SAUNDERS: Smits takes family helm

Star of new dynasty drama 'Cane' speaks fondly of stint at Boulder Shakespeare fest

Published October 9, 2007 at midnight

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He's played a savvy lawyer for a big Los Angeles firm and a compassionate cop fighting crime on the streets of New York.

Jimmy Smits even spent time in Washington, D.C., as our nation's president.

And in his new TV role in CBS' Cane, Smits is the leader of a family business dynasty in South Florida. But at a Hollywood summer party, following an interview session about the show, Smits was more interested in talking about Boulder.

"How are things with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival?" Smits asked. "I keep wanting to go back, either as an actor or just as a spectator.

"Performing outdoors in the Mary Rippon Theater was one of the best times in my life."

In the summer of 1984, the 28-year-old Smits, who two years earlier had received a master's degree in theater arts from Cornell University, played Othello.

"Performing in that production gave me needed acting credentials," he recalls. "All actors should do Shakespeare, particularly when they're learning their craft.

"And, of course, the ambiance in Boulder was marvelous. Yes, I want to go back."

At that time, Smits' résumé consisted of a few walk-on roles in daytime soap operas. His big TV break was supposed to come in the fall of '84 on NBC's Miami Vice, playing Don Johnson's cop partner. But producers and writers had other ideas. Smits' character was killed off during the first 15 minutes of the pilot.

Two years later, he became a key member of NBC's popular ensemble series, L.A. Law, playing Victor Sifuentes for 107 episodes until the series ended in 1992.

His next TV stop was ABC's Emmy-winning NYPD Blue. In 1984 he replaced David Caruso as Dennis Franz's detective partner.

Smits departed the series nine seasons later when his character, Det. Bobby Simone, succumbed to a heart ailment in deathbed scenes worthy of applause from Shakespeare buffs.

His next major TV series role was as Democratic congressman Matt Santos, who, in the final season of The West Wing, was elected president.

In Cane, a dramatic soap-opera throwback to the Dynasty-Dallas era of the '80s, Smits (an executive producer) portrays Alex Vega, the sometimes ruthless mogul presiding over a wealthy rum-and-sugar dynasty operated by a Cuban-American family.

Ruthless? The ending of the season premiere (Sept. 26) showed that Vega, something of a J.R. Ewing type, has a bit of Tony Soprano in his DNA. In that shocking scene, Vega gunned down a nasty guy who was threatening his family.

Interviewed by critics, Smits admitted his character is "an amalgam of both the Dallas and Soprano family leaders."

"One of the great things about serialized television is its fluidity. So the writers will see just how far we can go with my character," Smits says.

The writing room is not just an occasional stopover for Smits. While he downplays his creative role, claiming to be "quiet as a church mouse," executive producer Jonathan Price said, "Jimmy's a bit falsely modest about his script contributions. He's there regularly."

Smits admits his off-camera participation is, to a major degree, the result of his association with producers and writers of NYPD Blue and The West Wing.

"Those series spoiled me for television because of the high bar set for the quality of work," Smits says. "I just hope that I've been able to siphon off all the positives from those series and can help keep the level of the bar high for this production."

While Smits is the central figure in Cane, his previous experiences with award-winning series have convinced him that a successful continuing drama is anything but a "one-man band."

Smits also notes that the huge cast includes such award-winning performers as Hector Elizondo and Rita Moreno.

"If you think about anything I've done previously on television, you'll realize I function best in an ensemble element," he says. "That has to do with my background in the theater.

"We have a beautiful wheel here, with a lot of possibilities. And we're all very important spokes in it."

While plot comparisons are made to Dallas, Dynasty and The Sopranos, Smits also is keenly aware Cane is the first network dynasty-type TV drama concentrating on a Hispanic family.

"That's one of the reasons we're doing it," he says.

Smits makes no overly optimistic predictions about the show's success in the Nielsen ratings. The 9 p.m. Tuesday competition is stiff, with Cane playing opposite established series Law & Order: SVU on NBC and The Practice on ABC.

"We can't spend time worrying about the opposition. Network scheduling is out of our control."

Dusty Saunders writes periodically about broadcasting. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net.

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