Post by KRoseLynn on Apr 12, 2007 15:25:56 GMT -10
Well, you all have probably noticed I've been busy today.
So, at the risk of giving too much information today, I'm posting this article as well.
This was just a couple of days ago.
April 11th, 2007 in the Herald Sun from Australia.
Gives me a little more courage when Lian and I go to Florida to "accedently" bump into him! ;D
Caine and ableDarren Devlyn
April 11, 2007 12:00am
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David Caruso has spent his working life defying convention. By Hollywood standards, his ginger locks and pasty complexion should have made it near impossible for Caruso to carve himself a career as a leading man.
But Caruso, renowned for his mannered delivery of dialogue and intense gaze, won over producers and casting directors to nail the lead role in cop drama NYPD Blue.
Then, unbelievably, he seemed to self-destruct.
The second season was just four episodes old when he tried to use film offers as leverage to gain a salary increase from NYPD producers.
He was on $80,000 an episode and wanted a 20 per cent pay hike. Producers baulked at Caruso's
demands and he quit, convinced the show would flop in his absence.
Caruso believed he was on the cusp of film stardom. He was cast in an aptly named flop Kiss of Death and followed that with the erotic thriller Jade. Caruso's stocks slumped and he found himself in career exile.
"I was a guy who abandoned a TV show. I didn't care about people. They (industry heavyweights) didn't want to see good things happen to me," he said at the time.
Caruso moved to Florida and defied convention a second time by gaining a second chance as an actor.
"My business partner is in the garment business and opened a retail store called Steam (in Miami)," Caruso says. "And I was just a silent partner. I eventually started going to the store because it was fun. (Radio host) Howard Stern heard about this and decided I had left showbusiness to open a T-shirt shop."
Perhaps the executives at CBS were listening that day, because Caruso was soon cast as Horatio Caine in CSI: Miami.
The role has had an enduring effect on Caruso. At 51, he takes none of the show's success for granted.
"I kind of understand it a little better than before and I understand what my responsibilities are . . .
"I've simplified things," he says. "Appreciate better the success? I think so. I think it would be hard not to. Not everybody gets a second chance.
"At the end of the day, the people that inspired me to want to be an actor took what they did very seriously. And in doing so, took their relationship with me seriously as a viewer. That's my philosophy on it."
Caruso recognises the part he plays in ensuring the set of CSI: Miami is a happy workplace. The theory goes that if the star is happy and has a positive approach to work, there's a flow-on effect with castmates and crew. If the star is prone to outbursts or makes unreasonable demands, others will follow suit and morale on set will be low.
"I do have some experience here. I'm a fairly good example of both the ups and the downs of a career. There has to be a specific environment there (on set) for it to be happy," he says.
Though the drama is set in Miami and Caruso considers the city home, he spends most of the year in Los Angeles. The production unit spends four weeks each year in Miami, the rest based at a studio in California.
It is not the way he'd prefer it.
"I have limited power, but, selfishly, I would be there all the time if I could," he says. "Almost nobody is in the (TV) industry in Miami, which is refreshing."
Caruso (right), who on CSI: Miami earns about $200,000 an episode, is also more at ease with his public profile than he was in his NYPD days.
He prefers not to discuss his private life (he has a girlfriend, Liza Marquez) but is happy to meet media commitments and talk to people who approach him in the street.
"I see it as a very important part of the relationship with the viewer," Caruso says of speaking to fans.
"Some people say it is an intrusion. It's not at all. The purpose of making the show is to connect with people. If (actors) say they don't want to talk to people, I ask, well, why? Why did you make this show?
"Connection with the viewer is a very intimate and important relationship for me.
"If a viewer has the courage to approach you and speak to you, it's extremely flattering because you mean something to them. This opposed to them just ignoring you -- they can do that too!"
So, at the risk of giving too much information today, I'm posting this article as well.
This was just a couple of days ago.
April 11th, 2007 in the Herald Sun from Australia.
Gives me a little more courage when Lian and I go to Florida to "accedently" bump into him! ;D
Caine and ableDarren Devlyn
April 11, 2007 12:00am
Article from: Font size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
David Caruso has spent his working life defying convention. By Hollywood standards, his ginger locks and pasty complexion should have made it near impossible for Caruso to carve himself a career as a leading man.
But Caruso, renowned for his mannered delivery of dialogue and intense gaze, won over producers and casting directors to nail the lead role in cop drama NYPD Blue.
Then, unbelievably, he seemed to self-destruct.
The second season was just four episodes old when he tried to use film offers as leverage to gain a salary increase from NYPD producers.
He was on $80,000 an episode and wanted a 20 per cent pay hike. Producers baulked at Caruso's
demands and he quit, convinced the show would flop in his absence.
Caruso believed he was on the cusp of film stardom. He was cast in an aptly named flop Kiss of Death and followed that with the erotic thriller Jade. Caruso's stocks slumped and he found himself in career exile.
"I was a guy who abandoned a TV show. I didn't care about people. They (industry heavyweights) didn't want to see good things happen to me," he said at the time.
Caruso moved to Florida and defied convention a second time by gaining a second chance as an actor.
"My business partner is in the garment business and opened a retail store called Steam (in Miami)," Caruso says. "And I was just a silent partner. I eventually started going to the store because it was fun. (Radio host) Howard Stern heard about this and decided I had left showbusiness to open a T-shirt shop."
Perhaps the executives at CBS were listening that day, because Caruso was soon cast as Horatio Caine in CSI: Miami.
The role has had an enduring effect on Caruso. At 51, he takes none of the show's success for granted.
"I kind of understand it a little better than before and I understand what my responsibilities are . . .
"I've simplified things," he says. "Appreciate better the success? I think so. I think it would be hard not to. Not everybody gets a second chance.
"At the end of the day, the people that inspired me to want to be an actor took what they did very seriously. And in doing so, took their relationship with me seriously as a viewer. That's my philosophy on it."
Caruso recognises the part he plays in ensuring the set of CSI: Miami is a happy workplace. The theory goes that if the star is happy and has a positive approach to work, there's a flow-on effect with castmates and crew. If the star is prone to outbursts or makes unreasonable demands, others will follow suit and morale on set will be low.
"I do have some experience here. I'm a fairly good example of both the ups and the downs of a career. There has to be a specific environment there (on set) for it to be happy," he says.
Though the drama is set in Miami and Caruso considers the city home, he spends most of the year in Los Angeles. The production unit spends four weeks each year in Miami, the rest based at a studio in California.
It is not the way he'd prefer it.
"I have limited power, but, selfishly, I would be there all the time if I could," he says. "Almost nobody is in the (TV) industry in Miami, which is refreshing."
Caruso (right), who on CSI: Miami earns about $200,000 an episode, is also more at ease with his public profile than he was in his NYPD days.
He prefers not to discuss his private life (he has a girlfriend, Liza Marquez) but is happy to meet media commitments and talk to people who approach him in the street.
"I see it as a very important part of the relationship with the viewer," Caruso says of speaking to fans.
"Some people say it is an intrusion. It's not at all. The purpose of making the show is to connect with people. If (actors) say they don't want to talk to people, I ask, well, why? Why did you make this show?
"Connection with the viewer is a very intimate and important relationship for me.
"If a viewer has the courage to approach you and speak to you, it's extremely flattering because you mean something to them. This opposed to them just ignoring you -- they can do that too!"
;D
