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Smits Leads Latin Cast In Atypical Drama About Powerful Family

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By EDWARD WYATT The New York Times

Published: October 9, 2007

LOS ANGELES - As a measure of just how high the expectations have become for 'Cane,' the new CBS drama about a wealthy Cuban-American family and its South Florida sugar and rum dynasty, consider that the producers seem to be spending much of their time explaining what the show is not.

'Before we had a moment to think about it, everybody assumed it was either 'Dallas' or 'The Sopranos,'' Cynthia Cidre, the creator of 'Cane' and an executive producer, said recently on the CBS Paramount lot in Studio City. 'It's neither, and it was never meant to be.'

Nor is the new series a knockoff of 'Scarface,' 'Dynasty' or 'Falcon Crest,' said Jonathan Prince, the executive producer who as show runner is responsible for the program's day-to-day progress. And it is not 'The Godfather,' 'King Lear' or, for that matter, one of the telenovelas so popular with Hispanic audiences here and around the world.

Which is to say that many people believe 'Cane,' which airs at 10 p.m. Tuesdays on CBS, has elements of all of those works.

The stakes are particularly high for CBS and Nina Tassler, president of the network's entertainment division. With great fanfare last spring, Tassler introduced a fall lineup that in several instances takes the network far from the police procedural shows for which it is known.

Although the musical drama 'Viva Laughlin' and the reality series 'Kid Nation' attracted early attention, neither carries the financial risk of 'Cane': With its high-powered cast, sumptuous sets and sleek wardrobe, it is certain to be one of the most expensive new TV dramas.

High expense demands high ratings, of course, and CBS, like other networks, has shown it can have little tolerance for new programs that don't perform. One of its highly promoted shows last fall, 'Smith,' lasted just three episodes before it was pulled.

Prince acknowledged that 'Cane' faces tough competition in its time slot, going up against the stalwarts 'Boston Legal' on ABC and 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' on NBC.

'I think the network will be patient with us,' Prince said. 'We may have to slowly earn an audience.' (Tassler declined to be interviewed for this article.)

Not 'Doing The Latino Show'

Clearly CBS and the producers are betting heavily on the crowd-drawing ability of the 'Cane' cast, which is headed by Jimmy Smits, known big hits including 'L.A. Law,' 'NYPD Blue' and 'The West Wing.'

Though the role of Alex Vega, the adopted son who beats out his brothers for the right to run the family sugar business, was not written specifically for Smits, Cidre acknowledged that it was hard not to think of him when creating a Hispanic male lead.

Once Smits signed on as both star and executive producer (through his production company, based at ABC Studios), other recognizable names came on board. Among them are Hector Elizondo as Pancho Duque, the family patriarch; Rita Moreno as Amalia Duque, his wife; Nestor Carbonell as Frank Duque, the brother who feels that Alex has stolen his birthright; and Polly Walker as Ellis Samuels, the daughter of a rival sugar family that has its eyes set on the Duques' land and other spoils.

With the exception of Walker, nearly all the cast members are Hispanic, and nearly all of them have spoken about the importance of the series in portraying an immigrant family that has already made it to the upper reaches of wealth and comfort.

But to varying degrees, they are also wary of being considered a niche show.

'I don't want to be pigeonholed into 'We're doing the Latino show' because that's not what we're going for at all,' Smits, a native of Brooklyn, said. 'We're doing a show about a very affluent family, looking through a very specific cultural lens. But I want people to see South Florida and the uniqueness of South Florida and a family that they are not used to seeing but that exists: affluent and aspirational.'

Moreno is one of only a handful of performers who have won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy. She said she had wanted the chance to play a part in 'an accomplished, educated, wealthy, gorgeously dressed Hispanic family' as a character who, unlike many others she has played, does not speak with an exaggerated accent.

The series, however, makes use of subtitles for the Spanish-language conversations that are sprinkled throughout.

The original idea was to portray a Mexican family in the food business in California, Cidre said. But then Tassler suggested that she draw on Cidre's own Cuban-American roots.

'I thought, what do I know that's Cuban and sexy?' Cidre recalled. 'Rum came to mind. ... It's made from sugar, and Florida is a large sugar producer. And very quickly after that it became the rum family who happened to have land.'

Complex Role Of Adopted Son

Alex has more than his share of flaws, which appealed to Smits.

'He's a very conflicted person,' he said, 'and that's what intrigued me more than anything. He's a person who has a very strong moral compass in the sense of a family that means everything to him.

'But he's not of this family. The fact is he's the adopted son, and we really don't know about his family or what the whole thing of family means to an adopted son who gets thrust into a position of power where his siblings are not really his siblings.'

Prince said the audience learns that the conflict has turned Alex into a sort of Jekyll-and-Hyde character.

'He's a good father,' Prince said. 'He's a good husband. He's a very good son. He's a loyal brother. He's a brilliant businessman.

'But every time he has an opportunity or is forced by circumstance to have a gun in his hand or to talk to a less than upstanding potential ally, he feels very comfortable. It's strange to him. He is not as appalled by what he is able to do as someone else might be, and he questions that in himself.' Cidre said she was prepared for criticism from Hispanic groups that might see unflattering portrayals in Alex and others.

For the Duques, however, 'I completely remove from them that they're Cuban,' Cidre said. 'They're human beings. And how would I write this if they lived in Bel-Air or if they were the Kennedys?'

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