Gael García Bernal
Encyclopedia
Gael García Bernal is a Mexican
film actor
and director
.
, Mexico
, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model
, and José Ángel García, an actor and director
. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was young. He started acting at just a year old and spent most of his teen years starring in telenovela
s. Gael studied the International Baccalaureate, with chemistry being his favorite subject. When he was fourteen, he taught indigenous peoples in Mexico to read, often working with the Huichol Indians. In his later teens, he took part in peaceful demonstrations during the Chiapas uprising
of 1994.
heartthrob, but at age of 19, he left Mexico's television world to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama
in London
, becoming the first person from Mexico to be accepted into the program. In the brief period beforehand, he had begun to study philosophy at UNAM
, Mexico's national university, before a strike closed the college and he then left for London. Describing his time in London as 'life forming', he considered acting merely an 'odd job profession' until the Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu
offered him a part in Amores Perros
. Subsequently, García Bernal starred in some of Mexico's most celebrated recent films, including 2001's Y tu mamá también
, and El crimen del Padre Amaro
(2002). He has also done some theatre
work, including a 2005 production of Bodas de Sangre
, by Federico García Lorca
, in the Almeida Theatre
in London. His debut as a working-class dreamer in the Oscar-nominated Amores Perros, however, was what first grabbed Hollywood's
attention.
García Bernal also portrayed Argentine
revolutionary Che Guevara
twice, first in the 2002 TV miniseries Fidel
and then, better known, in 2004's The Motorcycle Diaries
, an adaptation of a journal a 23-year-old Guevara wrote about his travels across South America
. García Bernal has worked for acclaimed directors including Pedro Almodóvar
, Walter Salles
, Alfonso Cuarón
, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Michel Gondry
, among others. He recently took on roles in English language
films, including the Gondry-directed The Science of Sleep
, the Alejandro González Iñárritu-directed Babel, and The King, for which he earned rave reviews. He has been nominated for a BAFTA in 2005 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for The Motorcycle Diaries
and, in 2006, was nominated for the Orange Rising Star
award which acknowledges new talents in the acting industry.
García Bernal also directed his first feature film, Déficit
, which was released in 2007. García Bernal is also featured on the 2007 Devendra Banhart
album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
, contributing vocals on the first track entitled "Cristobal." Bernal was cast for the 2008 film Blindness
, an adaptation
of the 1995 novel of the same name
by José Saramago
about a society suffering an epidemic of blindness. Like in the novel, the characters have only descriptions, no names or histories; while director Fernando Meirelles
said some actors were intimidated by the concept of playing such characters, "With Gael, he said, 'I never think about the past. I just think what my character wants.'"
Recently, García Bernal starred in Rudo y Cursi
with Diego Luna
, directed by Carlos Cuarón
.
Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna
own Canana Productions. The company recently joined with Golden Phoenix Productions owned by Producer Tom Golden of Hot Springs, Arkansas
, to jointly produce a number of television documentaries about the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.
In May 2010, García Bernal did a cameo appearance as himself, playing Cristiano Ronaldo
in Ronaldo: The Movie for Nike
advertisement "Write The Future
".
In 2010, he co-directed with Marc Siver four short films in collaboration with Amnesty International. This tetralogy is called "Los Invisibles" about migrants from Central America in Mexico, their journey, the violence imposed, their hopes and what they can contribute to Mexico, the US and the World. He directed the movie, did the interviews and also is the narrator of this four short movies that can be freely seen on the Amnesty website or on YouTube.
Garcia Bernal narrated Human Planet
for Hispanic audiences, which will premiere on Discovery en Español
on April 25, 2011 and will air on Discovery Channel
in Latin America on May 12. For the third time Gael reunites with fellow friend Diego Luna
, this time in the American Spanish-language comedy film Casa de Mi Padre
opposite Will Ferrell
where he plays a feared drug lord. Gael's next few projects include starring with Al Pacino
in Hands of Stone, and alongside Daniel Day Lewis in Martin Scorsese
's Silence.
. García Bernal's parents participated in an annual clown competition which inspired García Bernal as a young child to become the actor he is today.
García Bernal is "culturally Catholic
" and "spiritually agnostic". He speaks fluent Spanish
and English
; and Portuguese
, French
and Italian
to some degree.
Gael García Bernal has been married to Argentinian actress Dolores Fonzi
since 2009. They started dating, after meeting on the set of "Vidas privadas", in 2001. On Thursday January 8, 2009, his son Lázaro was born in Madrid
, Spain. Their daughter Libertad was born on April 4, 2011 in Buenos Aires
, Argentina.
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
Early life
García Bernal was born in GuadalajaraGuadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, and José Ángel García, an actor and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was young. He started acting at just a year old and spent most of his teen years starring in telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
s. Gael studied the International Baccalaureate, with chemistry being his favorite subject. When he was fourteen, he taught indigenous peoples in Mexico to read, often working with the Huichol Indians. In his later teens, he took part in peaceful demonstrations during the Chiapas uprising
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
of 1994.
Career
García Bernal was becoming a soap operaSoap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
heartthrob, but at age of 19, he left Mexico's television world to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, becoming the first person from Mexico to be accepted into the program. In the brief period beforehand, he had begun to study philosophy at UNAM
Unam
UNAM or UNaM may refer to:* National University of Misiones, a National University in Posadas, Argentina*National Autonomous University of Mexico , the large public autonomous university based in Mexico City...
, Mexico's national university, before a strike closed the college and he then left for London. Describing his time in London as 'life forming', he considered acting merely an 'odd job profession' until the Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene...
offered him a part in Amores Perros
Amores perros
Amores perros is a 2000 neorealist Mexican film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Amores Perros is the first movie in Iñárritu's trilogy of death, and was followed by 21 Grams and Babel. It is a triptych; an anthology film, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican Pulp Fiction," containing...
. Subsequently, García Bernal starred in some of Mexico's most celebrated recent films, including 2001's Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también is a 2001 Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and co-written by Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties; it stars Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García...
, and El crimen del Padre Amaro
El crimen del Padre Amaro
El crimen del padre Amaro is a 2002 film directed by Carlos Carrera. It is loosely based on the novel O Crime do Padre Amaro by 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queiroz....
(2002). He has also done some theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
work, including a 2005 production of Bodas de Sangre
Bodas de sangre
Blood Wedding is a tragedy by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed in Madrid in March 1933 and later that year in Buenos Aires...
, by Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
, in the Almeida Theatre
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
in London. His debut as a working-class dreamer in the Oscar-nominated Amores Perros, however, was what first grabbed Hollywood's
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
attention.
García Bernal also portrayed Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
revolutionary Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
twice, first in the 2002 TV miniseries Fidel
Fidel (film)
Fidel is the name of a mini-series by David Attwood that describes the Cuban revolution and political career of Fidel Castro. The total duration of the series is about 3 hours and 20 minutes, but the video-version is shorter.-Plot:...
and then, better known, in 2004's The Motorcycle Diaries
The Motorcycle Diaries (film)
At the end of the film, after his sojourn at the leper colony, Guevara confirms his nascent egalitarian, anti-authority impulses, while making a birthday toast, which is also his first political speech. In it he evokes a pan-Latin American identity that transcends both the arbitrary boundaries of...
, an adaptation of a journal a 23-year-old Guevara wrote about his travels across South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. García Bernal has worked for acclaimed directors including Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
, Walter Salles
Walter Salles
Walter Moreira Salles, Jr. is a Brazilian filmmaker and film producer of international prominence.-Life and career:Salles was born in Rio de Janeiro. He is the son of Elizinha Goncalves and Walter Moreira Salles, a Brazilian banker and ambassador, and the brother of João Moreira Salles, also a...
, Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film producer, best known for his films Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Y tu mamá también, and A Little Princess.- Early life :...
, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
, among others. He recently took on roles in English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
films, including the Gondry-directed The Science of Sleep
The Science of Sleep
The Science of Sleep is a 2006 French film written and directed by Michel Gondry. The film stars Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou, and Alain Chabat.-Plot:...
, the Alejandro González Iñárritu-directed Babel, and The King, for which he earned rave reviews. He has been nominated for a BAFTA in 2005 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for The Motorcycle Diaries
The Motorcycle Diaries (film)
At the end of the film, after his sojourn at the leper colony, Guevara confirms his nascent egalitarian, anti-authority impulses, while making a birthday toast, which is also his first political speech. In it he evokes a pan-Latin American identity that transcends both the arbitrary boundaries of...
and, in 2006, was nominated for the Orange Rising Star
Rising Star Award, BAFTA
Rising Star Award is one of the award categories for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts which acknowledges new talents in the acting industry. The award was created after Mary Selway's death in 2004...
award which acknowledges new talents in the acting industry.
García Bernal also directed his first feature film, Déficit
Déficit
Déficit is a 2007 Mexican feature film, the debut of Gael García Bernal as a director. It was written by Kyzza Terrazas and debuted at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2007....
, which was released in 2007. García Bernal is also featured on the 2007 Devendra Banhart
Devendra Banhart
Devendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is a Devendra Banhart album released September 25, 2007. This album features more instrumentation than the previous records, as well as more genre experimentation...
, contributing vocals on the first track entitled "Cristobal." Bernal was cast for the 2008 film Blindness
Blindness (film)
Blindness is a 2008 English-language film that is an adaptation of the 1995 novel of the same name by the Portuguese writer José Saramago about a society suffering an epidemic of blindness. The film is written by Don McKellar and directed by Fernando Meirelles with Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo...
, an adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the 1995 novel of the same name
Blindness (novel)
Blindness is a novel by Portuguese author José Saramago. It was originally published in Portuguese and then translated into English. It is one of his most famous novels, along with The Gospel According to Jesus Christ and Baltasar and Blimunda....
by José Saramago
José Saramago
José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE was a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, poet, playwright and journalist. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor. Harold Bloom has described Saramago as "a...
about a society suffering an epidemic of blindness. Like in the novel, the characters have only descriptions, no names or histories; while director Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Ferreira Meirelles is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter.He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director in 2004 for his work in the Brazilian film City of God, released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the U.S. by Miramax Films...
said some actors were intimidated by the concept of playing such characters, "With Gael, he said, 'I never think about the past. I just think what my character wants.'"
Recently, García Bernal starred in Rudo y Cursi
Rudo y Cursi
Rudo y Cursi is a 2008 Mexican film starring Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Guillermo Francella. It is directed by Carlos Cuarón and produced by Cha Cha Cha Films...
with Diego Luna
Diego Luna
Diego Luna is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también, and supporting roles in American films. He is also known for his roles in Rudo y Cursi and Milk. Luna also had minor roles in Frida and Before Night Falls...
, directed by Carlos Cuarón
Carlos Cuarón
Carlos José Cuarón Orozco is a Mexican screenwriter, film producer and film director. He is the brother of Alfonso Cuarón.- Biography :Carlos Cuarón was born in Mexico City and studied English literature at UNAM...
.
Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna
Diego Luna
Diego Luna is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también, and supporting roles in American films. He is also known for his roles in Rudo y Cursi and Milk. Luna also had minor roles in Frida and Before Night Falls...
own Canana Productions. The company recently joined with Golden Phoenix Productions owned by Producer Tom Golden of Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
, to jointly produce a number of television documentaries about the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.
In May 2010, García Bernal did a cameo appearance as himself, playing Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, , commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team...
in Ronaldo: The Movie for Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
advertisement "Write The Future
Write The Future
Write the Future is an advert made by Nike football for the 2010 World Cup and directed by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu for the UK based production company, Independent Films Limited...
".
In 2010, he co-directed with Marc Siver four short films in collaboration with Amnesty International. This tetralogy is called "Los Invisibles" about migrants from Central America in Mexico, their journey, the violence imposed, their hopes and what they can contribute to Mexico, the US and the World. He directed the movie, did the interviews and also is the narrator of this four short movies that can be freely seen on the Amnesty website or on YouTube.
Garcia Bernal narrated Human Planet
Human Planet
Human Planet is an 8-part British television documentary series. It is produced by the BBC with co-production from Discovery and BBC Worldwide...
for Hispanic audiences, which will premiere on Discovery en Español
Discovery en Español
Discovery en Español is the Spanish language version of the Discovery Channel. It is operated by Discovery Networks International's Latin America division in Miami, Florida....
on April 25, 2011 and will air on Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
in Latin America on May 12. For the third time Gael reunites with fellow friend Diego Luna
Diego Luna
Diego Luna is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también, and supporting roles in American films. He is also known for his roles in Rudo y Cursi and Milk. Luna also had minor roles in Frida and Before Night Falls...
, this time in the American Spanish-language comedy film Casa de Mi Padre
Casa de Mi Padre
Casa de Mi Padre , previously titled Untitled Spanish Comedy, is an upcoming Spanish-language American comedy film. The film stars Will Ferrell, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna and Génesis Rodríguez with Matt Piedmont directing...
opposite Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
where he plays a feared drug lord. Gael's next few projects include starring with Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
in Hands of Stone, and alongside Daniel Day Lewis in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Silence.
Personal life
He was raised by his mother and stepfather, the photographer Sergio Yazbek. García Bernal studied at The Edron Academy in Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. García Bernal's parents participated in an annual clown competition which inspired García Bernal as a young child to become the actor he is today.
García Bernal is "culturally Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
" and "spiritually agnostic". He speaks fluent Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
; and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Italian
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
to some degree.
Gael García Bernal has been married to Argentinian actress Dolores Fonzi
Dolores Fonzi
Dolores Fonzi is an Argentine TV and film actress active since 1997.Several of her films have received critical acclaim such as Plata quemada , Esperando al mesías , El Fondo del mar and El Aura . Her brother, Tomás Fonzi is also an actor in the Cinema of Argentina...
since 2009. They started dating, after meeting on the set of "Vidas privadas", in 2001. On Thursday January 8, 2009, his son Lázaro was born in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain. Their daughter Libertad was born on April 4, 2011 in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina.
Roles in Academy Award-nominated films
Gael García Bernal has been in six Oscar-nominated films:- De tripas, corazon - (Best Live-Action Short Film)
- Amores PerrosAmores perrosAmores perros is a 2000 neorealist Mexican film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Amores Perros is the first movie in Iñárritu's trilogy of death, and was followed by 21 Grams and Babel. It is a triptych; an anthology film, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican Pulp Fiction," containing...
- (Best Foreign Language Film, Mexico) - El Crimen del Padre AmaroEl crimen del Padre AmaroEl crimen del padre Amaro is a 2002 film directed by Carlos Carrera. It is loosely based on the novel O Crime do Padre Amaro by 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queiroz....
- (Best Foreign Language Film, Mexico) - Y Tu Mamá TambiénY tu mamá tambiénY tu mamá también is a 2001 Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and co-written by Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties; it stars Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García...
- (Best Original Screenplay) - The Motorcycle DiariesThe Motorcycle Diaries (film)At the end of the film, after his sojourn at the leper colony, Guevara confirms his nascent egalitarian, anti-authority impulses, while making a birthday toast, which is also his first political speech. In it he evokes a pan-Latin American identity that transcends both the arbitrary boundaries of...
- (Best Song, Best Adapted Screenplay) - Babel - (Best Picture, Best Director, Best S. Actress, Best S. Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Score)
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Queen of Swords | Churri | TV episode "Honor Thy Father" |
| 2000 | Amores perros Amores perros Amores perros is a 2000 neorealist Mexican film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Amores Perros is the first movie in Iñárritu's trilogy of death, and was followed by 21 Grams and Babel. It is a triptych; an anthology film, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican Pulp Fiction," containing... |
Octavio | |
| 2001 | Sin Noticias de Dios | Davenport | Goya Goya Awards The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards.... nomination for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2001 | Vidas privadas | Gustavo 'Gana' Bertolini | |
| 2001 | Y tu mamá también Y tu mamá también Y tu mamá también is a 2001 Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and co-written by Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties; it stars Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García... |
Julio Zapata | |
| 2001 | El ojo en la nuca | Pablo Urrutia | Honorary Foreign Student Oscar Award |
| 2002 | I'm with Lucy I'm With Lucy I'm With Lucy is a 2002 romantic comedy starring Monica Potter in the title role, with Henry Thomas, David Boreanaz, Anthony LaPaglia, Harold Ramis, Julie Christie and John Hannah.- Plot :... |
Gabriel | |
| 2002 | Fidel Fidel (film) Fidel is the name of a mini-series by David Attwood that describes the Cuban revolution and political career of Fidel Castro. The total duration of the series is about 3 hours and 20 minutes, but the video-version is shorter.-Plot:... |
Ernesto "Che" Guevara | |
| 2002 | El Crimen del Padre Amaro El crimen del Padre Amaro El crimen del padre Amaro is a 2002 film directed by Carlos Carrera. It is loosely based on the novel O Crime do Padre Amaro by 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queiroz.... |
Padre Amaro | |
| 2003 | Dreaming of Julia Dreaming of Julia Dreaming of Julia is a 2003 film directed by Juan Gerard. The debut film by the director, the story is based on Gerard's childhood life in Cuba... |
Ricky | Released as Cuban Blood in the US |
| 2003 | Dot the I Dot the i dot the i is a 2003 psychological thriller starring Gael García Bernal, Natalia Verbeke, and James D'Arcy. It was written and directed by Matthew Parkhill.-Plot:... |
Kit Winter | |
| 2004 | Bad Education Bad Education Bad Education is a 2004 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar and starring Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho and Lluís Homar. The plot is about two reunited childhood friends in the vein of a murder mystery... |
Ángel/Juan/Zahara | |
| 2004 | The Motorcycle Diaries The Motorcycle Diaries (film) At the end of the film, after his sojourn at the leper colony, Guevara confirms his nascent egalitarian, anti-authority impulses, while making a birthday toast, which is also his first political speech. In it he evokes a pan-Latin American identity that transcends both the arbitrary boundaries of... |
Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna | |
| 2005 | The King The King (film) The King is a 2005 co-produced UK and American drama film about a troubled man, recently discharged from the Navy, who goes to Corpus Christi, Texas, in search of the father he's never met.... |
Elvis | |
| 2006 | Babel Babel (2006 film) Babel is a 2006 international drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga, starring an ensemble cast. The multi-narrative drama completes Iñárritu's Death Trilogy, following Amores perros and 21 Grams.... |
Santiago | |
| 2006 | The Science of Sleep The Science of Sleep The Science of Sleep is a 2006 French film written and directed by Michel Gondry. The film stars Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou, and Alain Chabat.-Plot:... |
Stéphane | French film, written and directed by Michel Gondry Michel Gondry Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :... |
| 2007 | Déficit Déficit Déficit is a 2007 Mexican feature film, the debut of Gael García Bernal as a director. It was written by Kyzza Terrazas and debuted at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2007.... |
Cristobal | Also Director/Producer |
| 2007 | El Pasado | Rímini | |
| 2008 | Blindness Blindness (film) Blindness is a 2008 English-language film that is an adaptation of the 1995 novel of the same name by the Portuguese writer José Saramago about a society suffering an epidemic of blindness. The film is written by Don McKellar and directed by Fernando Meirelles with Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo... |
King of Ward 3 | |
| 2008 | Rudo y Cursi Rudo y Cursi Rudo y Cursi is a 2008 Mexican film starring Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Guillermo Francella. It is directed by Carlos Cuarón and produced by Cha Cha Cha Films... |
Tatto | |
| 2009 | Mammoth | Leo Vidales | |
| 2009 | The Limits of Control The Limits of Control -Cultural references mentioned in the dialogue:* Suspicion by Alfred Hitchcock* Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky* The Lady from Shanghai by Orson Welles* La Vie de Bohème by Aki Kaurismäki* La vida no vale nada by Rogelio A... |
Mexican | |
| 2009 | 8 - 'The Letter' | - | Producer/Writer/Director Only |
| 2010 | Letters to Juliet Letters to Juliet Letters to Juliet is a 2010 American romantic comedy drama film starring Amanda Seyfried, Chris Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael García Bernal, and Franco Nero. This was the final film of director Gary Winick before he died of brain cancer. The film was released theatrically in North America and other... |
Victor | |
| 2010 | Even the Rain Even the Rain Even the Rain is a 2010 Spanish drama film directed by Icíar Bollaín about Spanish director Sebastián and executive producer Costa who travel to Bolivia to shoot a film depicting Christopher Columbus’s conquest... |
Sebastián | |
| 2010 | José and Pilar José and Pilar José and Pilar is a Portuguese documentary directed by Miguel Gonçalves Mendes following the last years of the Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, chiefly through his relationship with his resolute wife, Pilar del Río... |
Self | Doc about José Saramago (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1998) |
| 2011 | A Little Bit of Heaven A Little Bit of Heaven (2011 film) A Little Bit of Heaven is a 2011 romantic comedy film directed by Nicole Kassell and starring Kate Hudson and Gael García Bernal.- Plot :... |
Julian Goldstein | |
| 2011 | Casa de Mi Padre Casa de Mi Padre Casa de Mi Padre , previously titled Untitled Spanish Comedy, is an upcoming Spanish-language American comedy film. The film stars Will Ferrell, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna and Génesis Rodríguez with Matt Piedmont directing... |
Onza | |
| 2011 | The Loneliest Planet The Loneliest Planet The Loneliest Planet is a 2011 film written and directed by Julia Loktev, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Hani Furstenberg, and first-time actor Bidzina Gujabidze... |
Alex |
External links
- Gael García Bernal on Twitter
- El ojo en la nuca - (Short film on YouTube)
- Gael Garcia Bernal interview for Rudo & Cursi By Alastair Smart, Telegraph, July 8, 2009