HOLLYWOOD -- When Adam Garcia caught the acting bug, it gave him quite a fever.
Garcia had just turned 20 in 1993 when he arrived in England for the London premiere of Hot Shoe Shuffle, the hit Australian dance show.
After the six-month run, the rest of the cast headed back to Australia, leaving Garcia behind.
"I had a girlfriend. She was a Canadian from Dartmouth who had been in the London company of Sunset Boulevard," recalls Garcia.
"I was also intrigued with London as a theatre city because I really wanted to try acting rather than just dancing."
He auditioned for a revival of Grease and won the role of Doody, which John Travolta played in the original Broadway run.
The producers of Grease were trying to create a stage version of Travolta's hit movie Saturday Night Fever. They asked Garcia if he was interested in workshopping the lead role of Tony Manero.
"I only ever considered myself the guinea pig. I assumed if the show ever got mounted, the role would go to someone else and, if I was lucky, I'd be in the chorus."
As luck would have it, Garcia impressed the producers so much they featured him in the musical.
"It was an incredible experience. I really wanted to do the Broadway transfer of Saturday Night Fever so I could get seen by American producers, directors and agents."
That didn't work out because Garcia refused to sign a 12-month contract.
"I was willing to do the show for six months, but I knew I couldn't hold up physically for a year.
"During the London run, I developed bulging discs and strained ligaments in both ankles."
Instead, Garcia returned to Australia to star in the film version of Hot Shoe Shuffle, called Tap Dogs.
It was a wise career move because producer Jerry Bruckheimer was looking for a fresh new face for his babes-at-the-bar movie Coyote Ugly and he signed Garcia after seeing early rushes of Tap Dogs.
Penny Marshall saw the same rushes and she asked to speak to Garcia when she was casting Riding in Cars with Boys.
She wanted Garcia to play Drew Barrymore's son at age 20.
In Riding in Cars, Barrymore plays a woman who raises her son, Jason, on her own after discovering her husband has squandered their savings on drugs and alcohol.
"I understood a lot about Jason from my own experiences," says Garcia, whose parents divorced when he was 14.
"I stayed with my mother in Australia. My father went to San Francisco.
"When you bond as closely with one of your parents as Jason and I did with our mothers, that parent becomes more like a friend.
"My mother and I are incredible friends. She is a typical Aussie. She loves to travel and I've always gone along if that was possible.
"After completing Coyote Ugly, Riding in Cars with Boys and my third American movie, The First 20 Million with Rosario Dawson and Jake Busey, I went on a luxury backpacking tour of Ecuador with my mom."
Though he has been working almost nonstop in America for the past two years, Garcia considers London his home.
"I have a new girlfriend and new digs. I use London as my base because my first love is the stage and I want to be available for another musical.
"I'm waiting for Bubble Boy the Musical, so I can agree with people when they tell me I'm following in John Travolta's footsteps."
More Artists
