Post by Carol on May 6, 2007 22:56:49 GMT -10
www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/content/accent/epaper/2007/05/07/a1e_featv_caruso_0507.html
NOTE: There is some kind of audio link on at the url for this article. It plays a bit distorted for me but someone else may have better luck.
Why Horatio Caine is sooooo serious (and David Caruso isn't)
By Kevin D. Thompson
Palm Beach Post Television Writer
Monday, May 07, 2007
"Hi, pal!"
The voice on the phone is nearly unrecognizable. That's because it's cheerful and friendly.
And cheerful and friendly are two adjectives not normally associated with David Caruso or Horatio Caine, the intense crime-scene investigator he plays on CSI: Miami (10 p.m., WPEC-Channel 12).
"All right, man, I appreciate you accommodating my schedule," the flame-haired actor continues, still sounding almost downright giddy.
The 51-year-old Caruso was in Miami recently to film key scenes for his hit crime drama that both the BBC and Reuters have called one of the world's most-watched TV shows.
After wrapping up his day on the set, Caruso took a few minutes to chat about his stormy NYPD Blue days, the reason he can't wait to be a dad again (his yoga-instructor girlfriend of two years is expecting in October) and why Horatio always stands with his hands on his hips.
Question: You are about to become a dad again. How does that feel?
Answer: It feels pretty good, sir, I gotta say. I love children. (Caruso's daughter, Greta, is 23, and his son, Marquez, is 19 months) It's a big part of who I am. At the end of the day, it might not sound too glamorous, but I think I'm a parent. That's who I mostly am.
Q: When did you realize that? When you had your first child, or did that happen over time?
A: I very much enjoyed raising my first daughter. I'm so proud of her. Not only was it a rewarding experience, it's a very creative experience, too.
Q: In what way?
A: You can really be involved. If you take the time, and you're interested, you can be involved in the shaping of a human being. You stand back and watch the amazing results. It's pretty gratifying.
Q: Any marriage plans in your future? (Caruso has been married twice and was recently divorced.)
A: Right now, everybody's in a good place, and nobody's in a rush to do anything.
Q: What do you enjoy most about playing Horatio Caine? He's a very interesting and complex character.
A: I would describe Horatio as a man I deeply admire. The situations that we deal with in this world of crime-scene investigations are sometimes challenging, sometimes horrific situations, and the thing that Horatio brings to the setting is poise. Poise and the ability to be effective under pressure. He also has a very deep identification with the victims. He understands their pain and a lot of what they've been through.
Q: When I'm watching you on CSI: Miami, I'm thinking that I'm basically watching a version of you. Is that accurate?
A: (Laughs) If you and I were to spend time together, you would think: 'This guy is nothing like Horatio. What a disappointment.'
Q: So that's not true, then?
A: Well, put it this way, I wish I was more like him. Let me rephrase that. I aspire every day to be more like him. At the end of the day, he's a completely selfless human being. He is dedicated to the citizens of Miami. It takes a certain level of courage and a certain character to do that.
Q: You mentioned recently that you dream in character as Horatio. What do you dream about?
A: That happens on occasion for me. I will wake up in the middle of the night with a little snippet of a scene or something related to an episode that we're filming or a piece of a scene that hasn't come yet, something that may take place in the future.
Q: A lot has been made of Horatio's speech patterns — very serious, very deliberate — and the sunglasses being taken off and put back on. Was that a conscious choice to give the character so many tics and personality quirks?
A: That was a deliberate (attempt). The character came out of the tone that had been set in the world of CSI. There's a very specific tone to these shows, and I wanted to create a man who would mirror that tone. What I mean by that is, when you come into a crime scene, and there is a dead body, there needs to be a somber reverence to this location, to this setting.
In my opinion, you're never more vulnerable than when you're deceased. You can no longer fight for yourself or defend yourself. I think the creation of Horatio was based on that reverence for the victim.
Q: Talk about the sunglasses and always having your hands on your hips. What's up with that?
A: The character doesn't reveal himself to me until I find his stance. The body posture is a very important part of who the man is.
In this particular case, Horatio has a very specific way to stand, with his hands on his hips. The John Kelly character on NYPD Blue had his hands in his pockets all the time. Horatio would never have his hands in his pockets. He's just a completely different human being.
He readies himself for action in a different way. The sunglasses have become kind of a fun thing for the viewer. One of the key things in this kind of cat-and-mouse profession is the ability to hide your eyes and to not allow the suspect to know what you're thinking. I will use the sunglasses as a tool to break down the story and sometimes break down the chess match with the suspect. Sometimes, the viewers have noticed that if I was wearing sunglasses inside the interrogation room, there was a good chance I thought this person was the killer.
Q: You love Florida. Do you still own property here?
A: Oh, yeah. I have a beautiful place in South Beach, and I have another place being constructed closer to North Beach.
I love Florida. South Florida is the best place in the country. It has influences from all over the world. Miami and Palm Beach are cities that completely welcome you, they inspire you to be creative. They want you to contribute to the city in a creative way, and you can come to South Florida and be who you want to be.
Q: Any regrets that your film career never took off they way you had hoped?
A: You know, I got to realize some big dreams in the film business. I got to make a couple of movies I was very proud of and work with people I wanted to work with. In Jade (the 1995 film in which Caruso played a politically ambitious assistant district attorney), I got to work with the director of the French Connection (William Friedkin) and the producer of The Godfather (Robert Evans). And for me, that was the reason I went to California.
While the pictures didn't do box office, those were very valuable experiences for me. Having said that, if they had done better box office, I might not have gotten to Horatio. So things kind of work out the way they need to work out. I have no regrets.
Q: Compare the David Caruso today with the David Caruso of 15 years ago.
A: When I got the opportunity on NYPD Blue, the best way to describe me was green. The thing about television, you can take someone who made a living as an actor and just vault them into the middle of all this electricity, and some people are prepared for it, and some people just don't have the perspective.
There's a lot of activity and a lot of intensity, especially on a show that was received like NYPD Blue. If you don't have the experience to understand that, it's easy to be overwhelmed by it.
Q: What would you do differently if you could go back?
A: I think I would've tried not to fall into the trap that everything had to happen right away. When I was on that show, opportunities were coming at me pretty quickly, and I think that complicated it for me, and I didn't have the ability to just ground myself and build some experience and some perspective. It all happened so fast. If I could do it differently, I would've just found a way to calm down and let it develop.
NOTE: There is some kind of audio link on at the url for this article. It plays a bit distorted for me but someone else may have better luck.
Why Horatio Caine is sooooo serious (and David Caruso isn't)
By Kevin D. Thompson
Palm Beach Post Television Writer
Monday, May 07, 2007
"Hi, pal!"
The voice on the phone is nearly unrecognizable. That's because it's cheerful and friendly.
And cheerful and friendly are two adjectives not normally associated with David Caruso or Horatio Caine, the intense crime-scene investigator he plays on CSI: Miami (10 p.m., WPEC-Channel 12).
"All right, man, I appreciate you accommodating my schedule," the flame-haired actor continues, still sounding almost downright giddy.
The 51-year-old Caruso was in Miami recently to film key scenes for his hit crime drama that both the BBC and Reuters have called one of the world's most-watched TV shows.
After wrapping up his day on the set, Caruso took a few minutes to chat about his stormy NYPD Blue days, the reason he can't wait to be a dad again (his yoga-instructor girlfriend of two years is expecting in October) and why Horatio always stands with his hands on his hips.
Question: You are about to become a dad again. How does that feel?
Answer: It feels pretty good, sir, I gotta say. I love children. (Caruso's daughter, Greta, is 23, and his son, Marquez, is 19 months) It's a big part of who I am. At the end of the day, it might not sound too glamorous, but I think I'm a parent. That's who I mostly am.
Q: When did you realize that? When you had your first child, or did that happen over time?
A: I very much enjoyed raising my first daughter. I'm so proud of her. Not only was it a rewarding experience, it's a very creative experience, too.
Q: In what way?
A: You can really be involved. If you take the time, and you're interested, you can be involved in the shaping of a human being. You stand back and watch the amazing results. It's pretty gratifying.
Q: Any marriage plans in your future? (Caruso has been married twice and was recently divorced.)
A: Right now, everybody's in a good place, and nobody's in a rush to do anything.
Q: What do you enjoy most about playing Horatio Caine? He's a very interesting and complex character.
A: I would describe Horatio as a man I deeply admire. The situations that we deal with in this world of crime-scene investigations are sometimes challenging, sometimes horrific situations, and the thing that Horatio brings to the setting is poise. Poise and the ability to be effective under pressure. He also has a very deep identification with the victims. He understands their pain and a lot of what they've been through.
Q: When I'm watching you on CSI: Miami, I'm thinking that I'm basically watching a version of you. Is that accurate?
A: (Laughs) If you and I were to spend time together, you would think: 'This guy is nothing like Horatio. What a disappointment.'
Q: So that's not true, then?
A: Well, put it this way, I wish I was more like him. Let me rephrase that. I aspire every day to be more like him. At the end of the day, he's a completely selfless human being. He is dedicated to the citizens of Miami. It takes a certain level of courage and a certain character to do that.
Q: You mentioned recently that you dream in character as Horatio. What do you dream about?
A: That happens on occasion for me. I will wake up in the middle of the night with a little snippet of a scene or something related to an episode that we're filming or a piece of a scene that hasn't come yet, something that may take place in the future.
Q: A lot has been made of Horatio's speech patterns — very serious, very deliberate — and the sunglasses being taken off and put back on. Was that a conscious choice to give the character so many tics and personality quirks?
A: That was a deliberate (attempt). The character came out of the tone that had been set in the world of CSI. There's a very specific tone to these shows, and I wanted to create a man who would mirror that tone. What I mean by that is, when you come into a crime scene, and there is a dead body, there needs to be a somber reverence to this location, to this setting.
In my opinion, you're never more vulnerable than when you're deceased. You can no longer fight for yourself or defend yourself. I think the creation of Horatio was based on that reverence for the victim.
Q: Talk about the sunglasses and always having your hands on your hips. What's up with that?
A: The character doesn't reveal himself to me until I find his stance. The body posture is a very important part of who the man is.
In this particular case, Horatio has a very specific way to stand, with his hands on his hips. The John Kelly character on NYPD Blue had his hands in his pockets all the time. Horatio would never have his hands in his pockets. He's just a completely different human being.
He readies himself for action in a different way. The sunglasses have become kind of a fun thing for the viewer. One of the key things in this kind of cat-and-mouse profession is the ability to hide your eyes and to not allow the suspect to know what you're thinking. I will use the sunglasses as a tool to break down the story and sometimes break down the chess match with the suspect. Sometimes, the viewers have noticed that if I was wearing sunglasses inside the interrogation room, there was a good chance I thought this person was the killer.
Q: You love Florida. Do you still own property here?
A: Oh, yeah. I have a beautiful place in South Beach, and I have another place being constructed closer to North Beach.
I love Florida. South Florida is the best place in the country. It has influences from all over the world. Miami and Palm Beach are cities that completely welcome you, they inspire you to be creative. They want you to contribute to the city in a creative way, and you can come to South Florida and be who you want to be.
Q: Any regrets that your film career never took off they way you had hoped?
A: You know, I got to realize some big dreams in the film business. I got to make a couple of movies I was very proud of and work with people I wanted to work with. In Jade (the 1995 film in which Caruso played a politically ambitious assistant district attorney), I got to work with the director of the French Connection (William Friedkin) and the producer of The Godfather (Robert Evans). And for me, that was the reason I went to California.
While the pictures didn't do box office, those were very valuable experiences for me. Having said that, if they had done better box office, I might not have gotten to Horatio. So things kind of work out the way they need to work out. I have no regrets.
Q: Compare the David Caruso today with the David Caruso of 15 years ago.
A: When I got the opportunity on NYPD Blue, the best way to describe me was green. The thing about television, you can take someone who made a living as an actor and just vault them into the middle of all this electricity, and some people are prepared for it, and some people just don't have the perspective.
There's a lot of activity and a lot of intensity, especially on a show that was received like NYPD Blue. If you don't have the experience to understand that, it's easy to be overwhelmed by it.
Q: What would you do differently if you could go back?
A: I think I would've tried not to fall into the trap that everything had to happen right away. When I was on that show, opportunities were coming at me pretty quickly, and I think that complicated it for me, and I didn't have the ability to just ground myself and build some experience and some perspective. It all happened so fast. If I could do it differently, I would've just found a way to calm down and let it develop.