Hector
Garcia with Billy Bob Thornton aka Davy Crockett, on the set
of
The Alamo.
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What it was
really like at The Alamo!
Hector Garcia: Interview
and photos
from behind the scenes at the making of The Alamo
and attending the Premiere
Interview
by Sharon Adams
Chapter
I : On
Location
(Published April 25, 2004)
Chapter
II: A Chilling Reality Check
(Published May 15, 2004)
Chapter
III: The Premiere
(Published
May 15, 2004)
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Dallasite
and dear friend, Hector Garcia
tells all about his role in the movie The Alamo, meeting
and getting to know Billy Bob Thornton
and the rest of the cast members, the Gala Opening Night Screening
and Party and other fascinating details.
You
remember Hector from his many years as maitre d' and manager
of The Riviera, formerly of Iris and now,
Hector lets us in on his new venture, the restaurant:
Hector's on Henderson in Dallas,
now open for dinner only.
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On the set of The Alamo: The back side of the barracks. |
On
location: Reimers Ranch in Dripping Springs, Tx.
"The way this set worked, the old downtown San Antonio
de Bexar, they literally built a town that has the church, a
main square and all the retail stores and everything else. It
was a fortified town. When you leave the town, there was a river.
On this side of the river, they built a fort, the entire fort
of the Alamo, which was, of course, a fort built as a catholic
mission in the 1700's, so it had the church.
So,
oftentimes when we were working in Alamo, I would be taking
pictures in the town, and when they were filming town, I would
be back at Alamo, so that's a little bit of what goes on here."
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"We
had a lot of night shoots. There were 65 days when we shot at
night, you know, when we went to work at 6:00 at night and worked
until 6:00 in the morning. I didn't have to work that entire
time, but the certainly the crew ... they hadn't seen sunlight
for 65 days."
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Above
photo: Hector is on the far left. His role: The Battery Sargeant
in Santa Anna's army, the one in charge of the cannons and
ultimately, the one who kills Davy Crockett. The makeup people
put extensions in his hair and moustache. The generals and
the colonels in the Mexican army are all hanging out together
playing pigs, playing football.
"The
music was really loud and we'd have Frank Sinatra singing.
Here we are are in town, playing pigs (upper left photo).
This is how we spent our days. You have to stay in costume
and be ready for when they call you. So we did a lot of Trivial
Pursuit, things like that."
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"This
is what it was like inside the costume and makeup trailer.
This is Patrick Wilson (seated).
I don't know if you know him, but you certainly will
know him. He was in Angels in America, the HBO special.
He is really a broadway actor, won the Tony for Curly in Oklahoma;
he was in The Full Monty, he played the dad. In this
show, he plays Travis. He and I kind of wound up in the make-up
at the same time together."
"As
the days passed, I took more photos of the set. Here's dead
bodies (below photos) and dead bodies waiting to go on, waiting
on the rack."
(FYI: these are not real bodies, but dummies.)
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"You
know, the first time I passed one of those it was in the middle
of the night. I had my coffee in my hand and OH! ... it was
really something."
A
little history about Hector:
Based in Dallas, Hector Garcia is an actor with Kim Dawson Agency
and has been acting since 1980.
He
is unionized. Has done about 225 commercials and industrial
films, prints. Speaks English and Spanish. Has done 6 films.
He
serves on the boards of the Dallas branches of The Screen Actor's
Guild and AFTRA.
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"Dead
body" dummies, waiting to go on set.
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After
auditioning in Austin and called back for more auditions, he
learned he had the part in early December of 2002.
"John
Lee Hancock, the director, was doing the auditions. The audition
was wonderful. He was very generous with his time. He did something
that I have never encountered in the 24 years that I've been
doing this and that is, he took each actor in one at a time,
kicked everybody else out of the room and just he and the actor
worked on the scene he was going to tape until he felt comfortable
with the actor and the actor felt comfortable and then they
brought in the camera and went back in to shoot it. I really
connected with him."
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More
"dead body" dummies, waiting to go on set.
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Hector
continues, "And he [Hancock] said, "Now, I have to
tell you. The battery sargeant. You know, this is the character
that kills Davy Crockett." And I was thinking, "I
want that role!" We had a good time. He is just a wonderful,
sweet, gentle person. Very courageous and very smart and somebody
I really wanted to work with."
They
called and told Hector to take off for about four months, beginning
January 2003.
He was then off to location: "My first trip down there
was in early December when I went down for costume fittings
and for my horseback certification. I was riding in the Hill
Country and thinking how great this was."
Then
Hector went to theThe Alamo set with one of the assistant
directors.
"When I first saw it, it was just a Eureka moment. That's
when I realized that this is a really big thing, that I was
blessed to be a part of it, that this would be a pinnacle in
my life, both as an actor and as a person.
Actors, in truth, we get very few pinnacles. I realized at that
moment that it was just tremendous.
When I got back to my car ready to drive home, literally, I
had tears in my eyes and thought, "Thank you, God, for
letting me be a part of this." Because it was just one
of those things that I knew would change me."
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Hector,
third from left, with fellow actors in Santa Anna's Army:
Harry Weeks (Mexican Colonel), Emilio Echevarria (Gen. Santa
Anna), Hector Garcia and Francisco Philibert (Mexican Colonel).
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"And
then it all started. I went down, I guess about the second
week of January, for Hollywood boot camp. There is no other
way to describe it."
Q:
So you were still in San Antonio de Bexar ?
Hector: Yes.
Q:
And at the Reimers Ranch in Dripping Springs, Tx.?
Hector: Yes.
They housed us in Austin and then would take us in to the
sets every day. And so in and around San Antonio de Bexar
, and all the ranch ... because the ranch was huge, there
were other parts of the ranch that were not the set ... we'd
have boot camp and that's where we'd learn how to shoot off
flint-lock muskets...
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Q:
Real flint lock muskets?
Hector: Yes. Real flint-lock muskets, real flint-lock rifles
and real flint-lock handguns ... and how to use our swords.
And how to fire cannons Mexican-style and how to fire cannons
Texian-style and some hand-to-hand combat and again, more horseback
training.
So,
all of this was going on and I guess it was about my second
day in camp, it was really, really, really cold.
Of course, we're out in the Hill Country, so, you know, it's
windy and chilly, and we're standing there, shivering ... about
six of us ... and our teacher was talking and this car pulls,
up, driver gets out, this skinny guy gets out, walks, stands
up next to me and literally, I mean it's COLD, he's about my
height, much skinnier than I am, and we're all shivering and
I look and I think, "Oh, that's Billy Bob," and [our
instructor] just kept on talking. Didn't even acknowledge him.
I felt awkward. I'm right next to the guy and nobody is acknowledging..."
Q:
Like he's really a star?
Hector: It's like he's not even here,
you know. So, I finally turned around and said, "Hi, I'm
Hector."
And he said, "I'm Billy."
And I said, "Well, I'm the guy that kills you."
And he said, "Well, somebody's got to."
So, at that point, we all laughed and he laughed and it kind
of broke the ice. He is just so cool and so tremendous and was
just like one of the cast the whole time.
He often ate with us, with the entire cast and crew, instead
of being off by himself. Mingled with everybody. Told jokes.
Really kept things rolling alot. Broke the ice and in wonderful
ways many times, to get actors to respond in genuine ways. Just
was really hands-on all the time.
As we moved through the shooting, he remained so. Other actors
kind of want to be by themselves or with their girlfriends or
their assistants or whatever... Billy never lost that.
And
I'll tell you when he earmed my undying respect ... and this
is forever, I"ll remember this:
The scene when he dies, basically, we're looking at an execution
scene.
Davy lives through the night and the morning after, he is ...
he is on his hands and knees and handcuffed, in front of the
whole Mexican army, General Santa Anna, all of the colonels
and there is me with my sword and three or four of my guys with
bayonettes and we're obviously there to execute him and by then,
it was late April and it was really, really hot, hot and sunny.
This
is an intricate scene because we have to shoot it several parts,
from many different angles, using several different cameras,
including a crane camera, to get it right. It's obviously an
ugly scene, but you don't want to be gorish about it. You want
to get it just right.
And
for two days, Billy Bob stayed with us to do this scene. There
were many times he could have gone away because the camera wasn't
pointed at him and then his stand-in could have been there so
that the sight lines were right for us, but he wanted to deliver
his own lines, even though he wasn't on camera, so that the
people who were responding to him could respond in a positive,
genuine, honest way.
And again, that is one of those things that alot of the higher-end
stars wouldn't do that. They would be sitting in the shade or
in the trailer.
That
guy really proved his comitment to me and to the whole cast
and crew. He really had to be on his knees a whole lot of that
time and it was hot and miserable. He really did prove himself.
He was terriffic. I have nothing but wonderful things to say
about him.
(Back
to top.)
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Chapter
II: A chilling reality check
Actually filming the battle scenes at The Alamo
set during the real Alamo's
167th anniversary.
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Hector
continues: The story is really well written.
The thing that impressed me when I read the script and I think
is communicated on screen is that in a conflict like that
one, both sides feel they are right. Both sides feel like
they have a valid claim.
Both sides have a lot to gain and both sides have a lot to
lose.
And war is hell on everybody.
It just comes across. It is miserable.
What
happened, on both sides they had very young boys fighting
that were basically drafted. The Mexican Army, as large as
it was, was under prepared. Some of them were barefoot, walking
through snow in bare feet.
One tiny scene that I was involved in was when the Mexican
Army is attacking the north wall of the Alamo, at one point
the fighting was so bad that the young Mexican soldiers turned
around and started coming back and that that point, the Mexican
officers line up and start beating them with their swords
to get them back up to the wall.
So,
it wasn't like they were in it for their hearts ... they were
trapped.
(Note: Hector reveals later in the interview that this scene
was so intense and was later cut.)
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Hector
Garcia and friends behind the scenes on the set of The Alamo. |
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The
Alamo on the night of the movie's premiere.
Photo: Hector Garcia.
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Hector:
The other thing that really became apparent to me during this
filming, is how immediate the war was in those days.
It wasn't like you'd shoot a cannon and it would go from here
[Turtle Creek] to Las Colinas, you're talking about they're
near each other.
They
were that close.
At one point when everybody retreats into the Alamo ... the
town retreats inside the Alamo .. the defenders are here and
the Mexicans are just right here.
They could hear each other.
One
of the scenes I'm involved with is, I can hear Davy Crockett's
violin playing and I say to my little Mexican [companion], he's
14 years old,
"That's Crockett."
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I
admire my enemy in this movie. That's part of my character
in this movie. I am in awe of Davy Crockett.
He is, at this point, a legendary figure. He's been in congress,
he's a frontiersman. His prowress with the rifle is well-known.
The Mexican Army knew about him and they were in awe of him.
So, at the end when I have to kill him is ... I have to kill
the enemy that I admire, it's kind of hard.
It was very well written.
As
we were filming through all of those nights, there was a point
where, when we were actually filming the attack on the Alamo
itself, and it was March 5th and March 6th, which is the day
of the Alamo, and here we were, in the middle of the night,
freezing cold ... at that point, it was like the wind chill
was 9 and we had heated inserts in our shoes, heated inserts
in our gloves and drinking hot soup ... it really was this
eerie, wonderful feeling to be reliving this battle on the
night the battle had occurred 167 years earlier.
I
was thinking, "Oh my god, it's March 6th. Here we are.
It's 3:00 o'clock in the morning and back in 1836, this was
happening at this point." It was wonderful to be there.
Once again, it really draws home the story of it all and the
principles that were involved, standing up for what you believe
and holding your ground.
Q:
How does he portray how Santa Anna's army felt about the execution
the next day?
The one hint is that you have at the
moment, where we rush him, we run and stab him and they allow
for me to be looking at him and put my head down and I'm thinking,
"I have to do this," and it's a point where Davy
Crockett looks at me and kind of smiles. Basically he gets
killed because he smarts off to Santa Anna.
His [Santa Anna's] hand goes up, and one of his generals says,
"Please, I beg you to spare his life."
Santa Anna is not the kind to spare a life. He didn't want
prisoners. He believed in teaching people a lesson: you don't
execute one, you execute them all. You get an insight into
this man, you know, he wants to be an emperor. He is not a
nice man.
Scroll
down for Chapter III.
(Back
to top.)
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Chapter
III: Attending the Premiere
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The
premiere opening was in San Antonio, March 27, 2004
Hector
Garcia: We had heard a while back that there was going to be
a big opening in San Antonio. It was a fundrasier benefiting
the actual Alamo. It was $1,000 a person, so we knew it just
wasn't going to happen for us.
Then
we received an invitation for the screening for the cast and
crew, which was going to be on Sunday, March 28th. We RSVP'd
to that. And then it was Tuesday or Wednesday of last week [the
week before the premiere] that Mary Suhm, Assistant City Manager
of the City of Dallas, and and old friend of ours ... Mary called
Craig and invited us to attend the premiere with her.
Overview:
At that point, trying to find a room in San Antonio was almost
impossible, but they finally found one on line at the Sheraton,
by the riverwalk. Hector drove down, while Craig and Mary flew
in. He picked them up at the airport, went back to the hotel
and premiere check-in was an hour or so away.
They cleaned up, changed into their "Texas Black Tie"
and were on their way.
Hector:
I wore black boots and black jeans, a black and white tuxedo
shirt, and a tuxedo and tails coat, no tie;
Craig wore his own interpretation, instead of a tie he wore
black beads.
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Hector
continues:
In downtown San Antonio: The event was beautifully organized.
The people in San Antonio were at the top of their game.
It was super.
So
we come down to where we're supposed to come into the secure
area and there's bands playing and a really long yellow carpet
that goes down three blocks to the Majestic Theater and along
that carpet, they had barricades.
Thousands
of people are on both sides, waving and people hanging out
of the buildings with cameras. It was so cool!
There
were 250 media. CNN, Entertainment Tonight, Leonard Maltin
and so on.
We
walked down this long carpet;
done up just like a Hollywood premiere.
Everybody is mingling and having cocktails.
Nellie Connolly was there; Senator Hutchison; Sam Donaldson,
Jack Valenti, Phil Graham, Governor Perry; luminaries everywhere.
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Billy
Bob Thornton (far left in plaid shirt)
at the movie's premiere.
Photo: Hector Garcia.
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At
this point I'm still nervous, because I don't know if I've
been cut from the film or not.
It was late getting started.
Dick Cook from Disney gave a speech.
Governor Perry gave a speech.
They raised the curtain and there is an orchestra and a choir
and they bring out John Lee Hancock [director] and Mark Johnson,
who was one of our producers and Philip Steuer, another producer.
They
brought out Emilio Echevarria (Gen. Santa Anna), Jason
Patric, Patrick Wilson, Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid.
There were all there that night.
Then
they brought out a violin that had been owned by Davy Crockett
which had been restored, and the musician began playing the
national anthem, then the orchestra and choir joined in.
Oh, it was wonderful.
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By
this time the orchestra and choir had already done Yellow
Rose of Texas and every kind of Texas song you could imagine,
so we were revved up.
After
the national anthem, Patrick Wilson came out and sings God
Bless America with the orchestra and choir backing him
up.
It brought down the house.
Then
it was time for the movie.
The crowd was really enjoying it.
I was scared stiff that my part had been cut.
I thought that the first time a cannonball lands inside the
Alamo that it was after my scene with Santa Anna...which is
wrong. But for about three minutes, I felt just ill, thinking
that I had been cut.
But
then as I saw more I knew ... here it comes! And Mary and
Craig were clapping and my friends were saying "yay,"
so then I could relax and watch the rest of the movie.
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The
Entrance.
Photo: Hector Garcia.
Hector:
At the after party, they gave us a portable camera to take
with us. There were four big tents set up with food and bars.
There was a stage where Asleep At The Wheel was playing.
When the band took a break, the mariachi band played.
The Marriott did fireworks. It was really a grand night in
San Antonio.
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Asleep
At The Wheel playing inside one of the tents.
Later
on in the evening,
Billy Bob Thornton joined them, playing the drums.
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Craig,
Mary Suhm, Jack Valenti, Hector Garcia |
After
the movie was over and we were mingling, I saw Mary on her
cell phone and on the way down, she says, "We have to
go down to The Alamo itself."
We
thought that was fine, that some of her friends were waiting
for her. It turns out the reason we're going is to meet Jack
Valenti.
You
may not know it, Jack is one of the highest paid lobbyists
in Washington. He is the head of the Motion Picture Association
of America for some 37-38 years and has just recently announced
that he is going to retire.
Well,
that's when we realized that's how we got in. That's who invited
Mary. When she and Mayor Miller were in Washington, she went
to speak to the film people. And so they had connected and
he had remembered her, so she got an invitation.
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So,
he took us into one of the tents, way in the back part where
there is a reserved area and he had a table.
And so we're sitting there having dinner with him; Sam Donaldson
and Liz Smith are over there.
Then we all went to the Alamo and asked someone to take our
picture.
By this time it was getting close to midnight and the party
was winding down.
It was wonderful: Mary and I are doing the Cotton Eyed Joe
in The Alamo plaza, Asleep at the Wheel is playing with Billy
Bob on the drums.
Back
at the hotel: They were so keyed up, that after they went
back to the hotel and got cleaned up, they headed out to the
Valencia. As they were sitting there for a few minutes, they
noticed the crowd had doubled and here come the major actors
from the movie.
"It's
like our stars aligned for this trip," said Hector. "What
a night. I woke up the next morning and I said I'll bet it
was all a dream and the movie hasn't opened yet!"
But it was just like you dream about when you were a little
kid, dreaming about the big Hollywood premiere. That's exactly
what it was like. It was a glorious, fun evening. San Antonio
really turned out.
It was so well executed, you couldn't ask for better.
Hector
continues with his story: On to the Cast and Crew Screening
in Austin
Then I took Craig and Mary to the airport that morning and
drove to Austin. Went to the Omni, where we were housed during
the filming and that's where I was staying for this night,
and took a nap because I was so wiped out from the night before.
Then went to the cast and crew screening, which was great,
because it is a whole lot more casual event, family night,
you know. This is all the people who put the film together.
It took place at the Paramount Theatre on Congress.
When
you see the movie, early in the movie, there is a scene that
takes place inside a theatre, a live theatre, with Davy Crockett.
That was filmed at the Paramount Theatre. So, it's like we're
watching this theatre in a movie that it's the theatre that
we're in, so, it's like a double deja vu.
It
was packed and the cast and crew somewhat interacted with
the screen.
The after party was at Antone's on 5th and Colorado. We filled
up the place. Steve Bruton's band played. He was an actor
in the movie, but he also plays guitar. While we were filming
Alamo, we would go to Antone's to hear him play, so it was
a logical place to have this party.
I slept until 10:00 the next morning and drove home.
Hector
then showed us a book about the making of the movie and the
invitation to the premiere.
Thank you Hector, for a wonderful interview! S.
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