Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

Background:

Australian actor Adam Garcia is known to American audiences as Piper Perabo's boyfriend in “Coyote Ugly” (2000) and lead singer Stu Wolff in “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen” (2004, with Lindsay Lohan). Starting out as a dancer in his native Australia, Garcia first gained notice in the popular Australian stage production “Hot Shoe Shuffle” (1992) and went on to reprise his role in London's West End in 1994. He enjoyed further recognition on stage with his portrayal of Tony Manero in a musical adaptation of “Saturday Night Fever” (1998), from which he netted a Laurence Olivier Theatre nomination, before making his Hollywood debut in “Coyote Ugly.” His other film credits include “Wilde” (1997), “Bootmen” (2000), “Riding in Cars with Boys” (2001, with Drew Barrymore), “The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest” (2002), “Love's Brother” (2004), “Fascination” (2004) and “Standing Still” (2005). Garcia has also guest starred in the TV series “Doctor Who” and “The Flight of the Conchords” and played recurring roles in ITV's “Britannia High” (2008) and TNT's “Hawthorne” (2009).

Garcia has been romantically involved with a British woman named Laetitia Thackery. He had once planned on marrying his high school sweetheart Isabelle Catherine Sinclair. Garcia loves skydiving. He cites J.R.R Tolkein, Tom Robbins, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez among his favorite writers and actors Paul Newman and Johnny Depp as his inspiration and idols. He stated, “For me, Johnny Depp and Paul Newman. Their choices and their nonconformity attract and inspire me.”

Garcia has actively supported the WSPA, The World Society for the Protection of Animals.

Capital Dance Studios

Childhood and Family:

Adam Gabriel Garcia was born on June 1, 1973, in Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia, to a Columbian father. He started taking dance lessons at age six and later attended the prestigious Capital Dance Studios in Sidney, where he studied tap dance and ballet. By the time he was a teenager, he was a professional dancer. Adam graduated from Knox Grammar School in Wahroonga, New South Wales, the same school attended by Aussie actors Hugh Jackman, Hugo Weaving, Andrew Johnston and Reg Livermore, radio host John Laws and writer Stuart Beattie. He later quit college to pursue a stage career.

Saturday Night Fever

Career:

Adam Garcia got his start as a dancer in Australia. A graduate of Sidney's legendary Capital Dance Studios, he debuted as a tap dancing on the steps of Sydney's town hall under the direction of Baz Luhrmann and soon joined forces with Dein Perry to establish the dance troupe All Tap Company. In 1992, Garcia made his stage debut in the musical “Hot Shoe Shuffle” and toured Australia with the production. The show was very popular in Australia and brought to London's West End in 1994 with Garcia reprising his part.

Garcia continued to appear in productions in England after “Hot Shoe Shuffle.” He was cast as Doody, one of the celebrated T-Birds, in “Grease” (1995) and Young Al in a stage adaptation of “Birdy” (1997). He, however, did not snag a leading role until he was cast as Tony Manero in the Wes End production of “Saturday Night Fever,” which ran from 1998 to 1999 in London. The play received critical acclaim and Garcia was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in the category of Best Actor in a Musical for his fine performance. He declined the chance to recreate his role on Broadway and was replaced by American actor James Carpinello.

In between his stage work, Garcia was hired as a co-host for the British children's program “Boiled Eggs and Soldiers” in 1996. He also landed a small role in the British biographical film “Wilde” (1997), which starred Stephen Fry as Oscar Wilde, and played Noah in the British drama series “Dream Team” (1998).

Garcia made his Hollywood debut when he was hired to star with Piper Perabo in the movie “Coyote Ugly.” Released on August 4, 2000, the film, which was directed by David McNally, enjoyed commercial success. Still in 2000, Garcia returned to Australia to star as Sean Okden, a young steelworker who quit his job to tap dance, in “Bootmen,” the feature directorial debut of longtime dancing partner Dein Perry. The film won Best Film at the Australian Film Institute (AFI). Back to stage, Gracia portrayed Chris, a young American cowboy, in the London production of “Cadillac Ranch” (also 2000) and received rave reviews for his performance. In April 2001, he appeared at London's Soho Theatre as part of their “Four Plays: Four Weeks” program. Follow up stage credits include the West End production of “Where Do We Live?” (as Tyler), a play by Christopher Shinn. He then appeared in Stephen Schwartz's musical “Wicked” (as Fiyero).

In October 2001, Gracia acted in the American movie “Riding in Cars with Boys,” which was based on an autobiography of the same name by Beverly Donofrio. In the film, he had the opportunity to work with Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Lorraine Bracco, Steve Zahn and Brittany Murphy. The next year, he starred in the Mick Jackson directed comedy “The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest,” an adaptation of Po Bronson's book. Released in the U.S. on June 28, 2002, the film was made for about $17 million but grossed less than $6 million at the box office. The video and DVD received a limited released in Los Angeles and New York.

Following a voiceover role in the movie “Kangaroo Jack” (2003), Garcia was cast as Giovanni Ribisi's brother, Gino, in “Love's Brother” (2004), a dramatic film from Australian director and writer Jan Sardi. He then played the son of Jacqueline Bisset, Scott, in the thriller “Fascination,” which earned a limited release in the U.S. in January 2005 after debuting in Germany in 2004. Also in 2004, Garcia worked with Geraldine McEwan, Joanna Lumley, Ben Miller, and Jack Davenport in the British TV film “Marple: The Body in the Library,” where he played Raymond Starr. However, it was his role, alongside Lindsay Lohan, in Sara Sugarman's “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen” (2004), based on the book of the same name by Dyan Sheldon, that brought the actor back into the spotlight. The comedy was a moderate success at the box office although it generally received negative reviews from critics.

Garcia next costarred with Jon Abrahams, Amy Adams, Xander Berkeley and Ethan Embry in the independent comedy “Standing Still,” which debuted at the Cinevegas Film Festival on June 17, 2005. He then starred as Vaslav Nijinsky in the BBC television movie “Riot at the Rite” (2005) and played Alex in an episode of “Doctor Who” called “The Christmas Invasion.” He next took on the role of Stefan in the British short lived TV series “Britannia High” (ITV, 2008). The same year, he also acted in the TV miniseries “Mr. Eleven,” a comedy directed by Paul Gay and penned by Amanda Coe.

Recently, in 2009, Garcia had the recurring role of Nick Mancini in the TNT medical drama “Hawthorne,” which stars Jada Pinkett Smith as Christina Hawthorne, R.N. He also guest starred in an episode of the HBO sitcom “Flight of the Conchords” and will star as Lee Waterson in the upcoming drama film “A Woman Called Job” (2009), for director and co-writer Kurt Burk. Costars in the movie include Tamara Feldman, Keana Texeira, Joe Hackett, Luciano Rauso, Jia Perlich and Gregory George Frank.

Awards:
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