HBO bets on 'Luck' with Dustin Hoffman

After bringing the worlds of late 19th century South Dakota gold miners and 21st century Southern California surfers to HBO, David Milch follows up "Deadwood" and "John From Cincinnati" with a multilayered, multifaceted portrait of the world of thoroughbred racing.

Going beyond just the horses to trainers, jockeys, veterinarians, shady quasi-criminal types and degenerate gamblers, "Luck" creates a canvas of intense desperation, burning ambition, devastating peril and staggering beauty, all set against the lush backdrop of Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., near Los Angeles.

After a sneak preview that aired Dec. 11 following the season finale of "Boardwalk Empire," "Luck" -- which pairs Milch's acclaimed writing and storytelling with the producing and directing talents of Michael Mann -- launches its regular run Sunday at 9 p.m.

Dustin Hoffman tops the huge cast as Chester "Ace" Bernstein, a man with a questionable past who gets out of prison and embarks on a career as a covert thoroughbred owner, with his loyal driver, Gus Demitriou (Dennis Farina), acting as his front man.

Ace is a careful, deliberate man who plays things close to the vest. For Hoffman, that came out of choices made in preparing for the role. "It wasn't a conscious decision," he says. "What you're wearing or not alters you. It doesn't take much. You learn your lines, you're told a few things. They say, 'Do you ever wear your hair straight back?' 'No.' 'Will you try that?' And Michael Mann says, 'Hey, I like it with your hair straight back.' 'Let's see what suit you're going to put on.'

"He has an image of the character, and you're going with that image. You learn the lines, then they just come out a certain way and you're altered."

Among those followed on the backstretch are trainers Walt "The Old Man" Smith (Nick Nolte) -- inspired by, the actor says, legendary trainer Jack Van Berg -- and Turo Escalante (John Ortiz), who has more than a professional relationship with his vet (Jill Hennessy). There are jockeys on the way up, such as Irish Rosie (Kerry Condon), and those trying to come back, such as Ronnie Jenkins (played by jockey Gary Stephens).

SEE PHOTOSDustin Hoffman through the years

On the fringes of track life are the gamblers, including one group -- whose most socially adept member, Jerry (Jason Gedrick), has a weakness for cards -- struggling to find a way forward after a life-altering bet.

A long stretch before writing

Although Milch has followed racing most of his life, owned thoroughbreds and laid down more than a few bets, it took him a long time to get around to writing about it all.

"Certainly," he says, "I had an adequate exposure to it. I did a lot of research, but the deepest truths of that world -- I won't say that they had eluded me, but there's an expression, the ripeness is all, and I finally was ripe enough.

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"These are not characters who let themselves be easily known, and a lot of them are composites. . . . It takes a little while for the world to fully declare itself, but I hope they will hang in, because it's definitely worth the trip."

On a new track

For Mann, who's more familiar with racing cars than horses, it was a foray into a new reality.

"The thing that surprised me the most," Mann says, "was the first time I was in a vehicle, and we were doing a tracking shot, and I was three or four feet away from a racehorse going full out -- and it's stunning.

"David talked quite a bit about a sense of nature and the spirit of being that close, involving yourself with the animal, like a trainer does, like Escalante would do -- but when you're actually up next to what feels like a 1,500-pound jackrabbit, that's a whole different thing. The athleticism of it, the spirit . . . it's not like you have to encourage them to race; you have to repress the instinct to race. All they want to do is race."

But the romance of race day, with its long pauses and brief explosions of action, is fading in a world of instant gratification. "Horse racing is losing the imagination of the public," Nolte says. "The mythology and the connection of man and horse is being lost. Gambling's taken over. They want to turn horse-racing tracks into casinos."

Dustin Hoffman's pre- and post-'Graduate' TV roles

BY ANDY EDELSTEIN, andy.edelstein@newsday.com

'Luck" marks Dustin Hoffman's first TV series starring role, but the actor has appeared on the tube throughout his career (mostly before he hit it big in 1967's "The Graduate"). Here's a look at some of them:

EARLY 1960S DRAMAS -- Hoffman had small roles in "Naked City" (1961, 1963), "The Defenders" (1962, 1965) and "The Doctors and the Nurses" (1965).

THE STAR WAGON (1966) -- In this Maxwell Anderson story, Hoffman played the assistant to the inventor (Orson Bean) of a time-travel machine. It aired on National Educational Television (NET), the forerunner of today's PBS.

ABC STAGE '67 (1967) -- This ambitious weekly anthology featured a mix of original music, comedy, drama and documentary programming. Hoffman had a small role in "The Trap of Solid Gold," a drama based on a John D. MacDonald short story about an executive (Cliff Robertson) who can't live on his income.

HIGHER AND HIGHER: ATTORNEYS AT LAW (1968) -- A pilot for a drama about lawyers that starred Alan Alda and Sally Kellerman. It aired on "Premiere," a CBS summer-replacement series (for "The Carol Burnett Show") that featured pilots that didn't make it to series.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN (1985) -- Hoffman starred as Willy Loman in an acclaimed made-for-TV version of the Arthur Miller classic. He won an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or special.

THE SIMPSONS (1991) -- Hoffman voiced the character of Mr. Bergstrom, a cool substitute teacher who mesmerized Lisa. In the credits, however, Hoffman was billed as "Sam Etic."

LIBERTY'S KIDS (2003) -- In this animated PBS series about the American Revolution, Hoffman voiced the traitorous Benedict Arnold.