TILTING THEIR HOT FACES TOWARD SUMMER FANS : ‘Untouchables’ ’ Garcia Greets the Recognition Factor

Fame in your hometown means many different things, but in Los Angeles the bottom line is recognition. Andy Garcia, who plays Italian sharp-shooter George Stone in “The Untouchables,” discovered how popular his performance was when a friend gave him an expensive ticket to see the Lakers whip the Boston Celtics for the NBA championship.

Laker fans playfully pointed their fingers like guns at him. Garcia got a handful of cards from people offering professional services and enough offers of phone numbers from females to make the happily married man blush beyond belief. Laker owner Jerry Buss and actor Bruce Willis told Garcia they’d heard good things about his performance and couldn’t wait to see his film.

Instant fame. What’s it all about, Andy?

“I’m getting a lot of offers because of my work in ‘The Untouchables.’ Now my wife, who’s pregnant, and I feel somewhat secure about having our second child,” says the handsome Cuban-born actor.

Garcia, 30, has had his priorities in perspective for quite awhile. “There’s a lot of pressure on a new or young actor when they audition. You’re torn between wanting them to like you personally and often trying to convince casting agents you can play someone unlikable,” explains Garcia. “To me acting has often come down to either I get the role or I have to get part-time work to pay for the Pampers. When you’ve operated under that pressure, the dreams you have are of survival, not fame.”

Like his “Untouchables” character, Garcia projects a quiet confidence. That personality trait has been an asset ever since he moved from Miami Beach to Los Angeles in 1979. Once here, Garcia quickly discovered the town had a heavy demand for Latino waiters and truck drivers--except the jobs called for him to be one instead of play one.

“I never desired to be an actor until I attended the Florida International University on a basketball scholarship. I realized that the pro teams didn’t need a short guard so I thought of other careers,” recalls Garcia, who once had actor Mickey Rourke as his Little League coach. “Then I got the acting bug and it became a cancer for me. Either I would have to deal with it or die. So when I came to Los Angeles, I was determined not to quit or fail regardless of any rejection I received.”

Garcia got a small role in the pilot of “Hill Street Blues,” which led to other TV work. He made his film debut as a Spanish cop in Miami in “The Mean Season.” “When I returned home to do the picture, my family was surprised. The lost bullet had been found,” jokes Garcia. “My conservative, business-oriented parents kept looking at me like they had been renting my room and a longtime boarder had returned.”

“The Mean Season” wasn’t a big film, and Garcia returned to Hollywood. “There was no rational reason or demand for me to come back. I’m educated enough to be a success in another career. In fact I’ll probably coach kids in sports somewhere down the line. Like losing in a sports event, I found being rejected in acting only increased my passion for the craft, and my desire to succeed became stronger,” he says.

He lights a cigarette, inhales and lets the smoke serve as a screen to cover any anger. “How do you answer casting agents who say you don’t look Spanish enough to play a hood and then won’t let you read for the role of the nice boy next door?

“At the time I was trying to convince casting agents I could play an average guy I was actually living in their type of neighborhood in the Valley. You keep your sanity and you keep yourself going with little reminders. Breakthroughs in the business that pump you up to believing you’ll get a shot. One of the best is remembering a super actor like Dustin Hoffman, who’s a Jewish New Yorker, got his big break playing a rich Southern California college graduate. When he then played Ratso Ritzo (in “Midnight Cowboy”), nobody could say he could only play the boy next door.”

Garcia says he’s met many actors who think there’s a conspiracy to keep them from getting work. “If I ever became bitter like that, my street sense would remind me that it’s only business, not a personal vendetta.”

It was ironic--after being told he couldn’t play a hood--that Garcia’s first starring role (opposite Jeff Bridges) would be as a flashy cocaine dealer in last year’s ill-fated film “Eight Million Ways To Die.”

“After ‘Eight’ I then decided to not do the killer pimp-of-the-week roles. I remember once on the ‘Untouchables,’ Billy Drago (who plays gangster Frank Nitti) came up to me and said he has killed over 83 people on the screen and in the story action off-screen.

“I thought if I played his character--with my background and looks--I’d probably never get another role without a huge body count.”