Gael García Bernal
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Gael García Bernal (born November 30, 1978) is a Mexican actor.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, to Patricia Bernal (an actress and former model) and José Ángel García (an actor and director). His stepfather is Sergio Yasbek, whom his mother married when he was young. He started acting at just a year old and spent most of his teen years starring in soap operas.
When he was 14 he taught literacy to indigenous peoples in Mexico, most often with the Huichol Indians. In his later teens he attended demonstrations and wrote about the Chiapas people during the uprising of 1994.
[edit] Career
García Bernal was becoming a soap opera heartthrob, but at age 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 to the program. Subsequently, García Bernal has starred in some of Mexico's most celebrated recent films, beginning with Amores Perros (2000), then 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. However, it was his debut as a working-class street thug in the Oscar-nominated Amores Perros that first grabbed Hollywood's attention.
García Bernal also portrayed Argentine-born physician turned Cubano 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 like Pedro Almodóvar, Walter Salles, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Michel Gondry, among others. He has recently taken on roles in English language films, including the Gondry-directed The Science of Sleep, the González Iñárritu-directed Babel, and The King, for which he has 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.
[edit] Relationships
García Bernal's press officers began the rumor that he dated Natalie Portman from March 2003 to April 2004. He then dated Argentine actress Dolores Fonzi. Just after that Bernal met an English girl when he was performing Blood Wedding in London whom he dated for a while. Recently there has been speculation that Portman and Bernal have gotten back together.
[edit] Quotes
- "A person isn't born with the intelligence to be with someone special, you learn it, and you fail in the path of life, but you don't have to give up the chance to love." [citation needed]
- "The talent survives and remains while the beauty is diluted." [citation needed]
- "Changes occur that way. Suddenly the bricks fall into place in some sort of chaotic serenity." [citation needed]
- "I go with the flow. Whatever music you play for me, I'll dance." [citation needed]
- "I'm an actor. I don't need to abide by any ethnicity." [citation needed]
[edit] Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes\ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Rudi y Cursi | ||
| 2006 | Babel | Santiago | |
| 2005 | The Science of Sleep | Stéphane | |
| 2005 | The King | Elvis | |
| 2004 | Bad Education | Ángel/Juan/Zahara | Goya nomination for Best Film |
| 2004 | The Motorcycle Diaries | Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (Argentina) | Oscar winner for Best Song |
| 2003 | Dreaming of Julia | Ricky | |
| 2003 | Dot the I | Kit Winter | Deauville winner for Audience Award |
| 2002 | I'm with Lucy | Gabriel | |
| 2002 | El Crimen del Padre Amaro | Padre Amaro | Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film |
| 2001 | Sin Noticias de Dios | Davenport | |
| 2001 | Vidas Privadas | Gustavo 'Gana' Bertolini | |
| 2001 | Y Tu Mamá También | Julio Zapata | Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2000 | Amores perros | Octavio | Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film |
