Gael García Bernal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal in 2017
Born	(1978-11-30) 30 November 1978 (age 46) Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Education	National Autonomous University of Mexico Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (BA) European Graduate School
Occupation	Actor filmmaker
Years active	1989–present
Children	3
Parents	José Ángel García (father) Patricia Bernal (mother)
Relatives	Darío Yazbek Bernal (half-brother)

Gael García Bernal (born November 30, 1978) is a famous Mexican actor and filmmaker. He is well-known for his roles in movies like Amores perros (2000), Y tu mamá también (2001), The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), and Coco (2017), where he voiced the character Héctor. He also starred in the TV series Mozart in the Jungle (2014–2018) and the Disney+ special Werewolf by Night (2022).

In 2005, Gael was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for playing a young Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries. He won his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 2016 for his role in Mozart in the Jungle. Gael and his friend, actor Diego Luna, started a film production company called Canana Films in Mexico City. In 2016, Time magazine included him in their list of the 100 most influential people. In 2020, The New York Times named him one of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.

Early life and education

Gael García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. His mother, Patricia Bernal, is an actress and former model, and his father, José Ángel García, was an actor and director. Gael started acting when he was just one year old. He spent most of his teenage years starring in telenovelas, which are popular Latin American soap operas. Gael and his frequent co-star, Diego Luna, have been friends since they were kids in Mexico City.

When he was fourteen, Gael helped teach native people in Mexico how to read, often working with the Huichol people. At fifteen, he joined peaceful protests to support the Zapatista uprising in 1994.

He began studying philosophy at UNAM, Mexico's national university. Later, he moved to London and became the first Mexican student accepted into the Central School of Speech and Drama. He also studied at the European Graduate School.

Career highlights

After his success in telenovelas, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu offered Gael a role in his first feature film, Amores perros (2000). The movie received great reviews and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

His next big role was in Alfonso Cuarón's Y tu mamá también (2001). This film became very popular in the United States and helped Gael become known internationally. The following year, Gael played Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara in the 2002 TV miniseries Fidel. He also starred as Father Amaro in the Mexican hit film El crimen del Padre Amaro (2002).

Gael played Che Guevara again in The Motorcycle Diaries (2004). This movie was based on a journal Che Guevara wrote about his travels across South America when he was 23. The film broke box office records and earned Gael a BAFTA nomination in 2005 for Best Actor.

He has worked with famous directors like González Iñárritu, Pedro Almodóvar, Walter Salles, and Alfonso Cuarón. Gael has also acted in English-language films, including The Science of Sleep and The King, where he received excellent reviews.

Gael directed his first feature film, Déficit, which came out in 2007. In 2008, he starred in Blindness, a film based on a famous novel about a society where everyone suddenly goes blind. Gael also teamed up with Diego Luna again in Rudo y Cursi, directed by Carlos Cuarón.

Gael and Diego Luna own a production company called Canana Films. They have produced TV documentaries about important social issues. In 2010, Gael co-directed four short films called "Los Invisibles" with Marc Siver. These films, made with Amnesty International, are about migrants traveling through Mexico. He directed, interviewed people, and narrated these films.

In April 2014, Gael was chosen to be a judge for the main film competition at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. In 2014, he began starring as Rodrigo de Souza in the Amazon Studios comedy-drama TV series Mozart in the Jungle. His acting in this show was highly praised and won him a Golden Globe Award in 2016.

In 2017, he was a judge at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. That same year, he provided the voice of Héctor, a friendly trickster character, in the Pixar animated film Coco.

Gael also founded The Ambulante Documentary Film Festival. This festival helps bring documentary films to places where they are not usually shown. For his work, he received the Washington Office on Latin America's Human Rights Award in 2011.

In 2021, Gael starred in the thriller Old. In November 2021, he was cast in the Disney+ special Werewolf by Night by Marvel Studios, playing the main character, Jack Russell. In 2024, he starred alongside his close friend Diego Luna in the Hulu miniseries La Máquina.

Personal life

Gael García Bernal and Argentine actress Dolores Fonzi met while filming Private Lives in 2001. They had a son in 2009 and a daughter in 2011. Gael divides his time between Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Since 2019, he has been in a relationship with Mexican journalist Fernanda Aragonés. They had a child together in 2021. Gael has said that he is "culturally Catholic but spiritually agnostic," meaning he grew up with Catholic traditions but doesn't follow a specific religion.

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	De tripas, corazón	Martín	Short film
2000	Amores perros	Octavio
	Cerebro	Iván	Short film
2001	Don't Tempt Me	Davenport
	The Last Post	José Francisco	Short film
	Vidas privadas	Gustavo "Gana" Bertolini
	Y tu mamá también	Julio Zapata
	El ojo en la nuca	Pablo Urrutia	Short film
2002	Fidel	Ernesto "Che" Guevara
	I'm with Lucy	Gabriel
	The Crime of Father Amaro	Padre Amaro
2003	Cuba Libre	Ricky
	Dot the I	Kit Winter
2004	Bad Education	Ángel / Juan / Zahara
	The Motorcycle Diaries	Ernesto "Che" Guevara
2005	The King	Elvis Valderez
2006	Babel	Santiago
	The Science of Sleep	Stéphane
2007	Déficit	Cristobal	Also director and producer
	The Past	Rímini
2008	8	N/A	Director, writer and producer; Segment: "The Letter"
	Blindness	King of Ward 3
	Rudo y Cursi	Tatto
2009	Sin Nombre	N/A	Producer
	Mammoth	Leo Vidales
	The Limits of Control	Mexican
2010	Los Invisibles
	Letters to Juliet	Victor
	Even the Rain	Sebastián
	José and Pilar	Himself	Documentary
2011	Miss Bala	N/A	Producer
	A Little Bit of Heaven	Julian Goldstein
	Casa de mi padre	Onza
	The Loneliest Planet	Alex
2012	No	René Saavedra
	Vamps	Diego Bardem
2013	Paradise	-	Producer
	Who is Dayani Cristal?	Himself	Documentary
2014	The Ardor	Kaí
	Cesar Chavez	Himself	Cameo; Also producer
	Rosewater	Maziar Bahari
2015	The Empty Classroom	Narrator	Documentary; Also producer
	Desierto	Moises
	Zoom	Edward Deacon
	Eva Doesn't Sleep	Emilio Eduardo Massera
2016	Madly	N/A	Director and writer; Segment: "The Love of My Life"
	Neruda	Oscar Peluchoneau
	Salt and Fire	Dr. Fabio Cavani
	You're Killing Me Susana	Eligio
2017	If You Saw His Heart	Daniel
	Coco	Héctor Rivera (voice)
2018	The Kindergarten Teacher	Simon
	Museum	Juan Nuñez	Also executive producer
	The Accused	Mario Elmo
2019	Birders	N/A	Executive producer
	Chicuarotes	N/A	Director
	Ema	Gastón
	It Must Be Heaven	Himself
	Wasp Network	Gerardo Hernández
2021	Old	Guy Cappa
2022	This One Summer	Thiago
2023	Cassandro	Cassandro
	The Mother	Hector Álvarez
2024	Another End	Sal
TBA	Holland, Michigan	0TBA	Post-production
	The Ballad of the Phoenix	King Terrowyn (voice)	In production

Television

Awards and recognition

Gael García Bernal at the Guadalajara Film Festival

Ariel Award

BAFTA Awards

Cannes Film Festival

Golden Globe Awards

Goya Awards

Other honors

Discography

Collaborations

Soundtracks

See also

In Spanish: Gael García Bernal para niños