A’s Dream Come True : A Martinez Says Timing is Perfect for his Entry on NBC’s ‘L.A. Law’

Back in 1990, A Martinez guest-starred on “L.A. Law” as a condemned murderer who died in the gas chamber. But through the magic of television, he returns to the NBC show Thursday, this time as new series regular Daniel Morales, a criminal attorney who joins the firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney & Becker as a partner.

Not that Martinez (the A, no period, is for Adolph) is a stranger to such television twists: He did, after all, segue to “L.A. Law” directly from an eight-year stint on the network’s recently canceled soap opera “Santa Barbara,” where he won a 1990 Daytime Emmy Award for his portrayal of supercop-heartthrob Cruz Castillo.

Ironically, years earlier was approached about auditioning for the “L.A. Law” role of Victor Sifuentes, eventually won by Jimmy Smits, but was unable to do so because of his then-ironclad “Santa Barbara” contract. “I would never have gotten it,” he says now, in his trailer on the 20th Century Fox lot before the afternoon’s set call. “That role was meant for Jimmy.”

As for the role he did win, after his agent let his interest in joining the show be known, Martinez says that information about the character is being doled out to him “only in bits.

“It’s been an interesting transition,” he said, “to go from playing someone you knew like the inside of your own brain to playing someone who’s a mystery. Cruz became like a person in my life, an extremely important person. Even in these last years, when I’d do other things”--most recently, the ABC telefilm “Criminal Behavior” opposite Farrah Fawcett--”I felt anchored by the fact that I was going back and playing Cruz again. There’s a big hole--it’s natural to go through a process of grieving.”

Big, indeed, since it was on “Santa Barbara” that Martinez rose to leading-man renown after years of primarily portraying victims and villains. He starred opposite Marcy Walker as golden girl Eden Capwell for seven years until she left the show; the two received soap fandom’s highest accolade with their designation as a “super couple.”

“I was offered the role three times, and I turned it down,” he recalls. “I turned up my nose at doing a soap. Thank God they asked a fourth time. It gave me a chance to connect with an audience. After you’ve been in the game a long time and you haven’t done that, you wonder if it’s going to happen. I got lucky.”

Even after reporting to “L.A. Law” in August, Martinez spent two Saturdays wrapping up his “Santa Barbara” role. He had entertained thoughts of doing both shows simultaneously, but decided against spreading himself too thin for the sake of his family--wife Leslie Bryans, son Cody, 6, and daughter Devon, 3--and the knowledge that his work would probably suffer.

“On my last day, when we were (camera) blocking in rehearsal, we were all crying,” he said. “The director, Rick Bennewitz, who’d also directed the first edisode I was in, said, ‘Don’t give it all now.’ I said, ‘I’m not trying to give it. I’m trying to hold it in!’ It’s a measure of how great a blessing it is to be in this game.”

Aside from having to leave Cruz behind, Martinez calls his new gig a dream come true, particularly, he says with a grin, because “I always made noises about working for Steven Bochco--I met him when I was in college and he was, I think, story editor of ‘McMillan and Wife.’ I think I was a little obnoxious about it.”

The actor is now on the “L.A. Law” set about one day less per week than he had been on “Santa Barbara,” and he deals with five to eight pages of dialogue daily rather than the soap’s customary 20 to 25. Still, he says, “This is much more difficult work. Because I did ‘Santa Barbara’ for so long, the process became streamlined. You got to the point where you could memorize anything. You had to make a million decisions, and once you made them, you went out there once and it was done. But if something unexpected occurred in a scene, you could jump on it and explore it.

“With this show, there is a craft that involves repetition and sticking to the agreed-upon dynamics and process. It’s much more about honoring the script. So mainly, the difference is in the technique of making a film versus working live.”

Martinez is well versed in that technique, having launched his career while still a UCLA student with the 1969 feature “Born Wild,” and amassing about 200 episodic television credits and roles in the short-lived series “Cassie & Co.” and “Whiz Kids.” What sets “L.A. Law” apart, he says, is that “it takes so much care. This show does not settle until it is excellent.”

For his guest spot as the Death Row inmate, for instance, he says, “I was sent a medical document explaining how cyanide attacks an organism, and a short story by Sartre about three condemned men in a Turkish prison. That solves so much of the problems you face.”

Martinez, who has a five-year contract with the show, has no regrets that he was not able to get his shot at “L.A. Law” stardom before now. “This is a wonderful opportunity, and it feels better than it would have years ago,” he says. “Maybe that comes from having a family.”

As for the future, Martinez plans to return to his performing roots as a musician by recording an album of his own compositions; he had made his professional singing debut at 12 when he won a talent competition at the Hollywood Bowl. And despite the announcement of “Santa Barbara’s” cancellation in January, he may also return to those roots.

“I’m hoping ‘Santa Barbara’ will be picked up by somebody else (another network or syndication),” he says. “It’s a fine show. Cruz is a wonderful character. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I get to play him again sometime. I loved it.”

“L.A. Law” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.