Many consider
Jimmy Smits as the star of CBS' drama series,
Cane, but the 52-year-old actor begs to disagree.
“I don't think myself as the lead in any way,” Smits told the
Boston Herald. “I've always functioned best artistically when it's an ensemble thing that happens. I'm not walking in there with my 8-by-10 photo saying this show is about this guy.”
On
Cane, Jimmy Smits plays Alex Vega, the adopted son of a large Cuban-American family that operates a successful rum and sugar enterprise in Florida. The morally conflicted character is far from the “good guys” Smits previously played on television.
“I'm fascinated by the fact that you have somebody who appears at this juncture to have a very strong moral compass and [appears] invested in family and will do everything for family,” Smits said. “But [he] is kind of flippant about a lot of things in his life and what his past is. So I'm psyched to see where that's going to go. Being an actor who wants to try to be as versatile as possible, that could be more than just a little morsel. It's going to be a meal for me to tackle on a daily basis.”
Smits' involvement in the show goes beyond acting, however, as he is also busy serving as one of its co-executive producers.
“It's another chapter in my career,” Smits said. “It's exciting. It's invigorating. I pull my hair out sometimes because of the daunting challenge of actually getting a show on the air. It's a major deal.”
Jimmy Smits was also the one who convinced veteran actors
Hector Elizondo and
Rita Moreno to join
Cane, and the two now play his adoptive parents. To this day, Smits can't believe he was able to recruit the two stars.
“We would look at ourselves and go, ‘They're actually considering doing this,' ” he said. “Especially with Rita's character, who was not very prominent in the pilot. There's a leap of faith people have to take. When I look at the call sheet in the morning, I get a little emotional.”
One of the things that distinguishes
Cane from other network television shows is that it prominently features a Latino cast. However, Smits believes the show's universal themes go beyond any cultural definition.
“I think it's about an American family,” he said. “I've got to keep saying that. We're on [a] big three network. We've got to deliver to America.”
Catch
Cane every Tuesday at 10pm ET/PT on CBS.
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Boston Herald
(Image Courtesy of CBS)