3/12/09
On a scorching summer day two years ago, two strangers rode into a Comanche camp a few miles from the Abiquiú Dam. Nervous whispers ran through the camp while Floyd J. Garcia and his fellow villagers rounded up the women and children into the safety of their tepees.
A year later, Garcia joined a circle of somber-looking men under glaring fluorescent lights. A new patient joined the drug rehab group and introduced himself, and Garcia stood to welcome him.
“Hi, Bad Blake. How are you doing?” he said.
The 50-year-old Garcia is not a recovering alcoholic and has never been to rehab. And there is no Comanche camp outside Abiquiú.
The two scenes are from the 2008 mini-series “Comanche Moon” and the yet-to-be released feature film “Crazy Heart,” starring Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake, and they are two of the 13 movies in which Garcia, an Española resident, has appeared as an extra.
Garcia’s hobby started in 1986, when a friend asked him to help bring some sheep to the set of “Silverado,” which was being filmed just outside of Santa Fe.
“It was sheer luck,” Garcia said. “I was just there to help my friend with the animals, and all of the sudden they asked if I wanted to be an extra. That’s how it all got started.”
Work was sporadic for the next 20 years. In 1990, Garcia worked as a carpenter on the set of “Over Her Dead Body,” a film made in Española that never made it to the big screen. Then came a big break in 1999, when he played a jail prisoner in “All The Pretty Horses,” directed by Billy Bob Thornton and starring Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz.
Garcia still shows off a weatherbeaten denim shirt — a gift from Thornton, he said — and the striped hat he wore on the set.
But it wasn’t until 2006 when, after appearing in the background in the drama “The Astronaut Farmer,” a casting company picked him up. That led to his “Comanche Moon” role in 2007 and eight other roles as an extra — six movies, two TV series — last year.
His favorite so far: “Crazy Heart,” which is based on the life of a country western singer who lost his career to alcoholism and made a comeback after kicking the habit.
“That one hit really close to home,” Garcia said. “It dealt with a lot of issues we are dealing with here in our Valley. It show’s there’s a solution, there’s hope.”
It doesn’t hurt it was one of his first speaking roles, and he got to exchange one line with Bridges.
“I was only two people away from him,” Garcia said. “And when he started telling his story, he was looking into my eyes and telling it to me. The camera was right there.”
Although his roles earn him an average of $200 to $300 each movie, Garcia — whose day job is as a home health care provider — said he does it for the experience.
“I had a big dream that, wow man, maybe one of these days I can work in movies,” Garcia said. “I just do it for the pleasure of being there, getting to meet all the stars. I’m Hispanic, but I’ve played Mexicans, Native Americans, even Caucasian Anglos.”
And Garcia emphasized anyone can get a part in movies — he already recruited his daughter, Amy Garcia, and his granddaughter, San Juan Elementary student Lilia Garcia, to appear in a few films.
All it takes is keeping an eye on TV and newspaper advertisements for casting calls and making a phone call. Though no acting experience is necessary, it doesn’t hurt, Garcia said.
“If you do, you can get a lot closer to the camera,” he said. “Though some people are more shy and they prefer a part in the background, just filling up the screen. You just have to be yourself.”