Gael García Bernal

Gael García Bernal (IPA: /ga'el gaɾ'sia beɾ'nal/; born November 30, 1978) is a Mexican actor and director.

Biography

Early life

García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Angel 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 telenovelas. When he was fourteen, he taught literacy to indigenous peoples in Mexico, often with the Huichol Indians. In his later teens he took part in peaceful demonstrations during the Chiapas uprising of 1994.

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 in the program. Subsequently, García Bernal 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. 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 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.'"

Personal life

García Bernal's parents participated in an annual clown competition which inspired 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. García Bernal studied at the Edron Academy in Mexico City. He plays football in the Adecmac soccer league. He is currently expecting a child with the Argentinian actress Dolores Fonzi, in December 2008.

He was raised by his mother and stepfather the photographer Sergio Yazbek.

Roles in Academy Award-nominated films

Gael Garcia Bernal has been in six Oscar-nominated films:

• De tripas, corazon - (Best Live-Action Short Film)
• Amores Perros - (Best Foreign Language Film, Mexico)
• El Crimen del Padre Amaro - (Best Foreign Language Film, Mexico)
• Y Tu Mamá También - (Best Original Screenplay)
• The Motorcycle Diaries - (Best Song, Best Adapted Screenplay)
• Babel - (Best Picture, Best Director, Best S. Actress, Best S. Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Score)

Quotes

• "The talent survives and remains while the beauty is diluted.
• "Changes occur that way. Suddenly the bricks fall into place in some sort of chaotic serenity."
• "I'm an actor. I don't need to abide by any ethnicity.
• "I was very involved. I helped with sending food, writing and reading about the situation, and demonstrating about it on the marches. It was great. I was young, and it was fun. And I've got to say, I met my first girlfriend – my first real girlfriend - there as well. It was a great place to meet girls!"- Gael on the Chiapas uprising

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Amores perros	Octavio	Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film
2001	Sin Noticias de Dios	Davenport	Goya nominations for Best Film and Best Supporting Actor
	Vidas privadas	Gustavo 'Gana' Bertolini
	Y tu mamá también	Julio Zapata	Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay
2002	I'm with Lucy	Gabriel
	Fidel	Ernesto "Che" Guevara
	El Crimen del Padre Amaro	Padre Amaro	Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film
2003	Dreaming of Julia	Ricky	Released as Cuban Blood in the US
	Dot the I	Kit Winter	Deauville winner for Audience Award
2004	Bad Education	Ángel/Juan/Zahara	Goya nomination for Best Film
	The Motorcycle Diaries	Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna	Oscar winner for Best Song, nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay
2005	The King	Elvis
2006	Babel	Santiago	Oscar winner for Best Score, 7 total nominations including Best Picture
	The Science of Sleep	Stéphane	French film, written and directed by Michel Gondry
2007	Déficit	Director	Also produced the movie
	El Pasado	Rímini
2008	Blindness	King of Ward 3
	Rudo y Cursi	Toto	awaiting release
	Mammoth	Tom	post-production
2009	The Limits of Control	TBA	post-production

References

External links

• Gael García Bernal Fan (fansite)
• Gael García Bernal at the Internet Movie Database