David Caruso Explains Sideways Stance: “I Always Face Mecca”
LOS ANGELES – When David Caruso appeared last week on the Tyra Banks Show, Tyra asked him at the end of their short interview, “David, how come you’re facing away from me?” Caruso stood up, put on his sunglasses and said, “Because Tyra….I always face Mecca.”
Caruso then walked off stage and the show went to commercial. When the show resumed, Tyra spoke emotionally about her abundant buttocks.
CSI Miami is a hit television show that runs on Monday nights on CBS. Millions of people have watched David Caruso portray lead character Horatio Cane in the series. His portrayal embraces idiosyncratic gestures and actions that have confused and delighted many. From his overt preoccupation with his sunglasses, to his limited yet always dramatic speech patterns, Caruso’s character has morphed into almost comic book proportions as the years have accumulated. But it has been his inability (or refusal) to look anyone in the eye that confounds fellow actors.
“I had several scenes with David and it got to be so unnerving,” remarked an actor who spoke on condition of anonymity. “As I attempted to look at him when we spoke, he turned away. He kept turning away and I kept following him before I realized we were walking in circles! We must have done a dozen circles until I became dizzy and had to sit down.”
Randy Sipowicz is a make-up artist for CBS. Last year he was fired from CSI Miami after an altercation with Caruso. He spoke with The Daily Rash at a Sunset Boulevard Denny’s.
“Oh yeah, Caruso and I butted heads, and that’s putting it lightly! Sometimes I would throw down my powder and stomp out of the trailer! I don’t know how many times one of my assistants finished for me!”
Randy went outside to smoke a cigarette and returned a few minutes later.
“Let’s just put it this way OK? The guy is a freakin’ nut job! Pardon my French.” Randy poured cream into his coffee.
“OK, so like, it was a late afternoon and they’re rushing me to get his make-up ready for a scene, and he won’t face me! We’re in a trailer for Christ’s sake! We don’t have chairs that spin, but he’s physically turning the chair! I walk around in front of him he turns away from me. So I walk in front of him again and he turns away again! I screamed and told him that unless he faced me, I couldn’t do his make-up!” Randy fidgeted and cleared his throat.
“And then he stood up, put on his sunglasses and looked at the wall! He told the wall, ‘Randy….this is one fight you aren’t going to win.’” Randy pushed away his cheeseburger.
“And then he disappeared! I mean he literally… disappeared!”
Rory Cochrane had a role on CSI Miami for two years before he quit. He spoke with The Daily Rash at a Dunkin Donuts in Long Beach, California.
“After two years of dealing with David, I was having panic attacks. I would drink alcohol to get through scenes with him. I felt like I was losing my mind. I did that whole dance thing with him that everyone’s told you about. You go round and round trying to make eye contact with the guy, and then you’re throwing-up from dizziness. But it was that disappearing thing! You look around and…”
Cochrane picked up his bear-claw and got up. “I can’t do this,” he said, and left.
David Caruso spoke with The Daily Rash after getting his teeth cleaned on Friday.
The Daily Rash: Thank-you for this interview!
Caruso: You’re…..very welcome.
The Daily Rash: Many people were startled to find out that the reason you are always standing sideways on your show is because you always face Mecca.
Caruso: I’ll bet….they were.
The Daily Rash: When did you become a Muslim?
Caruso: Say again?
The Daily Rash: Did you convert to Islam? Not to stereotype, but with your light, freckled skin and your vibrant red hair, many people have the impression that you are Irish.
Caruso: I am… Irish Catholic
The Daily Rash: But you just said that you always face Mecca.
Caruso: That….is true.
The Daily Rash: But you’re an Irish Catholic!
Caruso: That, Sir… is true also.
The Daily Rash: So why do you face Mecca?
Standing sideways, David Caruso stared out into his dentist’s parking lot. He looked down at the sunglasses he cradled in his hands before he carefully placed them on his face. Before he spoke, he spread his legs and put his hands on his hips.
“My teeth feel fresh…almost like they are brand new.”
With absolutely no evidence of movement, David Caruso disappeared.
