Sunday,
July 21, 2002
Veteran soap actor shares legal drama 'For the People' with 3 female stars
by Bridget Byrne for the Associated Press
News Tribune
But there's one man who scores almost equal screen time with Lea Thompson, Debbi Morgan and Cecilia Suarez.
A Martinez co-stars as Michael Olivas, a public defender who is the ex-husband of Camille Paris, a liberal-minded deputy district attorney played by Thompson. Morgan portrays Paris' boss, conservative District Attorney Lora Gibson. Suarez is Anita Lopez, the ambitious head prosecutor.
Martinez's credits on daytime soaps have won him female fans. The 53-year-old, who looks trim enough to be playing baseball rather than just coaching his kids' teams, played heartthrob Cruz Castillo for eight years on "Santa Barbara."
That worldwide exposure "shot my career into a much sweeter orbit," says Martinez, who won an Emmy for the role. He currently stars on ABC's "General Hospital" as Roy DiLucca, a shady character originally portrayed by Asher Brauner. (DiLucca was killed off some 20 years ago, but has been resurrected.)
Martinez's role in the Lifetime series, which premieres Sunday, July 21 (9 p.m. CDT), has been expanded since the pilot, and there are days when Martinez must dash between jobs. He seems unruffled by the demands of this double duty as he discusses career choices in his trailer outside Pasadena's Palladio-style City Hall, a classy stand-in for the Los Angeles County Criminal Courts Building.
"For the People" is about "the character of lawyers, and it's also about the tension between their personal points of view and the choices they have to make in the courtroom," says Martinez.
Olivas has "retained more of his idealism than most people who have been in the legal profession as long as he has," Martinez says. "I like him. He's not sealed off. He's still relatively accessible emotionally."
He thinks the show has "a nice tongue-in-cheek quality," especially in the way it depicts the relationship between the divorced couple.
"It has that lovely quality to it that comes with a sense of having failed at something that is very important to you."
The show is produced by Ian Sander, who previously worked with Martinez on the action series "Profiler." The dialogue sometimes mixes Spanish words with English.
Born in nearby Glendale, Martinez says he has seen opportunities improve for Hispanic actors, but he had few role models in his early years. He remembers going to see the movie "West Side Story" four times on the week it opened in 1961. It made him believe he could become an actor.
Martinez began singing as a kid, encouraged by his schoolteacher father. He appeared in school musicals and recalls grown-ups with "tears in their eyes" coming backstage after his performance in "The King and I" as the young heir to the throne. "That lit me up," he says.
He, wife Leslie and their three children "all sing like crazy" at home.
"It's an amazingly satisfying way to get your emotions out," he says.
Oh yes, the A stands for Adolfo, which was also the name of his grandfather and father. He's been called A since childhood to distinguish him from his elders.
"I got used to it," he says. "And when you are starting in this game it's useful -- it's a nice little hook. It helped people remember me when the work was not particularly memorable."
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