Garcia: 'All the studios turned me down'

Andy Garcia has revealed that he was turned down by all the major film studios when pitching City Island.

The actor produced the comedy drama, which features Julianna Margulies, Steven Strait, Emily Mortimer and his daughter Dominik Garcia-Lorido.

Garcia told The Guardian: "It was just, 'I want to make this movie, it's a beautiful script'. But I thought it was funny enough and charming enough that we'd get a bite from a studio who'd say, 'Right, when can you start?'.

"And then immediately there is the reality of, well, no-one is interested in your movie. We got turned down by all the studios. They say, 'It's a beautiful script - but it's going to depend on the execution'.

"And I think, 'Yeah. So will Spider-Man!'. But instead you go, 'Okay, I hear the game', and you're on your own. Another challenge. So you go out and raise the money yourself."

Of the possibility that studios might have picked up the project had someone like Tom Hanks been producing, he added: "Now that doesn't mean they don't like me. They might say Tom Hanks is more commercial in this product than Andy is. Can Andy do comedy? Can he do whatever it is?

"I really don't take those things too personally. They're just artistic challenges. I've been blessed in the industry, I've got nothing to complain about, I've got friends at all levels of the industry."

> Click here to watch our interview with Andy and Dominik