Interview with Jorge Garcia

April_Rose · Interview with Jorge Garcia

From Crave Online

Crave Online: When we finally get back to your island, how much more do you get to do?

Jorge Garcia: I come in episode four of this new pod and it's got me and my dad, played by Cheech Marin and it was a blast. It's going to be really good and I'm hearing great things about it even though I haven't seen it myself. I'm going to go do looping on it on Tuesday so I'm very anxious to get to see a little taste of it.

Crave Online: Of all the guest stars, had you ever thought of Cheech?

Jorge Garcia: I wouldn't have but once I found out, I thought it was perfect. The casting of that was brilliant. It was a blast. We had a lot of time to just hang out and talk and tell stories. I’d been a fan of his, just of the stuff that he did on stages, for a long time. There were good stories to tell. It was a good time.

Crave Online: When does that flashback fall between the lottery and the institution?

Jorge Garcia: A little of both, a little before, a little after.

Crave Online: What's the story on the island?

Jorge Garcia: You haven’t really seen him grieve since Libby died so we kind of come back to that and it deals with Hurley and his dad and has someone playing Hurley as a young boy. In many ways, Hurley and I are cut of the same cloth. Hurley was written for me. When I went in, they really didn’t have anything for me to read so they were like, "Well, just read Sawyer for now and we’ll figure it out." It wasn’t until I tested that they actually had Hurley sides to even audition with.

Crave Online: Do you have any new one-liners or wisecracks?

Jorge Garcia: I can't think of one right now but there must be there. I can't remember my lines right now but there's definitely some great scenes and there's some funny stuff and there's a really good little visual thing that happens too.

Crave Online: Do they still have you running a lot?

Jorge Garcia: I have to run in this too. Apparently people like to watch me run.

Crave Online: Haven't you developed endurance?

Jorge Garcia: You'd think that after a while, he may have at least kind of gotten better at the terrain, but no.

Crave Online: Think you'll get another love interest?

Jorge Garcia: I don't know, let's hope so. That was probably my favorite thing to do as far as everything I got to do playing Hurley. I'd love to revisit something like that again.

Crave Online: Do you believe he's cursed or it's just an incredible coincidence?

Jorge Garcia: Well, you know, I got to side with Hurley on this that if he says he's cursed, I'm buying that he's cursed.

Crave Online: Are you surprised Hurley's lasted this long, when everybody's dying?

Jorge Garcia: Well, one of the things I think that's in Hurley's favor, he's not the first to volunteer to go on a scary trek in the jungle.

Crave Online: Are you confident he'll make it to the end?

Jorge Garcia: Well, I don't think anyone can be confident of that because we all know it's a very dangerous island and the only way I think to do the show right is that everyone is susceptible to that danger. But so far so good.

Crave Online: Are you surprised he went on the mission the end of last season?

Jorge Garcia: I think he might have been caught up in the moment of having lost his love and all that stuff that happened at the end, just kind of pushed him to it.

Crave Online: You're a fan favorite. Are people asking when they'll see you again?

Jorge Garcia: Yeah, people have come up to me and tell me that they miss me.

Crave Online: What have you been doing with your time off?

Jorge Garcia: Just hanging out, playing with my dog, kind of enjoying myself. I've had a lot of guests come into town too.

Crave Online: Now you're back at work heavily?

Jorge Garcia: Yeah. I mean, I did get a few days off which allowed me to come and enjoy the Golden Globes weekend.

Crave Online: When a character's time has come, does the actor get any notice?

Jorge Garcia: They do give the heads up. Some people got more notice than others but they try, when that whole story breaks and it's going to happen, they want to let the actor know preferably ahead of time before they find out from parts of maybe the crew that happen to know stuff ahead of time. They try and let them know ahead of time so they're ready for it I guess.

Crave Online: Is there anything you're anxious to see happen for Hurley?

Jorge Garcia: I don't know. It'd be interesting if he did something maybe more on the action side coming up. It'd be cool if maybe, who knows, if he had a gun in his hand or if he was ever in a real fight or something. It could be interesting, maybe. Yeah, I wouldn't mind revisiting a romantic side in Hurley's life too.

Crave Online: Have they talked about it?

Jorge Garcia: After we did a panel at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and I spoke to one of the new guys on the show, Brian Vaughn and he kind of asked me, "What would you like for Hurley? You want another love interest, something like that?" And I was like, "Well, who wouldn't want that?"

Crave Online: Do you still post on the Fuselage?

Jorge Garcia: Yeah, I get pretty obsessive about it.

Crave Online: What's your favorite theory?

Jorge Garcia: Right now it's the one where we were all cloned and the show is really about the clones where they faked the crash and implanted memories in our clones. That's why Jack's dad walks around too because he was cloned by being in the cargo hold.

Crave Online: When did the cast stop doing hosted dinners on Wednesday night?

Jorge Garcia: Well, we still do 'em. We went to see Josh's episode at his place. We have been on hiatus for a while and I think it'll come back pretty strong when we return.

Crave Online: What makes Hurley so popular?

Jorge Garcia: I think he has a everyman quality to him. In many ways, he’s the moment where the audience can relax for a minute. Everything is so intense and scary and Hurley is more day by day and a little more easy going. How can you ever really know what people are going to respond to? I’m really glad they respond to Hurley.

Crave Online: Do you make Hawaii home and did you ever learn to surf?

Jorge Garcia: I live in Hawaii but I never learned how to surf and I bought a board. I kind of wanted one just to paddle around on and the guy talked me into getting a board that I would eventually be able to surf on. After a while you get bored with paddling and really want to get up.

Crave Online: Do you ever go back to Borders where you used to work and say hello to people?

Jorge Garcia: I like going during the Christmas season because that’s the hairiest time. I like to go and know that I can leave at any point. I don’t want to go because I’m going to gloat, I want to go and really be looking for something when I go so I have an excuse, "Yeah, I need to pick up the new…whatever." But, I didn’t have an excuse this time so I kind of chickened out.

Crave Online: What shows do you like to watch?

Jorge Garcia: Studio 60. I just got caught up. I love the show. Really impressive stuff. I love watching Heroes. When I was in New York promoting the Lost figures, I got to hang out with Greg Grunberg. We hang out with people on the other J.J. [Abrams] shows so we knew the Alias guys and everybody. It was just fun to hang out in New York for a while.

Crave Online: How do you like your action figure?

Jorge Garcia: They scanned our faces. It’s pretty surreal. It’s definitely a great status symbol for me because figures were a big part of my growing up. The pop culture I was into had figures. Really sweet.

Crave Online: Were the Hurley figures a big part of Christmas giving for you?

Jorge Garcia: [Laughs] Way easy. It was easy but it got a little hard to find them, or so people said. I bought a whole bunch. I knew New York Toys ‘R Us had them when I did the promotion and I went around and bought some. They had a whole bin of Jacks, whole bin of Charlies and the Hurley bin wasn’t as full as the other ones only because I was the only one there signing. Because I was there, they bought a lot of Hurleys. I just took the whole bin and wheeled it up to the counter and said, "I’ll take ‘em all." Then I bought a couple of everybody else’s and shipped them to Hawaii directly.

Crave Online: Do any teens ever come up to you and say you are their role model or ask how you got into the business? If so, what do you say to them?

Jorge Garcia: Yeah. I gauge how they ask the question. Some kids say, "I’m an aspiring actor" and I say, "Well, the first thing you do is take ‘aspiring’ out of it. If you’re an actor, be an actor. Doesn’t matter if you’ve getting a job, just be an actor." I tell them things like, "Listen, this kind of thing is something you have to choose every day. You have to want it that bad." You can kind of tell when people talk about it that they are, "I don’t know." I’m like, "Okay, you don’t sound like [you really want it]. It has to be something where you just can’t do anything else because, if not, it’s too damn hard to put up with the struggle of it." I never see the stuff before I did Becker. Becker was the first time I knew that, when my car broke down, it wasn’t going to be an issue anymore. Although, there were times I had trouble paying the rent, I never really saw it as a struggle because I was doing what I wanted and there was something in the back of my head. It’s like that line that Jack Nicholson has in Batman. "Wait 'til they get a load of me!" That kept me going and being able to get up every morning and hustle. It’s not going to be handed to you. Go out and get it and don’t put a time limit on it.

Crave Online: What do fans want to know most about Hurley?

Jorge Garcia: Most of the information about our own characters, we don’t even have. But they always try to tell me that they like me or like the show.

Crave Online: Are they ever going to pay off that Hurley won the lottery and what those numbers really mean?

Jorge Garcia: We’re looking for meanings. They did a little bit with the numbers in that alternate reality game The Lost Experience that was done outside. They introduced the new equation that adds more complications to try to figure out. I follow it just enough to get more confused.

Em_J

Aw I love Jorge! 'Apparently people like to watch me run' Laughing

April_Rose

i kinow, funny in real life as well as playing Hurley! He's probably my favourite character overall, I'm looking forward to learning more about him!

Em_J

Is there anybody who doesn't like Hurley?! He's great!