Quotes from Andy Garcia

The reality is that the work I do is not private work. I bring all my secrets, my life, to my work. Anybody who's seen my work knows everything about me.

Children need parameters, know what's right or wrong.

I don't control the movies that are offered to me, but I make choices based on certain parameters.

Great writing attracts great actors. It attracts money. Without a great script, you have nothing.

Fidel Castro claimed that history would absolve him, but it can also condemn him.

You can't say one thing and behave another way. Kids learn more from watching you in life than what you say to them.

It's impossible for everybody to be in sync, even the most proper family.

I think good chemistry starts with mutual respect.

I love to cook, and my wife loves to cook. Sometimes it's the appeal of the simplest of dishes - things you've grown up with in your life. Your emotional memory - something that not only affects your taste buds but that you've got an emotional attachment to.

My grandfather was a very elegant individual. My father also. He was a lawyer and farmer in Cuba. In Miami, he had to go to work wherever he could. But whenever it was time to go out, you saw how they cared for how they looked.

If you want to experiment, do something temporary.

When you commit to something, you don't want to let your fellow people and yourself down.

I've had my moments of insanity. But there is a certain responsibility to set proper examples for your children, and that influences your choices in every aspect of your life.

I go where I'm stimulated. If I'm stimulated, I show up. As Mick Jagger sings: It's my life and I'll do what I want.

Freedom is not negotiable.

They say a lot of women would like to see me naked, but there's not a lens long enough for that.

My son loves my carbonara. I've tried to master that recipe - it's very simple but very delicate. Once prepared it must be eaten quickly.

Everything I do in my life is very instinctual and in the moment. If I'm attracted to something, that's it. If I have reservations, those don't change till they're resolved. My first impression is how I go.

You have to love the guy that you play, even if you play the villain, you've got to love him.

You are defined by who you are, by your choices in life, in all regards, not just in doing movies.

There's good movies and there's bad movies. The genres are never dead, it's just about how to apply them and articulate them and execute them - the story, the quality of the writing, the acting, the design elements, the directorial execution - all these things make it what it is.

My first interest was always music, and somehow that channelled itself into films and acting. I don't know what the natural transition of it was. I mean I acted a little bit when I was young and like any kid would in a community theatre.

I love doing voice-overs; I wish I could do more of them. It's a lot of fun to see how they take the voice and animate it and try to capture your own expressions and features. It's fascinating.

She is Cuba. If you want to love her, you have to be with her, but you can't be with her in her current state. It's the point of view of all exiles - you have to leave the thing you cherish most.