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AN INTERVIEW WITH:
GAEL GARCIA BERNAL
by Peter Sobczynski

October 6, 2004

After capturing the attention of moviegoers with his standout performance in "Amores Perros", actor Gael Garcia Bernal became a worldwide sensation with his role in the international hit "Y Tu Mama Tambien". That part made him one of the most
recognizable Latin American actors around and his profile is sure to go up even higher this fall with his starring roles in two eagerly awaited projects, Walter Salles's current release "The Motorcycle Diaries", in which he plays a young Che Guevara on a road trip through his country that would open his eyes to those around him and help transform him into the controversial revolutionary leader, and Pedro Almodovar's upcoming melodrama "Bad Education". While on a recent tour to promote "The Motorcycle Diaries", Bernal sat down to answer a few quick questions about the film and the challenges of playing such a
legendary figure.

THE INTERVIEW

What has it been like to screen "The Motorcycle Diaries" for audiences in the U.S., where Che Guevara may not be as well-known, especially with younger people, as he is in South America?

Not only for young audiences-for mature audiences as well, the knowledge of Che Guevara has been demonized and perverted in a way through ignorance. Now, the Cuban revolution is hardly even taught in schools even though it was such a recent episode in history. At the same time, there has been an immediate response to the universality of such a story that it touched people. It is a journey of discovery and finding one's identity that became special because it was the beginning of the conscience of Che Guevara. He could be anybody at that age-any 23-year-old Latin American traveling around his country. We've all been young and we have all been on a search for discovery. Therefore, people empathize a lot and they want to know more about the character and who this person was. It was good to go back and analyze and revisit history this way to understand
why we are where we are now.

How does being an actor allow you to take that kind of journey as a person?

Acting, like any other job, is a path to wisdom. Acting, in its very own special and beautiful way, offers it to you in a completely different way by taking the lives of other people and creating some kind of character that doesn't really exist but you can make it so convincing that he might as well really exist. You get to learn a lot about the human condition as well as yourself. Sometimes you are aware of that but sometimes you aren't and it is a wasted opportunity. It is so enjoyable, that process of investigation that you can do with a character, and sometimes that process is completely thrown away on certain films and it is very sad when that happens.

In playing a real-life person like Ernesto Guevara, did you find yourself approaching the role in a different way because he was a real person-especially one so controversial both then and now-in order to balance what you need to do as an actor with the responsibilities of playing such a figure?

There is a different responsibility, especially with a character like this. He is one of the major figures in history who has had a lot to do with who I am. The Second World War was an important event of my life but at the same time, the life of Guevara is perhaps even closer and more relevant. He was a person who shaped the country that I was born in and the thought process and ideologies of Latin America was based on the Cuban revolution. Therefore, it is a great responsibility-not only for myself but also because of what he means to people around the world.

You have just finished your first American film, "The King" with William Hurt. How would you compare working in Hollywood to your experience in the world of Latin American cinema and do you plan on working on further projects in this country, especially in regards to the types of roles usually offered to Latino performers?

If by "Hollywood", you mean everything made in the United States then yeah, it is Hollywood. "The King" has a $1.5 million budget, which is nothing here but it is about what "Amores Perros" cost. Here, you get less for that money while in Mexico, you can make it look like a big film. Here, you get to use very little of that money because of the cost of insurance and stuff like that. The experience was kind of the same because nobody was there because of the money. It was the first time that I had a place to change my clothes, the first time I had a trailer. That was really comfortable. With plans for working in the United States, there is nothing concrete. The prejudice might exist and things might happen like that. At the same time, I'm sure that
Salma Hayek wouldn't say no to playing a housekeeper in a story that was interesting, although housekeepers rarely have the looks of Salma Hayek. What I mean is that I don't hold any prejudices against doing certain roles. I wouldn't have a problem doing a film where I was playing a janitor. I do have a judgment with characters that become the wacky ethnic sidekick. Why should they use you in that way? That is something that I don't have any particular interest in. There are more interesting things-things like "The Motorcycle Diaries" and "Bad Education"-and they fall more into place with what I want to tell.

-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Copyright © 2004 Peter Sobczynski
All rights reserved.
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