Gael Garcia Bernal biography
Gael García Bernal (IPA: /ga'el gaɾ'sia beɾ'nal/; born November 30, 1978) is a Mexico actor and film director.
Biography
Early life
García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Jalisco, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model (person), and José Angel García, an actor and film 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 Zapatista Army of National Liberation 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, Los Angeles, California's attention.
García Bernal also portrayed Argentina physician turned Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara twice, first in the 2002 TV miniseries
Fidel (film) and then, better known, in 2004's
The Motorcycle Diaries (film), 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 (2006 film), and
The King (film), 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 (film) and, in 2006, was nominated for the Rising Star Award, BAFTA 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 (film), an film adaptation of the 1995 Blindness (novel) 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 language and English language; and Portuguese language, French language and language 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 (film) - (Best Song, Best Adapted Screenplay)
- Babel (film) - (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 Zapatista Army of National Liberation Overview
Gael Garcia Bernal in the news
Malkovich to film documentary about migrants - The Associated Press
The Associated PressMalkovich to film documentary about migrantsThe Associated Press - 6 hours agoMalkovich said Wednesday the film will be produced by Canana Films, a production company owned by Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal. ...
read moreGael Garcia Bernal Covers Flaunt Magazine - Just Jared
Gael Garcia Bernal Covers Flaunt MagazineJust Jared, NY - Nov 13, 2008Mexican-born star Gael Garcia Bernal takes the cover of Flaunt’s Issue No. 98: Rise & Shine, which was photographed by David Bellemere in Paris. ...
read moreDespite Julianne Moore at her best, Blindness loses its way - Times...
Times OnlineDespite Julianne Moore at her best, Blindness loses its wayTimes Online, UK - 7 hours agoUntil, that is, the arrival of the prison bad boy, Bartender (Gael García Bernal), who sets up a dictatorship in the adjacent ward and begins his own ...
read morePortman moves in with mum and dad - Stuff.co.nz
Stuff.co.nzPortman moves in with mum and dadStuff.co.nz, New Zealand - Nov 14, 2008Natalie - who has previously been romantically linked to a host of actors including Jake Gyllenhaal, Zach Braff and Gael Garcia Bernal - recently vowed to ...
read moreMarrakech unveils competition lineup - Hollywood Reporter
Marrakech unveils competition lineupHollywood Reporter, United States - Nov 3, 2008and the fest will close with anti-poverty collaborative project "8" from Jane Campion, Mira Nair, Gael Garcia Bernal, Jan Kounen, Gaspar Noe, ...
read moreWhen In Rome, Fight AIDS - Infos Jeunes France
When In Rome, Fight AIDSInfos Jeunes France, France - Oct 25, 2008Gael Garcia Bernal is predictably delicious. Alan Cumming was all about peace, Vanessa Hessler channeled a young Brooke Shields and Eva Green brought along ...
read moreThe diaries that changed a life - Examiner.com
Examiner.comThe diaries that changed a lifeExaminer.com - Nov 11, 2008In the film, Che Guevara (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) traveled from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Caracas, Venezuela with his trusty motorcycle and close ...
read moreLatino film festival starts tonight - Florida Times-Union
Latino film festival starts tonightFlorida Times-Union, FL - Nov 13, 2008Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien) directs and stars in this drama about the wealthy strata of Mexican society. The Landing. ...
read moreBlindness (2008) - Real Movie News
Blindness (2008)Real Movie News - Nov 3, 2008Madness ensues when a crazed ex-bartender (Gael Garcia Bernal) now blind king of a another ward gains power with a gun and seals up all of the food in ...
read moreAt the Movies - London Review of Books (subscription)
At the MoviesLondon Review of Books (subscription), UK - Oct 29, 2008Meirelles’s film, starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover and Gael García Bernal, is stylish and inventive at times, but keeps turning dogged, ...
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