Becoming a Father Has Altered A Martinez's Life!

Soap Set, 1986

    A Martinez has just started his third year on Santa Barbara as Cruz Castillo, the role that turned him into a daytime leading man.  Naturally, making the transition from off-beat and character roles in films and nighttime television was not without its share of problems, but A has handled them easily and is enjoying the fruits of his labors.

    "Doing Santa Barbara," A revealed in his dressing room, "has made me a lot calmer.  Having a steady job enabled me to start my family and to get a sense of being settled, knowing I'm going to be in town for a while.  I really like what the writers have done with Cruz.  It's been so much fun playing the different things they've given him to do.  I especially love working with Marcy Walker (Eden)."

    Since Santa Barbara came before fatherhood, how has becoming a daddy changed A's life? 

    "Having a baby has meant I have to work harder when I'm on the set than ever before because I have less time to work on my scripts at home.  I go home and cook dinner a lot of the time...we used to eat out a lot, but now we can't because of our son Dakota Lee (we call him Cody for short).  On weekends, I have to do things relating for myself like taking bike rides in the mountains or a long, hard workout at the gym.  Leslie and I try to shop and do things together, and I try to spend as much time with Cody as I can.  This is an important time in his life, a time when babies are so impressionable.  He seems to cool out when he's in my arms.  The last few days he's been figuring out he's separate from his parents.  He's been looking at us like he doesn't know who or what we are.  Until now, he's just smiled and been fluid, but now he's starting to think for himself and it's fascinating to watch - after all, he's only 4 1/2 months old.  The other day the television was on and he was glued to the set and never took his eyes off the screen.  What do you suppose he was watching?  The Three Stooges...he's crazy for them."

    Cruz Castillo in the kitchen making dinner for the wife and kid?  Now that's a side of him we haven't seen.

    "Listen, Leslie is starting to do some consulting for the company she worked for before she had the baby.  It's a computer graphics company and they really want her back.  They keep making her offers that are tough to turn down.  When she goes out with Cody and people see her, some of them recognize her and they say...'That's Cruz's baby'.  I don't mind...Cruz and I are kind of the same person...well, we look alike!  I never get jealous of Cruz, he's one of my best friends!"

    A is an amazing man.  He juggles his career on Santa Barbara, doing personal appearances, giving interviews and photo sessions, cooking dinner for his family and being a loving husband and father.  Through it all, he remains a pretty fine person and he genuinely appreciates his success.   There are a lot of less important actors that could learn a lot from observing this man's attitude and how he handles success which is a heck of a lot harder to deal with than failure!  You can write him c/o:  NBC-TV, 3000 West Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California 91523.

A loves working with Marcy Walker who plays Eden Capwell because she "makes it fun and exciting!"  (Sorry, I couldn't scan the photo of Cruz and Eden at the shark tank.)

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