Lorna Allen looks at the rise of the popular new Mexican star.
In The King, 27 year old Mexican born actor Gael García Bernal stars in his first leading English-speaking film role, as vulnerable sociopath Elvis. This role could mark the turning point in the diminutive (but devastatingly handsome) actor’s career. He came to the attention of the film world at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000, when he appeared in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s breakaway success, Amores Perros, which scooped the Grand Prix that year. He arrived in Cannes a nobody without even a hotel reservation in his name and left the Riviera a star, and proceeded to work his way through a string of critically acclaimed foreign art-house films to become known as one of the film industry’s most versatile and talented young actors with a knack for picking up accents. He played a Spanish drag queen in Almodovar’s La Mala Educación, Cuban-Argentinean legend Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in Walter Salle’s Oscar-nominated Diarios de Motocicleta, Romanian lover Gabriel in John Sherman’s quirky romantic comedy I’m with Lucy and now he plays a discharged US marine with an American accent.
When I pinned down (not literally - I wish!) Mr García Bernal at the premiere of The King, I posed the burning question - do you think you could do an Irish one? (Accent – that is!) To which I got a cheeky lopsided smile, a bashful downward glance followed by a saucy response: ‘’Sure, in bed, you can learn accents really quickly.’’ Oh, lord, be still my heart. That was the happiest day of my life. This – ladies and gentleman – is the usual effect the prince of the new wave of Mexican cinema has on the ladies. A whole auditorium of predominantly female fans, who lined the hallways of the NFT in the hope of attending a screen talk event in which he took pride of place, will no doubt agree. The boyish Latino looks, the mischievous impish grin, the passionate and humble way in which he talks about important issues, a political conscience which prompted him to speak out about G8 and be one of the first stars of the raucous 2003 Academy Awards Show to launch into an anti-war speech… I could go on, but I am a very serious journalist and we are all very serious cinema fans, so let me not delay one more minute from giving you the professional low-down on the man the tabloids nicknamed ‘Sex Mex’.
Gael was born to left-wing theatre actors Patricia and Jose in Guadalajara, Mexico, on 30 November 1978 and was soon following in their footsteps by appearing in his debut role at the age of three! Quite a role for such a young man – he played Jesus to his mother’s Virgin Mary in a nativity play – a role which consisted of him sitting on a donkey with a bottle of milk. Perhaps it was his nailing of this early role that secured him a place in the Mexican soap opera Teresa nine years later. Gael confessed at his screen talk that he didn’t take a career in acting seriously at this stage – it wasn’t until he landed the role of Julio in Alfonso Cuarón’s Mexican road movie Y Tu Mama Tambien that he accepted himself as an actor: ‘’I wasn’t acting – I was just playing and having fun.’’
At the age of 17, Gael enrolled at university in Mexico to study philosophy, but a student strike interrupted his studies after only three months, so he decided to leave Mexico and do some travelling. His travels took him to London where the insanely high prices of coffee and tube fares soon drained him of his spare cash and prevented him from moving on. Staying in London, and only 17, Gael paid his way by working illegally on building sites and bars before deciding to apply for a BA at the Central School for Speech and Drama. Gael, who incidentally is short-sighted, stated that the day he got accepted into school to study his craft was ‘‘one of the happiest days of my life’’.
A tricky little rule which prevents students from working during the course of their studies almost deprived the world of this massive acting talent (or at least delayed his appearance). Gael decided to throw caution to the wind when he was offered the role of dog-fighting street kid Octavio in the low budget Mexican indie Amores Perros during the Easter hols of his second year at college. Sneaking off to Mexico for an agreed four-week shoot, for which he was paid less than the syndicated wage, he had some quick thinking to do when the shoot ran over. Contacting people back in London, he lied and claimed he was sick and would be staying in Mexico to recuperate – so when he returned a short while later, complete with shaved head and scars from making the movie, nobody was any the wiser to his crafty scam.
Shortly after Amores Perros came his role as Julio in Y Tu Mama Tambien alongside his best bud Diego Luna (Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights). Luna and Bernal played two oversexed teenagers who embark on a life-changing road trip to a fictitious beach with an older woman that they both hope to seduce. This film presented another challenge to the young actor – having to engage in a boy on boy kissing scene with one’s best mate. Of this experience, Bernal quipped good-naturedly ‘’Alcohol helped’’. Recently, the two friends have banded together to set up their own production company in Mexico City, Canana Films, aimed at inspiring and making Mexican films with a strong national viewpoint.
A number of smaller roles in films like I’m with Lucy and The Crime of Father Amaro - which he admits he didn’t care for very much – followed, which seemed somewhat out of line with his previous acting roles. When I put this to him he explained that I’m with Lucy was a quick one-week shoot and he had been asked to play a stereotypical Latin lover. Bernal quickly retorted – well, Romania is a Latin country – could he play a Romanian lover? Sherman relented, and Bernal amused himself by playing against the stereotype which had been imposed on him. It was Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries which really propelled Bernal into the glare of the Hollywood spotlight. Of the role as Che Guevara, he said ‘’It is one of the few homages I can do for the place that I am from.”
A serious actor, who cites Taxi Driver, Los Olvidados and Memories of Underdevelopment amongst his favourite films, Gael appeared two years ago in the Almeida Theatre’s new version of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, attracting capacity audiences and rave reviews. That said, he is by no means offended by the pin-up label he has been given and seems genuinely surprised and flattered by my suggestion that he is, in fact, a babe.
‘’Oh – thank you very much! Of course it’s nice when somebody else says it, but it would be weird if you were to say it yourself, or played that. These are big shoes to fill, but at the same time that thing will end, I don’t know, maybe next month, maybe in six months, for sure in 30 years. So, I don’t know whether it maybe makes me want to eat more wheat-processed foods or maybe it makes me want to do Pilates.’’
Gael is currently a busy man. He has just finished promoting The King, in which he plays a sociopath – albeit a very pretty one – which he describes as a ‘‘classical tragedy…a terribly simple and complex film’’ and is possibly, as I type, headed for Cannes to promote Babel – the film tipped to be the most likely contender for this years Palme D’or – also starring Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt. Also screening at this year’s premiere European film festival is Michel Gondry’s Science of Sleep – also featuring Gael, alongside Charlotte Gainsbourg.
On the horizon is Mexican football yarn Toto in which Gael, himself a huge Spurs fan, will star with his pal Diego Luna, and his directorial debut Deficit is also on the cards for next year. Actor, director, producer, heart-throb…whatever next? As long as it isn’t ‘husband’, I’ll be a happy girl!
