I read the material it was so compelling to me, and I thought it's got a great journey." In The Man from Elysian Fields, Garcia gives a compelling performance as Byron Tiller, a failed novelist pushed to his limit when his latest novel is rejected by his publisher, who can't even get back his old job in advertising to support his new family and nascent career. When Luther Fox (Mick Jagger), the dapperly outfitted head of a very upscale male escort service recruits him, Byron begins servicing the beautiful and lonely wife (Olivia Williams) of one of the most famous and much-honoured authors on the planet, Tobias Alcott (James Coburn). Byron rapidly becomes involved with not only Andrea but her larger-than-life but dying husband, and the ensuing twists create a playful ride that leads finally to more serious lessons on life and marriage.

A dark comedy, Garcia remembers that the original script was "actually more sexually graphic" than ended up on the screen and "not as potentially humorous". For the actor to become involved as a producer, Garcia insisted on generating the right tone for the film which also meant empathising with a character with whom it is often difficult to sympathise. "You have to love the guy that you play, even if you play the villain, you've got to love him." The script attracted a very strong cast, including Mick Jagger who rarely acts these days but is perfectly cast as the dapper head of Elysian Fields. "He asked us to be gentle with him because he rarely acts, but he was brilliant." Garcia describes Jagger as "a highly intelligent creative artist who was here to work on this piece of material because he was enamoured by it."

The former Andrés Arturo García Menéndez was born in Castro's Cuba in 1956. The family moved to Miami when he was five, and first began acting in Florida State University before Hollywood beckoned and his first film role in 8 Million Ways to Die. When asked why he wanted to act, he pauses slightly. "It's hard and like a virus. It's like something that affects you and you like a thing that you have to do," says Garcia. Not sure why it was acting found its way into Garcia's world, the actor recalls that "my first interest was always music and somehow that channelled itself into films and acting," he recalls. "I don't know what the natural transition of it was. I mean I acted a little bit when I was young and like any kid would in a community theatre." Music still remains Garcia's passion and sees acting as an extension of music and vice