Robert LaSardo for Under Pressure Magazine 15
By Karyn Gray
Some might say that the reason Robert LaSardo is so memorable is his extensive tattoo work. I disagree. I met Robert back in September at a tattoo convention, an event filled with hundreds of tattoo artists and aficionados. In that environment, tattoos don’t make you unique. To me, he was memorable as the man behind some of the most badass characters in film and television. Whether you’ve seen him in General Hospital, CSI, China Girl, or Dirty, his presence resonates. He’s been known to say he doesn’t feel comfortable talking about his tattoos, but it seems that everyone at that convention has probably said that at one point or another when asked to explain them to a stranger unfamiliar with their life or with tattoo culture . It’s invasive. So are interviews. Nevertheless, Robert was gracious enough to award me that honor. A few months after he left the city, he phoned me from LA to tell me his deal, much of which surprised me.
Some assume that he broke into acting by randomly being picked off the street when a script called for a heavily tattooed guy. Not the case. In Brooklyn, where Robert grew up, he was encouraged by a junior high school English teacher to try drama. With some encouragement, he auditioned for the High School of Performing Arts, a school designed for struggling kids who couldn’t afford film school. Out of the 2000 who apply, 70 are accepted. He was one. After flourishing in the environment and achieving a variety of honors, he graduated, only to join the military. I didn’t see that one coming.
Growing up in a latch key situation, Robert developed a kinship with other street kids, including quite a few graffiti writers (not surprising, given the huge graf movement in New York thirty years ago). He began getting tattooed in Brooklyn. At the time, it was still illegal so everyone would go to people’s houses for it. It became a sort of brotherhood- a gang. He says, “Part of me was kind of scattered. The ritual of the tattoos was tribal. It was diametrically opposed. “ He joined the navy for similar reasons. He was told by teachers that he had a creative gift, and his education was “to liberate consciousness… but there was an aspect of myself that still felt stuck in the streets.” He notes that he had to go through all of that for self discovery: so that he could die to it and be born into the rest of his life.
What resulted were two things. Firstly, LaSardo has become an iconic face in the world of acting, and he’s accomplished it without taking mediocre blockbuster roles to make a buck and without being tabloid fodder. The notoriously badass Escobar Gallardo from Season 1 of Nip/Tuck had such a huge effect on the audience that they wrote him back into the show for Season 4. With each character part, LaSardo leaves his impressive mark; his past struggles, his dedication to acting, and his perseverance, reside within each one. Secondly, Robert is the picture of respectfulness. He’s not chatty or boastful or proud. When I first met him, he congratulated me on my endeavors. When I last spoke to him, he took the time to ask me about my day. Just as I respected him for what I knew of his work, he asked me about mine and expressed his respect for me. That sets someone apart. While I had recognized him before for his work, after speaking with him on a few occasions, I respected him as an individual: as a street kid, a naval officer, an actor, a tattoo aficionado, an icon, and a guy who I randomly met at a tattoo convention a few months back.
Two shout outs: one to Robert’s acting teacher, Anthony Abeson, who “served as a mother, a father, and a spiritual advisor,” and the second to Mark Mahoney of the Shamrock Social Club, Robert’s tattoo artist in LA.
Reprinted with premission.