Higher Tourism: 2011

. . .

Lost in Transition: Jorge Comes Home

Interview with Jorge Garcia by Jason S. Paris in Beverly Hills on May 13, 2010

Soon to be appearing in J.J. Abrams new Fox TV series "Alcatraz"
Photos by Stephanie Slama

. . .

After six years of turning confusion into the art of cliffhanger drama, “Lost” conquered American televisions hearts, imaginations, and the ratings while becoming one of the most beloved sci-fi shows in broadcast history. After battling mysterious black smoke monsters, ghosts, polar bears, turbulent trips through time, and a massive volume of fan speculation concerning elaborate conspiracies and twisting plots the show has come to an end.

Stripped of the complex twists and turns, “Lost” is actually a simple story at it’s heart; the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 are thrown off course and taken from reality by a storm of Fate, and finding themselves stranded on a tropical island and thus begins the struggle to get home but this is no mere Gilligan’s Island. There is no weekly tease over the heroes getting home using a coconut radio to signal for help, instead LOST pitted the survivors against the universal forces of good and evil. The passengers found themselves switching time, switching realities, and at times switching allegiance as they battle for their lives against the supernatural and each other but with each step closer to leaving the island they found themselves tossed back out into the wilderness. Like Odysseus cursed to sail the seas, the shore line home nearly reachable and in sight, but greater forces conspired against them as fate determined the heroes had more suffering in store but like Homer’s King of Ithaca triumphantly returning to his kingdom so must the Oceanic survivors.

Among the passengers who found themselves lost we discover the unlikeliest of hero in Jorge Garcia as the shows lovable teddy bear, comedic release, and moral compass; Hugo “Hurley” Reyes. Fan favorite Hurley was nothing more than a working Joe in a fast food chicken joint and thanks to some seriously unlucky lottery numbers he found himself in transition from fast food employee, lonely and a looser, to owning the chain he once served and like the rest of the passengers, instead found himself battling fate itself. With the final episodes premiering at the end of May the cast, like their characters must pack their bags and leave their homes on location in Hawaii for the urban glitz and glam of Los Angeles. Like Jorge, who has been chosen for the leading role in Jim Hanks independent film, “When We Were Pirates”.

I met with Jorge in Beverly Hills at the Uber-posh; SLS hotel, where the decor takes trendy decadence and style to a higher level of flare and flavors, as designed entirely by French designer, Phillip Starck. Jorge then began taking pictures of him self with an onyx bust interpretation of classical Greek beauty equipped with pearl necklace and a snorkel and of course - as no classical scuba beauty would be complete without - a giant ebony lobster figurine which he lifts to his ear like a phone. As the novelty of the decor wears off it’s time to sit and discuss the nature of transition, the wide open future, and paradise lost.

JL - Here comes a big transition: you are leaving Hawaii and shifting life back to LA. So you are giving up paradise for the glitz and the glamour…are you ready for this?

JG - Am I ready to come back? No, I have really enjoyed hiding out in Hawaii for the past six years. It’s been nice… and now I have to show my face in public places. It kinda feels like it’s part of the job and you have to show up just to figure out what the next job is going to be. It was a great comfort knowing that I was not always available because I was stuck on Oahu and doing the work. It’s okay because I was working but it’s not like I had to hustle as hard as I’m going to now. It’s all is about to change. Ever since I moved to Hawaii I had really been enjoying playing house (with his writer girlfriend Bethany Shady) and so now (in LA) I definitely want to have a little chunk of land. I want to have some land of my own to grow my garden on. And I’d like a nice sized kitchen as well.

JL - So are you heartbroken having to give up your little garden in Paradise and having to relocate to all of this mayhem? The transition must be killing you!

JG - I don’t know if it has really all set in yet. I don’t know if it’s fully hit me yet, I think it’s going to hit me maybe when I am getting on the plane and I’ve settled in the temporary housing we’ve set up for just the start of this transition period, somewhere around that first night is going to be the start of the depression. That’ll be when it’s the saddest. It’s a big thing, I mean you kind of have to talk to yourself and say, ‘All jobs are temporary no matter how long they last’ but six years is a long time to get used to something.

JL - So there does come a little loss with the success you’ve had on “Lost”. It must be bittersweet to have to reinvent yourself and get that opportunity to move but having to leave behind something important.

JG - Sure, but I’m very proud of the last six years doing “Lost” and I know it’s going to be a hard job to follow.

But it’s also put me in a position where I can feel free to say no to the offers coming to me that don’t feel right. I’m waiting for the “right yes”.

JL - What about the culture and the life style or the little favorites you grew to love. Are there any unique little restaurants or places you went too?

JG - It’s going to be interesting because I like the small things like the Shrimp truck in Kahuku or going to Giovanni’s and having a cold coconut and some shrimp scampi. Hawaii is kind of a fun little trip around the coast. There is change in attitude. People drive differently in Hawaii. Everyone lets you in when you are trying to merge and they tend to drive slower and in LA you kind of have to take your piece of the road and you have to claim your piece of the real-estate.

JL - You get this question a lot when members of ensemble casts such as LOST are interviewed, concerning how close the cast are with one another, the friendships, and camaraderie…but you guys really were literally stuck on an island together so not only did you spend long days, weeks, and years working together but you also played together?

JG - When I first moved there we (the fellow cast) were the only people we knew so the first summer we used to go to the Foxes (Mathew Fox) house almost every weekend. We would hang out by his pool and there was a lot of…I mean, (then a pause and looking away again. Here comes that first wave from a few questions up as his eyes begin to well up just a little) the one thing I am really going to miss the most about Hawaii isn’t there anymore and that’s the whole cast and just being around them when I was working on the show. It was just a great time (now) everyone is going all over the place. We are definitely going to be spread out. I think people will be coming through L.A. a lot but it’s going to be different.

JL - You are like war buddies in the fox hole and a group of people having to stick together because you were the only ones around who could relate to each other and what one another was going through especially as the show was becoming such a hit. Now you’re on a solo mission.

JG - Right. It is. It really is. That’s exactly what it is (brave smile). I think it’s going to be periodic check-in’s on one another and if you find yourself in the same area you may grab a bite together or something

JL - What are you bringing back from Hawaii with you, culturally? How it changed you or affected you. Are you now more chill and “hang loose?”

JG - I think so I mean I was always very chill and low key but I want to make an effort to bring more of that with me. Like, once I know where we are going to be living I want to have a certain sanctuary. I want my home to become a retreat and Hawaii has really influenced that.

JL - In Hawaii, even the littlest things like ordering a cup of coffee is at a much slower pace. They take their time and have no desire to hurry. Are you ready to take the plunge?

JG - To jump into it? I don’t know. I think since I’ve lived in L.A. before some of that muscle memory will hopefully come back.

JL - Returning after one of the biggest Sci-fi shows in TV history and with your current level of success you are in now very recognizable in the den of the paparazzi.

JG-Right.

JL - I remember a picture of you I saw in a magazine were you were caught pumping your own gas with the caption stating, “Celebs are just like us!” which I found oddly reassuring. How do you go about safe guarding your life from the negative exposure and having their predatory stalker cameras at you constantly? Hawaii gave you a shelter from that.

JG-One thing about LA is the paparazzi are more obvious so if I am getting photographed or video taped I know it’s coming now. In Hawaii, especially during season 2 which is our big paparazzi season, I didn’t see anyone and then pictures would show up of me and my mom walking back to the house from the beach and that was more secretive. In L.A. and New York City you see them across the street or they are just right there in front of you. In a way it is almost easier to deal with so there are no surprises and you just have to make sure you have a clean shirt on when you go do stuff.

JL - Blatant bastards! The reason I ask is because I have always wanted to know, you hear celebs bitch about them but never really tackle the why’s. Why has the celebrity life become so exposed to the public? I blame the past 15 years of internet access…

JG-OH! It has, it has I mean, everybody has their own website where everyone puts up their own photographs and their own video. Everyone has a video camera on their phone and it’s all over the place. I think as to the why? Apparently there is a demand for it. People must want to read it otherwise those people wouldn’t be able to make a living so as long as the public keeps wanting more information or Info-tainment. Then there is going to be a demand for it.

JL - Info-tainment? Nice. It seems almost that maybe perhaps the internet has given us such a voyeuristic lifestyle concerning our celebrities that we don’t even see you as people who should have the right to walk down the street, pump your gas, or throw out your garbage without it becoming news. What happened to the glamour days of Hollywood when we wanted out actors and actresses to be like royalty rather than see them rolling in the muck. You pumping gas is not interesting and I can’t see why anyone cares, yet they do.

JG-Yeah, and there are people in the limelight who look for it. They want the attention and so they definitely put themselves in positions where they can get that attention. Um, it’s not something I do myself and I choose not to be a part of it. I will walk a red carpet at an event because everyone has their role but the other stuff it’s just, ‘well, try not to give them fuel’.

JL - It’s like a perpetual motion machine fueled on gossip.

JG-I don’t appear in places and I just try to live my life. I’d like to say that I don’t do things cause of it but there are places that are busier that I try to avoid.

JL - Like the mall?

JG - No, I go to the mall. I still like going to the mall and I can’t apply this to L.A. right now but in Hawaii there are certain places which have a higher concentration of people with camera. When friends and family come to visit I just let them know I won’t be going with them such as Pearl Harbor.

JL - What are you looking forward to most about coming back to L.A. (he laughs) because L.A. isn’t the worst place in the world (and we laugh some more).

JG - I’m most looking forward to hanging out with my friends again. I mean, it’s kinda been a six year absence for the most part except during these short trips to L.A. for press or the holidays. So being able to catch up with people I haven’t seen in a while. I just found out that a friend of mine just had a baby and I had no idea his wife was even pregnant. It felt like it came out of nowhere because I haven’t seen him in six years. So doing that is going to be great.

JL -Los Angeles is one of those cities loaded with hidden gems. Just last night I was introduced to Canter’s Deli which was fantastic. Do you have any local favorites?

JG-Oh yeah, I love it. I used to live down the street from Canter’s. There are certain things like Canter’s here that I love. In Hawaii it’s kinda like, this is what we’ve got and this is what we get, because everything has to come in by boat. So, in L.A. there are a lot more resources to get stuff and have things shipped to you. It is hard to find good rye bread in Hawaii for example and it’s the little things, the tiny places you miss. Now it is about figuring out what are the best local places in your neighborhood. I try to figure out the best sandwich shops and the best places to hit around me. Not knowing exactly where we are going to be living, it’s not easy to figure all of that out yet.

JL-Seems like any place you frequent here they are going to want you to put your autograph picture up on the wall.

JG-I don’t know, LA has a certain level of, “Melrose Cool about it as much as there is attention for being who you are there is also an equal and opposite attention of ignoring you purposefully because of who you are. There is a certain, it’s just not big deal mentality as well as opposed to like in Japan, if they are happy to see you they will really show it. JG-When we were in Ireland, we stopped in and poked our heads into the pub and this guy just started freaking out, “It’s Hurley from Lost, It’s Hurley from Lost!”

JL-Bought you drinks?

JG-No, we ran away. We hid and then ducked out.

JL-So when are the fans too much?

JG-When are fans too much? Listen, I love my fans and I love giving them some of my time. Granted, it’s hard to have an argument with fans at Disneyland and there are certain situations where if I am in the middle of dinner I’d rather not be approached. It’s weird because fans for the most part will come up to you and it’s great, way better than people who will just snap a photo of you because they don’t have the nerve to approach you. Because that makes me feel like a monument. Does that answer your question?

JL-Are they rarely horrifying? Are they generally not scary?

JG-Scary? No, well…the letters I get are sometimes scary. The problem is my character; Hurley will get people who want to hug me a lot. In pools. Sometimes that becomes uncomfortable in an uncomfortable situation. They can get a little closer than I am comfortable with a stranger. Granted I don’t seem like a stranger to them but I haven’t been watching them on TV every week so sometimes it gets a little close and it does create uncomfortable situation. A 15-year-old girl in a bathing suit wanted to give me a hug in a pool and it was awkward. It adds other layers of discomfort that I am just not used to.

JL-You are the reluctant teddy bear hero but also the moral compass on the show. “Lost” for sure has bad guys and just because you are the hero doesn’t make you a Good-Guy. You play the hero and the sweetheart so do the fans translate that on to you? Do they get confused? So does Hurley generate an attitude among your fans that will help you determine what you want to do next of is Hurley just someone you want to get away from?

JG-In the next job? JG-I don’t think I will be Hurley again in the next job but I’m not worried about any of that yet, like I don’t suddenly have to break from my own mold any time soon.

JL-Are you afraid of typecast? It seems a concern among actors who play very popular characters.

JG-Well, I do like that sometimes when I go to the movies and I think, “FBI agent would be such a cool job but then I think, ‘Wait a minute. That guy on the screen isn’t an FBI agent, he is in the job I am’ so there is the sense that as an actor you want to try different things.

JL-Do you have a dream genre?

JG-It would be fun to do some cool costume stuff. Maybe a sword and sandal movie or maybe a western. Something were the outfit tells you just who this character is. That’d be fun.

JL-What do you watch on television?

JG-Friday Night Lights is back on regular TV and I’ve always been a big fan of that show and I like to watch Ghost Hunters and I’ve been actually been watching Survivor this season.

JL-Really? You aren’t completely sick of islands shows?

JG-I’m not as into it as I was ever since Boston Rob got booted off but I’m sticking around to see this guy named Russell who is the new bad guy…

JL-I love it. We actually have “bad guys in reality TV”. What’s the best and worst part of your job?

JG-The best part is the fun sets. It’s like being a kid with the props and the made up locations. It’s like being on a theme park ride. It’s a big play land. Especially when they started making these big “Indiana Jones” type settings. The worst part is also the set. On LOST you have to deal with a lot of bugs. When we shot the pilot and they were shining light on places that didn’t get lots of light at night all of these bugs came out of the jungle and they’d be caught in my hair for some reason and in between takes they would be picking bugs out of my hair. Getting mosquito bites in the most random places like the webbing of your fingers. I’d watch old episodes and you’d see someone get a mosquito bite in during the filming of the scene so in one shot, you know his face is fine and little by little you’d see the bump forming on his cheek.

JL-Do you have ambitions on being on the other end? Writing, producing, or directing?

JG-There may be a little inkling toward wanting to direct but I don’t think I’d want to direct television. It would have to something like an independent film where you have the freedom to mess around and screw up a little bit.

JL-American audiences are all about the big summer box office movie, like Iron Man but they aren’t always the most thought provoking events nor offer the chance to display talent like an indie film does. I was watching a French Film with Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci, Ne te Retourne Pas and I couldn’t help but feels as though European movies tend to focus much more on a good plot and character development than American movies do.

JG-Yeah, exactly.

JL-Are there any foreign films you are enjoying?

JG-Right now? I can’t think of anything at the moment because in Hawaii there are only three theatres with the option of seeing a foreign movie and now it’s down to just one. Like when I first got to Hawaii there was a small two screen theatre near the University where you could see some foreign films and I would sit and watch both movies. Watch one, go to lunch, come back and watch the second one but I still didn’t have as much exposure in Hawaii so I don’t know exactly what the latest run is.

JL-I think our indie films are much more heavily influenced by the films from over sees where the characters are the vehicle opposed to big explosions and Nicholas Cage walking away from an explosion like a bad ass. It’s been done, those stories have been told but the gems are in those hidden little films that get less theatre exposure.

JG-Sure, Right. Well, yeah…I have always liked Ed Burns movies because they are about people, such as; Sidewalks of New York where he has a character crying because his girl friend broke up with him but he has to still his job as a door man so you see him standing on the street crying and then covering it up so he can open a door or flag down a cab ride then goes straight back to crying again. Little things like that appeal to me in movies. I love great moments that are silent like in the Pursuit of Happiness where Will Smith get his job and instead of jumping up and down and screaming, “Yeah” he is just walking down the sidewalk and puts his fist up in the air and just a silent moment (that says all there needs to be said).

JL-The small films are often where an actors gets their chance to show off.

JG-Yeah, and you are free…well, one of the things about doing LOST is that there is so much that has been written for the show and on the occasion of some reflective moments, where the character is reacting and trying figure out what they are dealing with, and let it wash over you sometimes it gets edited out to save time. In the situation of like, a small movie or movies in general that don’t have to be dealing with the hassle of staying under a certain amount of time. Well, I guess they do that all the time. You have to shave moments and I think those are sometimes the golden acting moments you want to watch. The guy sitting still then having a reaction like a recent moment Terry O’Quinn did that was just such a great moment and they got to keep it in the show.

JL-Small films can have that opportunity to touch you.

JG-Yeah, small films do that a lot. You have less of a committee to please like at the end of Big Night in the final scene its just the characters making some eggs and in the scene the camera just sits still, it doesn’t blink, and lets the scene play out and you just sit there for the whole time. Like, some of my favorite all time movies were Jaque Tati movies and he has this great way of just putting the camera somewhere and letting the action direct your eye so you follow the character going up the stairs and across the highway and its this whole shot of the whole building and follow the whole situation and there is the women in the towel has to sneak back in and hide and stuff with a series of little things he does. It’s a bold choice to do in a blockbuster type of movie.

JL-I imagine that every actor, writer, and director, in the industry or who wants to be in the industry has their own hero. Someone they dream of working with who influenced them and to work with them would let you end your career happily right there. Who was your inspiration?

JG-Yeah, for me it was always Paul Newman. He was amazing at being both cool and tough at the same time (and the quintessential Newman film?) Cool Hand Luke is probably the favorite though Hud is also just amazing. Hombre, the ones with H’s on it I guess. The “H” movies I guess but I even loved Nobody’s Fool. He’s great in that and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid of course. The charity that he did with the salad dressing and popcorn. He was just all around a great human being and great actor.

JL-Doesn’t it seem like those guys are gone? The day of the Golden-Ag(ers) and I don’t mean in just the dead way I mean Hollywood itself no longer embraces the Icons, Newman, Redford and where is the Cary Grant suave and glamour? I mean, we have George Clooney but the difference is maybe we know to much about actors lives.

JG-Hm, yeah. I mean it’s, I think things are changing. Movies are changing. So it’s possible but something in me wonders that might be something that shows up later, where you say to yourself, ‘huh…I guess he was one of those people’ because would you know it while it’s happening or not? It does feel that way. That there is the kind of golden age of movie stars and you know it’s possible.

JL-But then we end up getting bogged down in their personal lives.

JG-Well, there was just a lot less of it because your exposure to someone was film reels and black and white photos opposed to now where there is immediacy and everything is on video tape.

JL-Is there anyone out there are you are fan of now?

JG-Well, Johnny Depp. I’ll go see anything. You just know he bathes in the part that he does.

JL-So you are ready to say good-bye?

JG-To Hurley? I have to be. I don’t have a choice in the matter so I guess it’s kinda…I don’t know how to do it actually. There is going to have to be this moment where I have to put him to bed and say there is an ending to the chapter and on to the next adventure. I don’t know if there should be a ceremony about it but I think I am going to miss him. It was great because when you do a job for six years you become instinctual about it. When I have a script there becomes something instinctual about it because you have already been doing all the work in the past. Um, it’s been cool being like…I get this as far as Hurley goes but it’s been very cool learning about dealing with the entire technical aspect of the industry. Figuring out exactly how to make the light hit you and to learn how to focus through what’s going on and also figuring out where you need to get with a role and what it takes to get there.

JL-What advice would you give Hurley?

JG-What would I tell Hurley? Um, I mean, at what stage, it’s kind of…don’t play the numbers.

JL-But that is what makes him a hero.

JG-Yeah but he isn’t looking for it.

JL-Exactly, that’s what makes him a hero. The reluctance makes him a kin to an Odysseus. Taken off course and taking to long to get home. That’s why Hurley is iconic. We have all grown up on the character thrust into the situation against his will but rise to the challenge and become someone better like a Luke Skywalker.

JG-I’d tell him that the first aid kit is in the submarine cock-pit. I’m pretty good with mostly everything he’s done.

L- What piece of advice would you give Jorge six years ago? You get in your time machine, flick the switch and off you go to an earlier you. What does early Jorge need to know?

JG-Don’t buy so much stuff.

JL-Cause you can’t take it with you?

JG-No, because now I’m packing all of it. Don’t’ frame too many of your things. Wait till you move back.

Jason S. Parish