In Part I of our interview with Nick Tarabay, we talked about his acting, the TV series Crash, working with Dennis Hopper, and growing up in Lebanon.
In Part II, the talk turns to cigars ... how he got started, how he enjoys cigars with wine, and other burning issues like if cigars should be stored with the cellophane on or off.
Puff: Let's talk about cigars.
Nick: My love for cigars started about two years ago. Or about a year and a half ago. I started getting into it. I smoked in the past, but I didn't appreciate it, I didn't know what smoking a cigar is, or the work that goes into the cigar, and the feeling that you get smoking a cigar.
Puff: Tell us about that. How you got started smoking cigars and how you enjoy it.
Nick: It started out in Mexico. I went with my ex-girlfriend, we went on a vacation in Mexico and I started to smoke. In Mexico, they had Cuban cigars. You hear all this stuff about Cuban cigars, and so, I tried it.
I started smoking cigars and then, ... what's beautiful about smoking a cigar is the experience you get while you are smoking it. The feeling that you get ...it's almost like acting. You transform from one person to another.
And for me smoking a cigar was always about taking time to make time. Taking time for yourself. People often make the big mistake of confusing smoking a cigar and cigarettes. And they are completely different. Absolutely different. I mean, this is like a... for me when I smoke a cigar, it's like I'm saying, hey, I'm taking time to take care of myself.
So, it's... and the whole experience itself, you know just holding a cigar, there is this uplifting. You think of the great personalities in the past and the present who smoke cigars, who they are, they had this almost ... an essence of power while smoking a cigar.
You know what I'm saying. And it is a man's man thing. For example, the Godfather, or something like that, you know. So, I started in Mexico. I started walking with my girl at the time in the streets and smoking a cigar and I'm really enjoying this. This is really fun. So, it started as pure fun.
And then a couple of days later, we were all sitting, having drinks and I want a cigar. Walking in the streets smoking a cigar, sitting and drinking and smoking a cigar, it was... I felt like Don Juan. You know. It's one of those things that will affect everybody different. And cigars affected me completely different. It was a match waiting to happen. And I'm glad that I found it.
Puff: So, Nick. Can you tell us what some of your favorite cigars are?
Nick: One that I really like most now, is Partagás Série P No. 2.
Puff: Nice. Partagás No. 2. Would that be the Habano version?
Nick: Yeah, they are very smooth and, I don't know, it's just one of those things that you connect with. There's Diplomatico as well, that I really like. And I also like Davidoff cigars.
Puff: Now, my next question is one of the burning issues of the cigar communities, especially for the newbie's, as we call them (no pun intended, on burning issue), but ... When you store your cigars in your humidor at home, do you store them with the cellophane on, or off?
Nick: On.
Puff: On. Okay. There you have it. Mr. Tarabay says, cellophane on. Now, I don't care about what anybody says about cellophane off. (Laughing.)
Nick: Well, this is something I tried and it worked. You know what I mean?
Puff: Right. It's just in the cigar forums, the question... it's like that question is always asked. Somebody will always post, "should you take the cellophane off, or leave it on?" And it's now answered!
Nick: Exactly, exactly. Yeah. I just keep it on.
Puff: I just had to throw that one in there.
Puff: Is there anybody that you normally hang out with when you smoke a cigar, and do you have a normal hangout for smoking cigars?
Nick: Well, I like to hang here at the V Cut ... and then there is, I mean, there's a friend I call Uncle Buck, and he knows me as well, and Christopher, who, is almost like an encyclopedia of cigars.
So, just sitting with him, I get educated on cigars, and he tells me so much that I keep forgetting, like, wow, what did he say? (Laughing)
But it is so fascinating that he knows that much. And I think this is another nice thing about cigars is that once you get into the cigar world, you really want to know. Because you really want to know what is making you feel that way. How did that come about.
Again, I relate that to acting.
When you see somebody performing, you want to know, how did they get to this point. You know what I'm saying? So, you see Axel doing his thing, but what was the research that happened to get there? Or, some of the brilliant work from, for example, like I saw not so long ago, My Left Foot with Daniel Day Lewis. And then when I see somebody brilliant like this working. The first thing is, I wonder what was his research process? How did he discover this character?
I sat down this one time and smoked this cigar and what a great feeling. People hold these feelings for a lifetime. It was a great moment, or when somebody talks about ... a husband and wife, they would talk about a moment they had together and how nice it was and you remember the element that made it nicer, whether it was the glass of wine, whether it was that cigar. At first I always find that the cigar gives me that feeling, because again, I am taking time for myself, so, it's like a tool to get you where you want to go.
Puff: When you were working on Crash and on Sopranos, were there other people on the set that would hang with you to smoke a cigar and take time or was that just your personal alone time.
Nick: None of those people who smoked cigars... two on Sopranos that I remember, but on Crash, yeah. Dennis Hoper was always smoking a cigar. He's always smoking a cigar. When I was in New Mexico, there was a bar called Imbibe.
Nick: I would go there in the afternoons sometimes and sit there and the place wouldn't be busy, so there would be like two people at the bar, and you sit down with the bartender and you have a glass of wine, or bourbon. Or whatever, and you sit and you smoke a cigar and just talk. And it's nice because it becomes very simple.
Puff: Right. There's a... I guess there's a lot of camaraderie involved and you can even walk into a place like this, like V Cut in LA and meet somebody for the first time and just hang out for an hour and smoke a cigar.
Nick: Absolutely. It's such a connection. You walk into a place and everybody is smoking a cigar. You smoke a cigar, and there's a connection between you and that person. And all of a sudden people talk. And what's nice about it too is everybody's guard is down when they are smoking a cigar. People, when they get tense they smoke a cigarette, and that doesn't happen with cigar. When they smoke a cigar they are in a good mood. So, people tend to be open when they're enjoying a cigar.
Puff: You seem to be in a great mood.
Nick: Oh no, I'm in a very bad mood right now. (Smiling, sarcastic).
Puff: I found an interesting observation that I've made is, many times in movies, and TV, the bad guys are depicted as smoking cigars. Just an observation. Have you had the opportunity in any of your roles, to smoke a cigar.
Nick: No, no. Unfortunately I haven't. You know I was... I thought about it a couple of times with my character, I'm not sure if its quite fits his personality because again, I'm telling a story, so I have to be truthful to that story. So, I'm not sure Axel smokes a cigar. He might smoke one once in a while, but I don't know if he's a cigar smoker.
Puff: He's maybe a little too intense.
Nick: Yeah. He couldn't. I don't know if it fits his character, but I love that there is something for me to discover as well. But, yeah, I would love to have a role that I'm smoking a cigar.
Puff: Especially in the future, if you get a role where you're the good guy, see if you can smoke a cigar in it.
Nick: Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, that would be nice.
Puff: So, now that Crash is finished for the season, is there anything specific that you're looking forward to in the near future?
Nick: Yes. There might be a... there's a play that I'm talking to a director to work on. This is something that I'm really looking forward to. I'm not sure it's going to happen or not, but if it will, we'll probably start working on it in January. This is one of the main things that I'm really looking forward to. I love theatre.
Puff: Nick, I've enjoyed talking with you and smoking a cigar with you. Thank you very much for your time.
Nick: Oh, no. Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me.
You can see information on Crash on the Starz website.
We would like to thank V Cut Smoke Shop for letting us use their place for the interview. You can find them here:
V Cut Smoke Shop
8172 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
323.655.5959
Here is a shot of their humidor:
If you go, make sure to say hello to Carla.
