The star of the new hit CBS series Cane talks sugar and cigars

Say you’re a Hollywood casting agent and you need a seasoned actor to portray a Cuban-American magnate for a new prime time series, a man capable of decisions that would snap a normal CEO like a matchstick (dealing with traitorous family members; hiding a body; wrestling with moral dilemmas – all in a day’s work). Your first phone call, of course, would be to Jimmy Smits. As Alex Vega, the heir of an embattled sugar and rum empire, the former NYPD Blue and The West Wing star dominates Cane (Tuesdays at 10 P.M. on CBS) with the steely gravitas of a (nicer) Michael Corleone. In between his busy filming schedule, Smits found time to discuss his return to television, and his on- and offscreen love of a fine cigar.

We’re sure you must get a ton – no literally a ton – of scripts on a daily basis. What attracted you to Cane?

There are a lot of very successful network television shows that are procedural in nature, and because of that, you don’t really have that much character definition. But this show, and this character, harkens back to those iconic nighttime soaps of the ‘80s – it has strong story arcs, while also realizing that audience appetites are for something edgier. And then you have this character who’s so textured.

We noticed your character, Alex Vega, often lights a cigar at key plot moments. Was that a detail you added in yourself?

Traditionally, some of the best tobacco leaves have come from Cuba; there’s no way this group of people wouldn’t have cigars as part of the fabric of who they are. It was talked about when we were doing the pilot, and in every meeting we had. Just today I was talking with the editors about a scene they cut, where I was cutting a cigar in a very specific way. I told them, what [Alex] is doing is a reflection of his emotional state; the cigar is an extension of the character.

What kind of smoker do you consider yourself?

I’m a very mellow smoker; robust cigars with a kick just don’t do it for me. And I’ve always been a celebratory smoker – I don’t smoke every week, but I love the smell; I love tasting them; I love having them in my hands. It reminds me of my youth, seeing my Dad’s poker buddies every Friday night. I smoke Davidoffs. When I’m abroad and can get a good Romeo y Julieta, I’m totally down with that.

Your link with cigars and acting goes past Cane, no?

I did a play on Broadway called Anna in the Tropics about a family of cigar rollers facing mechanization and the lector who reads Tolstoy and Shakespeare and Cervantes to them. The whole Nat Sherman family was good to us before we even made it to Broadway. It was cool interfacing with them about historical research. And they supplied us with cigars

Next article » The Lock of Luxury

Previous article « Bourbon

New User?