Actor, b. October 30, 1978, Guadalajara, Mexico.

Gael Garcia Bernal began stage acting as a child in Mexico with his parents before taking a journey to London, England to study at the Central School for Speech and Drama. There he learned to refine his craft as well as to speak English. From there it was back to Mexico, where he appeared in soap operas and short films before his feature film debut in Amores Perros ("Love's A Bitch"). A couple years later he gained worldwide critical attention for his role as Julio Zapata in Y Tu Mama Tambien. A star was born.

Gael Garcia would continue making movies, such as Don't Tempt Me and The Crime of Padre Amaro, both of which actually have titles in Spanish. He then gained notice again for his portrayal of Che Guevara in the television miniseries Fidel. This would impress enough of the right people and Gael Garcia Bernal would be selected to portray Che Guevara again in the upcoming feature film, The Motorcycle Diaries.

Young, talented and accused of being rather attractive, the future of this man seems unlimited at this point in time. This information will be updated as developments require.


"You don't understand Latinos and you're married to one.
You never will, you can't, because you're an American."

Watching the 75th Academy Awards ceremony with my wife, I found myself more interested in what would be said in regards to current events than who would win what. I was also very interested because I heard Olivia de Havilland was going to make a rare appearance, and as far as I'm concerned she is the most beautiful woman that ever lived, but I digress...

I liked Gael Garcia Bernal in Y Tu Mama Tambien, but the truth is, I never would have seen it had my wife not insisted. I didn't think much about him afterwards though. It was a very good movie and I watch a lot of movies.

When Gael Garcia Bernal appeared on stage during the Oscars, I was glad to see him. I like seeing someone other than the usual suspects floating around during these Hollywood love fests. He came introduce music from the award nominated movie, Frida, about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. What happened then was, in my mind, the most memorable and moving moment in the history of the Academy Awards.

While most of the media has focused on the outburst of another outspoken individual, the performance of Gael Garcia Bernal has been largely overlooked. I cannot even locate a transcript of his exact words, but even that would not convey the message. You cannot translate real emotion into simple words, no matter how poetic they become, and poetry would be necessary in this case.

"We feel things in a different way than you do.
We have a different kind of passion."

We talk about movies and what they mean and about their message. We talk about the concepts and the people as if they are simple cogs in the wheel of our history and society. Sometimes we are moved by them. Sometimes we are moved to tears, sometimes to laughter, sometimes to thought. How moved are we, really?

My wife would later talk about how important it was to Salma Hayek that the movie Frida, in which she starred, got recognition. As an American I fell to the tendency to laugh and talk about residuals and video rentals. This was a movie Salma Hayek fought to get made because it meant something to her. This was a movie that meant something to Gael Garcia Bernal. It meant something to them that I am incapable of understanding.

When talking about the song, "Burn It Blue" from the film Frida, Gael Garcia Bernal began to choke up. There was real emotion and I was moved by that alone. He pulled himself together and made a statement regarding current events, and he did it with such class and grace that it would have been impossible to boo him. We watch movies and we cheer movies and we root for the protagonist to succeed. Gael Garcia managed to wrap that concept around itself. Is a movie just a movie or do you really believe in what it is about?

To stand and state, obviously not reading from prepared cards, as so many were, that if Frida Kahlo were alive today, "she would be on our side, the side of peace," galvanized the room. Like a movie, you need to think and feel and understand what is being said.

Sometimes I think that as an American I suffer from a lack of cultural emotion. It is all supposed to be so black and white. My wife talks about how the long festival her country, Costa Rica, holds at Christmas would be turned into a theme park if the Americans had their way. More money and more exposure are good things to us. Yes, she came to the United States because her career goals were unobtainable in Costa Rica. There is no real fashion design industry there. Does this mean her country is insignificant?

We think, we act, and we do. I think that perhaps the answers I seek were delivered by Gael Garcia Bernal on the night of March 23, 2003. I don't understand how other people in the world with different cultures think, act and do and I have no right to pretend that I do. I feel like an empty vessel. I wish I could be filled.


Oh, and Olivia de Havilland is still beautiful.

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