“Fascination“: Adam Garcia about the dangers of love, the low of his career and the thing about age.

Adam Garcia is 31, looks like 21 and dances like a devil. No question. He enjoyed classical dance already at the age of 7, he collected his first experience as a teenager in showbiz in Musicals and he founded the dance group Tap Dogs. As an actor, Adam Garcia finally became popular with the movie Coyote Ugly a couple of years ago. Ever since, his career has grown.  Parts in “Riding in Cars with Boys,” “Love’s Brother” and “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen” made Adam into a well-known young actor. That’s why the German director Klaus Menzel hired him. He gave the 31-year-old the part of the hot young lover in his romantic thriller “Fascination”. We visited the Australia-born actor in his house in Hollywood .

Q: Mr. Garcia, you as an Australian actor worked with a German director in Puerto Rico at an international production, whose plot is located in Florida . A bit complicated, isn’t it?

AG: We didn’t know ourselves what we were doing (laughs). But I trusted Klaus Menzel, he was so enthusiastic and full of energy. I like this kind of European sensibility. In Europe , screenplays are treated very differently.  We couldn’t shoot the movie in the US because it would have become too expensive. So we chose Puerto Rico .

Q: Didn’t the very open sex scenes scare you off?

AG: Why would that? In our lives everything is about sex, everybody thinks of it constantly. Even nuns think about it by not having sex. (laughs) I think it’s interesting how sex is portrayed in movies. Most of the time, it’s a romantic imagination, like you know it from Cosmopolitan. But sex is a lot more complicated. Love is even a lot more than that. We tried to transfer that in “Fascination.” Of course it wasn’t always easy in front of the camera.

Q: According to the screenplay, the movie should have included even more sexy scenes?

AG: Yes, that’s true. But we had to cut out the hardcore scenes because of lack of time, eventually our film isn’t all about sex. It’s about 2 people, who actually are not allowed to love each other. It’s about the attraction that danger brings. For me it’s the basis of love: You have to get yourself in danger to find out about your interests.

Q: What other challenges did you have to overcome by doing this movie?

AG: There are so many things happening in this movie, that an actor must first have an outline. Scott’s family tears apart and, in the meantime, he loses himself in an affair. It’s like many tornadoes coming over you.

Q: Did you have an affair like that yourself one day?

AG: Not in this dramatic kind of way, but I know the feeling of dependence, jealousy and envy. When you love, your brain goes crazy. You wanna love and be loved, you wanna open up. But in the same time that makes you vulnerable and so you become hold of one person. Of course this is totally ridiculous.

Q: Are you an Adrenalin Junkie?

AG: I do like to do extreme things like Surfing and Parachute Jumping, but I do not have any interest in doing any harm to my body. I don’t do things without thinking about it. I do a lot of sports like playing tennis or beach volleyball. I am more like a normal guy than an adrenalin junkie. Years ago, I was climbing up tower blocks drunk. Of course, security services caught me sometimes. (laughs) But these are really old stories.

Q: What was the worst job you ever did?

AG: I worked in zoos and bars, but that was ok. At the age of 16, I was already earning money by dancing in little shows or music videos. Once I had to do the robot-dance, the one who was so famous in the 80’s, in a run-down hall in Sydney . The worst thing about it was, that I was very skinny at that time and I had to wear a very feminine cat suit with tons of jewellery. That was obviously the low of my life. (laughs)

Q: It seems you grew up in showbiz….

AG: It just happened. At the age of 7, I wanted to take Ballet lessons and soon my teachers were really satisfied with me and gave me my first jobs. My parents didn’t mind, eventually it couldn’t be bad that I was earning money with it. (laughs) A few of my friends were teasing me but the majority of people liked what I did. Over the years, I learned especially one thing - It doesn’t matter how old you are, girls like it when you can dance. I have to know it; for years I have been the only boy in dance school. (laughs)

Q: You are playing a musician in “Fascination,” in COATDQ you played a rock star and here in your living room I can see 2 guitars….

AG: Which doesn’t mean that I am talented. (laughs) I really like to be musical, like to have the energy to learn an instrument properly. Music is really important to me. That’s why my taste in music is very mixed: I listen to Hard Rock over Jazz through classical music. But I don’t like Country at all.

Q: What would you do, if you hadn’t become an actor?

AG: Probably a scientist. I have always been interested in biology and ecology.

Q: What does you perfect Sunday look like?

AG: I go for a surf, play a little golf, meet up with my friends or take a walk through the park with my girlfriend. I am used to long relationships. I have been dating my current girlfriend for 6 months. She is an English actress who is not well-known in the US .

Q: What about your passion, theatre??

AG: Theatre is easier to do for me than film. For some reason, I like it better to interact with the audience directly. As an actor, you have to tell a story for the audience so it’s better when they sit right in front of you. When I mess up a scene in the film, it’s kept forever on tape. In theatre, I can try and change different things constantly.

Q: In COATDQ, a huge studio production, you had a very generous paid leading role. What did you do with the money?

AG: Not much really. I bought a new surfboard, a guitar and plasma TV. Moreover a little Hybrid car, a Honda Civic with a combined gas and electro-engine. I don’t like big cars that much. It seems to me that US car companies force the poorest families to buy big cars with many extras. And then they use-up a lot of expensive gas daily. I rather go for a more environmentally friendly car.

Q: Is there anybody you like to be for one day?

AG: David Attenborough is my personal hero. His way to treat the environment influenced my ecological interest. I would definitely like to be in his shoes for one day. Neil Armstrong wouldn’t be bad either. But I would pick the day, when he was on the moon. (laughs)

Q: Can you walk the streets without being recognized?

AG: Yes. I rarely get recognized, most of the time in Australia . As an celebrity you get appreciated there, but they don’t treat you differently from any other person. That helps you to stay grounded.

Q: Speaking of Australia : A lot of your Australian colleagues like Russel Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Eric Bana or Heath Ledger are very successful in Hollywood . Are you in touch with them?

AG: I once met Russel Crowe, with one or two you meet up sometimes when you are at the same place at the same time in a strange city. For example, I meet up with Heath Ledger for a beer from time to time. I am in very good touch with Rose Byrne and Hugh Jackman.

Q: You have the American and Australian citizenship. Who would you give your vote to in the presidential election in November?

AG: Kerry!!! Bush is a psychopath, who is not sensitive enough and only gathers selfish people around him. Guys like Rumsfeld know exactly how to play the game to earn a lot of money. I dare to state, that politicians don’t care about the public well-being. John Kerry would be a much better choice!

Right in this moment, Adam Garcia’s door bell rings. A messenger delivers a new screenplay: “The Good Shepherd” with and by Robert deNiro and Leonardo Di Caprio. Adam is supposed to go the casting the next day.

Q: Are you offered a lot of screen plays at the moment?

AG: Yes. But I am still not in the same league with Leonardo Di Caprio, Jake Gyllenhaal or Josh Hartnett, so I don’t really get parts in big blockbuster movies. Currently, I am getting offered  a lot of interesting roles in independent movies. I am especially honoured that these roles are not parts for teenage comedies.

Q: You are 31, but look a lot younger. Doesn’t that limit the variety of roles?

AG: I can’t complain. I rarely get teenage parts anymore, roles start at age 24. But I do have problems in my private life, when people think I am not very experienced and they talk to me with their noses high up in the sky. I clearly tell them, they should treat me like a grown-up man. I feel really grown-up since ever I turned 30 and to be honest: It feels good! I could even imagine getting married and becoming a father.

Q: Is there anything else besides your age you like to clarify?

AG: When people read my name, they often confuse me with Andy Garcia or they think I am his little brother. But I am not related to him in any way. He is just a little bit more famous. (laughs)