Gael Garcia Bernal Biography

Birth Date:

November 30, 1978

Place of Birth:

Guadalajara, Mexico

Hangs With:

Close friend of actor Diego Luna

Role That Got Him Noticed:

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Academy Award-nominated Amores Perros. His breakthrough performance in that film earned him the Silver Ariel Award (Mexico's equivalent of the Oscar).

Notable Movie Credits:

Garcia Bernal followed up Amores Perros with Y Tu Mama Tambien opposite Diego Luna. Then came El Crimen del Padre Amaro [The Crime of Father Amaro], Dot the I, The Motorcyle Diaries, Bad Education, The King, The Science of Sleep, Babel, and Blindness.

Calling the Shots:

Garcia Bernal opened a production company, Canana Films, with Luna, Pablo Cruz, and Geminiano Pineda.

An American Production:

Garcia Bernal made his debut in a North American production in The King in which he plays the illegitimate son of a Texas preacher.

Being Picky About His Film Roles:

In our interview in 2006, Garcia Bernal explained his strategy. "I think of the whole picture in general. I think of the meaning of the film. If I’m interested in telling the story, ‘This story is necessary. This story moves me.’ If a character is interesting. If the character is a challenge to do. ‘Is it complex? What am I going to learn from it? Where am I going to go with it, you know?’ All those questions."

"At the end, it’s your intuition or your instinct that tells you to do it. Then the whole project grabs a sense of urgency and it becomes a necessity for you to be in it. That’s how I make a decision. That’s when I decide them. Fortunately that’s when it’s easier to make a decision because that’s when you go for what’s necessary and not the others."