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
Gael Garcia Bernal, not put off, speaks again about Morelia attacks...
Gael Garcia Bernal, not put off, speaks again about Morelia attacksLos Angeles Times, CA - Oct 7, 2008The actor, who is currently attending Morelia's international filmfest to promote the traveling documentary festival Ambulante that he runs with Diego Luna, ...Actors Luna, Garcia Bernal reunited in 'Rudo' eTaiwan Newsall 3 news articles
read moreStarring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover ....
Starring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover ...Paste Magazine, GA - Oct 3, 2008Leads Moore and Ruffalo play their characters with a battered humanity, and enough good things cannot be said about Gael Garcia Bernal’s performance as The ..."Blindness" is a torturous adaptation that gets lost in distractions Seattle TimesIt's hard to see a point amid the artificiality Globe and Mail'Blindness': A Failed Fable Washington PostDenver Post - The Canadian Pressall 232 news articles
read more'Blindness' doesn't see straight - Sioux Ci...
'Blindness' doesn't see straightSioux City Journal, IA - 2 hours agoHe's not the changed man that Gael Garcia Bernal is as the King. Bernal registers, even though "Blindness" doesn't. It's an intriguing film, ...
read moreGael Garcia Bernal mocked for essay on Mexico attacks - Los Angeles...
Contactmusic.comGael Garcia Bernal mocked for essay on Mexico attacksLos Angeles Times, CA - Sep 24, 2008Gael Garcia Bernal, the Mexican actor and heartthrob, has responded to the bombings in the Mexican state of Michoacan last week with a column for the ...BERNAL 'SAD' AFTER MEXICAN KILLINGS Contactmusic.comall 5 news articles
read moreGael García Bernal escapes exile in Blindness - Georgia Straight
Gael García Bernal escapes exile in BlindnessGeorgia Straight, Canada - Oct 2, 2008By Ian Caddell TORONTO—Having started acting at the age of 14, Mexico's Gael García Bernal figured out early in life that if he wanted to break out of the ...
read moreMexican actor Garcia Bernal suffers country's violence from...
AFPMexican actor Garcia Bernal suffers country's violence from afarAFP - Sep 23, 2008MEXICO CITY (AFP) — Mexican cinema star Gael Garcia Bernal lamented his country's rising violence, a week after a grenade attack on revellers in his ...
read moreStarring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alice ....
Starring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alice ...Red and Black, GA - Sep 18, 2008An epidemic of "white blindness" sweeps through an entire city, affecting everyone except for a doctor's wife (Moore) who hides her lack of affliction. ...
read more'Blindness' a must-see thriller - North Wind Online
'Blindness' a must-see thrillerNorth Wind Online, MI - Oct 9, 2008Gael Garcia Bernal is also a welcome addition. Fans of foreign films may recognize him from "Y tu mamá también." Bernal plays a sadistic man bent on seizing ...
read moreMovie Guide - Explore Howard County
Movie GuideExplore Howard County, MD - 14 hours ago... direction by Fernando Meirelles ("City of God") and cast including Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal all seem impressive ...
read moreThe Movie List - Vancouver Sun
The Movie ListVancouver Sun, Canada - Oct 10, 2008Julianne Moore, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mark Ruffalo, Sandra Oh and Danny Glover star. Screenplay by Don McKellar, based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning ...
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