Oscar Torres stars as Santo on the new CBS drama series Cane which focuses on the Duque family, the Cuban-American owners of a sugar and rum business. Oscar took some time in between filming to sit down and chat with BuddyTV to talk about his character, shooting behind the scenes, and what it’s like working so closely with Jimmy Smits.
————
Santo’s a guy who came from Cuba, he just got here, so everything’s new to him. If you imagine coming from a place where you had nothing, like Cuba, to the U.S. where you have everything. Where everywhere is like Disney World, you know. He’s looking around, and he’s amazed by everything, but at the same time you can’t get too away from who you are and where you came from.
Santo is a guy… I have a line in the show in the first episode, I say “I do what I gotta do.” And I’ve been imprisoned in Cuba for doing what I gotta do. I do what I gotta do to support my family, and that’s pretty much what motivates me. I don’t want to go about it, Santo doesn’t go about it the right way all the time, but his motives are very true. I think that’s the beauty of the character that anybody can identify with it. If it really comes down to it, and you have to feed your family, most people will do whatever they need to do to support a family, or a mother who’s sick. Like my character’s case, I have a mother in Cuba and she’s barely making it. My dream is bringing her over, that’s what motivates me, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to bring her over.
Santo gets recruited by Alex Vega, Jimmy Smits who’s the lead actor. One of the leads, but he’s the ones that’s in charge of the family, reminds me a little of The Godfather. He’s like the Michael Corleone, who has been given power over the family by Hector Elizondo, who plays his father. And he recruits me, he first sees me working at the rum company, they own a big huge rum and sugar company, he sees me working there. He sees I’m a little shady, but he can use me in other ways, because there’s a lot of pressure on him. I’m savvy in the ways of the street. I’m not a business guy, I don’t speak well, I say the wrong words because English is definitely a second language to me. The only English I’ve learned was hustling the streets of Cuba, hustling the tourists in the streets of Cuba, so that’s my English. But I do know how to get things done, especially if they’re not legal, I know how to get around that. It’s a very interesting character, because it has a lot of humor. The character has a lot of humor, but also has a lot of heart.
