Source USA Magazine
Enrique Murciano, star of TV's "Without a Trace," celebrates his Latin
roots in the new film "The Lost City."
Murciano says his new film "captures the dream of ... a free Cuba."
The smell of fried chicken is wafting through the cavernous Burbank,
Calif., set of the hit CBS drama "Without a Trace," and it's driving
Enrique Murciano mad.
"I'm on this crazy diet. I just met with a nutritionist who
suggested I cut out saturated fat, cut out sugar and increase the
fiber," groans the handsome, jovial actor as he scrunches up his
face in mock agony during a break from filming. "But if it were up
to me, I'd eat Kentucky Fried Chicken every single day!"
After a bit more probing, it turns out that Murciano, 32, who plays
special agent Danny Taylor on the show (Thursdays, 10 p.m. ET), is
only 20 hours into his new diet regimen. "But things are going to
change. I don't cheat on my diets," he says, with an earnest grin.
"Or on my girlfriends."
No, but it's quick-witted one-liners like that that make the actor a
welcome presence on the set of a show whose content -- it follows a
team of FBI agents as they search for missing people -- leans toward
the somber.
"I don't think I've ever met anyone funnier," Murciano's co-star
Anthony LaPaglia later confirms. "They stopped writing scenes for us
together because we couldn't get through them. We would laugh so
much that it would hold up production, so for a while, we stopped
until we could learn how to behave ourselves a little better."
Murciano had no problem toning down his schtick, however, when Andy
Garcia tapped him for "The Lost City," a new indie film that focuses
on the struggles of a Cuban family during the country's revolution
in the late 1950s. The movie, Murciano says, "captures the dream of
not only a free Cuba and freedom of speech, but the freedom to live
and breathe, to allow love, life, hate."
It's a story that is close to Murciano's heart: His grandfather,
Mario Quiros, emigrated to the United States from Cuba in 1960. "He
was a pathologist in Cuba," Murciano says soberly. But Quiros had to
start over when he moved to this country with his nine children,
eventually becoming certified to practice medicine here. "They moved
to Johnson City, Tenn., in the middle of the civil rights movement.
But he created this beautiful world for them. My grandfather was a
hell of a man."
Because of the example his granddad set, the actor is passionate
about his heritage. "When I moved to L.A., my first agent suggested
I change my name to Rick Mercer; it's close to Enrique Murciano in a
way. But I'm very proud of who I am, and I'm very proud of Latinos
-- not just Cubans, but all Latinos."
He also appreciates the emphasis his culture puts on family. Just
back from vacationing with his two younger sisters and their kids,
he has babies on the brain.
"Do men have biological clocks? I think they do, because I'm hearing
a tick-tock somewhere inside of me," he says, leaning forward. "You
get to a point when you're bored of trying to make life good and
beautiful for yourself, and you want to start doing it for somebody
else. I can't wait to do that."
When he meets the right woman, certainly she's in for a treat.
Murciano, whom LaPaglia calls "a real Renaissance man," has plenty
to offer, especially in the most important room in the house -- the
kitchen.
"I love to cook. And I don't just heat up some rice. I make a
full-on meal every single night. I open a bottle of wine, light
candles, play music and pull out the recipe book," he boasts. "I
make mean, mean pastas. I am a truffle fanatic. Last night, by
myself, I had 15 clams -- delicious! I steamed them in butter ..."
Which brings us back to that pesky diet.
Murciano looks down, but he can't seem to hide the smile that is
spreading across his face. "All right, I admit it. I cheated on the
diet already," he sighs. "But I enjoyed it!"
Enrique makes a difference
Murciano grew up observing his grandfather quietly helping those in
need without bringing lots of attention to himself. As a result,
when the actor gives back, he follows his granddad's lead.
"I'm not into putting on a tuxedo and hanging out with a lot of
other rich people at a charity event," Murciano says. "I believe in
giving directly. If I'm at a red light and there's a guy who went to
war, who's homeless, I give more than a dollar at that point. A kid
is sick, and I know about it? I take care of him. It's much more of
a hands-on approach, stuff that doesn't go noticed but stuff that I
know I did. If you're constantly dancing the dance of life, it keeps
you very present."