Hollywood misc.

Galley friend CS just told me about this intriguing ABC Primetime Live segment that ran last Thursday. Basically a softy promo job for the upcoming release of Ocean’s Twelve, it had a couple of very revealing exchanges with the cast.

Andy Garcia on Cuba:

"DIANE SAWYER: (Voice Over) And finally, there's Andy Garcia. He, too, from a loving family but with a searing memory. His father was a wealthy businessman in Cuba, who lost everything under Fidel Castro and was forced to flee to the US. The family, with three children, had to live in a one- bedroom apartment, everything else left behind in Cuba.

"ANDY GARCIA:Part of the thing when you left there was they took everything off of you, you know. I remember specifically, my sister had a -this gold rings on her hand. And she had grown into them and they couldn't get them off her hand. And as a child, I just remember this image of this -going through and these people are dressed in militia uniforms and beards and there's guns everywhere. And they were trying to get this thing off her hand before letting her through. I'm going, "'oh, my God. They're going to cut her hand off.'"

How refreshing to hear from a Hollywooder with serious credentials on Cuba. Take that Oliver Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Danny Glover, and, well, all the rest of them. Here’s the other worthwhile exchange.

Matt Damon on George Bush:

"DIANE SAWYER: In the last election, [Brad] Pitt, [Matt] Damon, [George] Clooney and [Don] Cheadle, openly supported John Kerry. And Damon says, that was going to cost them millions, since Kerry would raise taxes on the rich.

"MATT DAMON: This President is giving me millions of dollars. Do you think I need that? Voting for John Kerry was financially the stupidest thing that we could do, you know. And it was worth it to us because we felt that strongly about the difference that he would have made to the country."


Bragging about your wealth in an effort to show how politically virtuous you are. How gauche!