Gael García Bernal

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Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal, 2005
Born	November 30, 1978 (age 28) Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Notable roles	Octavio in Amores perros Julio Zapata in Y tu mamá también Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries

Gael García Bernal (born November 30, 1978) is a Mexican actor.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Relationships 2 Quotes 3 Selected filmography 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Gael García 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.^[1] In his later teens he took part in peaceful demonstrations during the Chiapas uprising of 1994.^[2]

[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 in the program, and take the journey. 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 Cuban 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, Alfonso Cuarón, 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 Alejandro 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

Gael García Bernal dated Natalie Portman for a year after they met at the March 2003 Oscars; neither denies the past relationship. Just after that Bernal met an English woman when he was performing Blood Wedding in London whom he dated for a while. He reportedly dated Argentine actress Dolores Fonzi; the press created an untrue rumor they were marrying in July 2006.

Bernal and Portman got back together in 2006 and were photographed together by paparazzi in July in Argentina, where Gael was filming El Pasado. The pair were also seen together in March in Toronto, and in London in October and November 2006, where Portman was working at the time. Portman's co-star Dustin Hoffman confirms in the December 2006 Elle magazine that Natalie was dating Gael while filming in Toronto.

He is a very close friend of fellow actors Diego Luna and Dolores Fonzi. [3] [4]

[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]}
• "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 discussing the Chiapas Uprising in Timeout; London

[edit] Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Déficit		Also directing and producing
2007	Rudo y Cursi
2007	El Pasado	Rímini
2006	Babel	Santiago	Oscar winner for Best Score, 7 total nominations including Best Picture
2006	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 "Che" Guevara de la Serna	Oscar winner for Best Song, nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay
2003	Dreaming of Julia	Ricky	Released as Cuban Blood in the US
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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Gaelonline.com
• Bernal Interview, 2006, Mercury News
• Bernal Interview, 2004, FindArticles
• Bernal Interview, 2004, TIMBT
• Gael García Bernal at the Internet Movie Database
• Thenitmustbetrue
• Timeout Interview