Nice guys finish lastDavid Caruso takes a gamble leaving ‘NYPD
Blue’ to star in films like ‘Kiss of Death.’ But he’s ready to make
the jump.
By Michael Horowitz
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
David Caruso went to Catholic school. It’s something he’s quite
sarcastic about.
"I radiate the life of Christ, don’t I?" he laughs and raises
his hands in the air, "The Word? Can you get that from me?"
It would be hard to imagine religion springing forth from
Caruso, who turned heads by playing "NYPD Blue" resident red-headed
tough-ass for a high profile season. His simmering intensity and
focused stare won millions of fans before he did the unthinkable:
he left the show.
Caruso had parts in films before "NYPD Blue," but never of the
status he was offered in Kiss of Death and Jade. The former he
filmed between "NYPD Blue" seasons, the latter is actually the
project he left the show for. In any case, these next two films
count.
In Kiss of Death he plays a guy named Jimmy Kilmartin, who finds
himself trapped between the mob and the law, and struggling for his
life.
"This character does not have the luxury of any major
institutions behind him," says Caruso. "He’s truly a renegade. He’s
got nobody to call."
Fortunately, Caruso had real-life experience to bring to bear.
"I didn’t grow up in the South Bronx, but chances are I’ve been in
everything I would do in a movie.
"When I was a kid, I ran around with some people who eventually
went into a life of crime and a life of great color," he says.
"Some of those people are no longer with us. It’s a big decision,
and most guys are too young to know how big that decision is Â
it’s pretty sad."
Even as a child, Caruso knew he wanted more than a life of
crime. "I felt that was short-term thinking," he explains. "I had
enough cognizance to know that $5000 this week might come at a high
price next week. Or a trip to St. John’s cemetery."
He calls his decision to pursue acting the result of "an extreme
desire not to get a real job," but he asserts that where he grew
up, everybody was performing anyway.
"When you grow up in New York," he says, "everybody is doing a
character, you know. You gotta be able to play along on the corner,
otherwise you’re not going to cut it.
"Some of the great actors come from New York City, because
there’s not a huge transition from the street corner to the movie
set. You’ve got to be able to call on yourself and some of your
emotions just to stay up, to keep up."
Keeping up is difficult in the entertainment industry, he feels,
and it’s a tough line of work.
"If you’re an effective trial lawyer, for instance, you’re going
to work," he says. "If you’re effective in the courtroom, you’re
going to work. But there’s no guarantee people are going to like
your movies, or watch your movies."
Using the trial lawyer metaphor, his stint on "NYPD Blue" was
analogous in publicity to the Simpson trial, or at least the
Menendez brothers hype. Caruso became incredibly famous incredibly
fast.
It boggled the nation’s collective mind when he announced he was
departing from the show last year.
"I did not openly want to leave the show, or pursue leaving the
show," he sets the record straight. "It worked out that way, and
the simple answer is because we were not able to incorporate
opportunities like Jade and Kiss of Death into the schedule.
"It became kind of a Catch 22. They say they won’t be flexible
on the schedule to incorporate the films, so do I let go of the
films and stay on the show, or do I take the films and leave the
show. So it was a difficult situation."
Further complicating the matter for Caruso were the media, who
probed every facet of his decision and attempted to create more bad
blood between him and the show. "It was a painful thing," he says.
"It went from a positive time with the press to kind of a witchhunt
deal."
Yet he refused to refute inaccurate reports, and he distanced
himself from allegations that he was trouble to work with on set.
He feels contempt for the stories describing his professional
behavior that were riddled with factual mistakes. "If you’re going
to slam me," he says in all seriousness, "do it right. Be good at
it."
Caruso says he can’t deal with conflict on the set anyway. "I
don’t do good work unless I’m loose," he argues. "If I’m embroiled
in some heated  locked horns with somebody  I can’t
work like that. I do my best stuff  the most dramatic work
usually comes right off a series of gags for me, cause that’s when
I’m loosest and I can get in, right to the core, and make myself
available."
While he’s not over his bad brush with the press, he’s never
felt anything negative from one group of people. "I have to say,
the audience never turned on me," he says. "The people are with me
and the people are cool about it."
Caruso found that when you make a decision with that many
ramifications, you have to plunge in head-first. "It was a very
rewarding experience to play that character," he says, "and if I
never play the character again, that’s a loss. But I don’t regret
moving on to do other things that I’ve done. I can’t."
Furthermore, Caruso tries not to feel the pressure of making his
next two projects ultra-successful, to fend off naysayers.
"My job is the role in the movie," he states. "When I complete
this press, my job is finished on this movie. I can’t make people
come to see this movie, I can’t shape their taste, I can’t make the
timing right, you know what I mean?"
"I have to take solace in the fact that I think that I did a
good job," he says. "I’ve lived without this. This has been two
years for me, but I was a working actor and okay prior to this. My
whole identity is not based on whether people are asking for my
autograph. It can’t be."
It seems that Caruso’s come to peace with himself.
"It’s really easy to go to that place," he smiles, "and get
really concerned about it, but man, you can’t live there."