Gael García Bernal

Two hours with Gael García Bernal, anyone? The Mexican actor only made one film last year, the Spanish-language No with director Pablo Larraín. Larraín is a well known in his native Chile, which was been the subject of two of his films so far. No is the third in a planned trilogy about his homeland, and it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this week.

• Who's behind it? Director Pablo Larraín rounded up a group of actors he usually works with, including Antonia Zegers and Alfredo Castro, for the project. Bernal came in as his leading man to round out the cast. Sony Pictures Classics has picked up North American distribution rights for No.
• What's it about? The picture is set in 1988, the year Chileans were able to vote in a referendum for or against continuing the 16-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Gael plays René Saavedra, an ad man who accepts the potentially dangerous job of spearheading the TV campaign for the people against Pinochet — those who will vote "no" in the election. He's tasked with finding a unique and novel way to get the message across. René also has some family issues and is focused on raising a young son after separating from his wife.

To find out what we thought of the movie, just read more

Gael Garcia Bernal is one of the celebrities at Cannes this year, and he's been busy talking up and celebrating his new film No. The picture is set in 1988, the year the Chilean people ousted dictator General Pinochet through a democratic vote. Gael plays René Saavedra, an ad man who accepts the potentially dangerous job of spearheading the TV campaign for the people against Pinochet, those who will vote "no" in the election.

Reviews of Gael's No have been quite good, and both he and director Pablo Larraín confessed to being really excited about the response. Pablo told us he cast the "wonderful" Gael as the leading man in the film because Gael has the mysteriousness to play René, a job that had to carry the whole production. Gael spoke about the challenges of creating a movie based on real events, his plans for a break, and how his career decisions are affected by his two kids, 1-year-old daughter Libertad and 3-year-old son Lázaro. Gael said:

• On the challenges of making a movie based on a true story: "Any film is an interpretation of what happened, whether or not you're doing a true story. And in this film, we're doing a bio-film but a complete free interpretation where my character didn't exist. He's an amalgam of two characters, Garcia and Salcedo, who actually were the main publicists in the 'No' campaign."
• On going full '80s in the film: "It's funny because now we laugh a lot. Always in retrospective, things that we took so seriously look so funny. The fashion, the microwave oven fascination — I remember when the microwave oven came out. I remember my mother talking about it . . . and it was like, 'What is that?' Nobody understood it. Invisible heat?!"
• On how his life is way different now from the '80s: "We were fascinated by the TV as well. Because TV was such a big part of our lives back then. Now it's not so. For me it's not a big part at all, not for the last fifteen years. Only for football games and maybe the news. I don't watch TV at all. Before it used to be everybody. It was the only way you'd get the news, apart from newspapers."
• On family time: "Last year I only did No, this film. I do produce stuff in my company in Mexico, and help out with a documentary film festival that we have. And that takes a lot of time. But I fortunately have the time to take it easy and spend the quality time that one should spend with their kids."
• On if being a parent affects his career choices: "For the first time, yeah. There is one project that is there, maybe, and I think about it because I know that my kids are going to like it."

Just in time for Will Ferrell's appearance on The Office, we get to take a peek at his Spanish-language film, Casa de mi Padre. It's everything we expected (and maybe just a teensy bit more): a full-on telenovela spoof, complete with sexo (that's sex to you), guns blazing, and slapping a-plenty. Despite the language barrier, Ferrell's character doesn't seem too far off his typical schmoes, but it's pretty entertaining to see Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna rise to the occasion and ham it up.

I couldn't help chuckling at the trailer, but I'm still a little wary of how this is going to pan out into a full-length film — it seems better suited to a four-minute Funny or Die sketch. Regardless, there's no denying that they deserve points for creativity. Watch it and weigh in when you read more

I know it's Monday, so your brain may not be fully functioning yet, but here's some heavy material for it to digest. In this newly released trailer for the Spanish film Even the Rain, Gael García Bernal stars as Sebastián, a filmmaker who travels to Bolivia for his latest project: a movie which recreates the colonization of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. But while Sebastián makes his film, he begins to realize that not much has changed from Columbus's day. The local people who work as his extras are fighting the government for affordable water, and Sebastián starts to question his own exploitative way of doing business.

This is definitely a film that wants to make viewers think, and think hard. I'm already incredibly moved by the preview, which feels like a documentary in parts. Give it a look, and share your thoughts after the jump.

How do you make a romantic comedy about cancer? According to A Little Bit of Heaven (formerly titled Earthbound), you take a noncommittal woman named Marley (Kate Hudson), diagnose her with cancer, make her fall for her doctor (Gael Garcia Bernal), et voilà! If the film's formulaic setup doesn't already have you rolling your eyes, just wait until Marley swings by heaven (you can tell it's heaven by the cloud backdrop, duh) and talks to Whoopi Goldberg God. Even if it's just a dream sequence, it's still pretty cringe-worthy.

This trailer rolls out one romantic comedy cliché after another, but I'm not giving up on the film entirely. Hudson's chemistry with Bernal has potential (though it might not be as hot as her real life love life with Matt Bellamy). Take a look at the preview, and share your verdict after the jump.

Gael Garcia Bernal better get ready to hit the gym, because the actor's next role is going to require some serious training. He's set to play Roberto Duran in Hands of Stone, an upcoming biopic about the famous boxer (who often faced off with Sugar Ray Leonard). Al Pacino is also in talks to play his trainer. The film hasn't been fully greenlit yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed to see Bernal sink his teeth into something more high profile than his usual fare. Now, who can Diego Luna play?

Gael Garcia Bernal shared the happy news on Saturday that he and girlfriend Dolores Fonzi are expecting their second child, and yesterday they took a stroll in Buenos Aires to celebrate with their 20-month-old son, Lazaro. The family is in Dolores's home city during a break from work for Gael, who appeared on the big screen earlier this year in the critically underwhelming movie Letters to Juliet. Gael has another shot at film success, though, in Will Ferrell's upcoming Spanish-language comedy. The movie will see Gael reunite with his real-life BFF, Diego Luna, who's also turning out to be quite a family man.

Two of my favorite movie and real-life BFFs, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, are reuniting on screen yet again, and this time it's in the name of Will Ferrell. The two have been cast in Ferrell's Spanish-language comedy Casa de Mi Padre (yes, Ferrell's Spanish-language comedy. Don't worry, there will be subtitles).

The Y Tu Mamá También and Rudo y Cursi costars sound like they have fairly big parts; Luna will play Ferrell's brother, and Garcia Bernal will play a family friend. Luna and Garcia Bernal starring in a mainstream comedy? Thank you, movie casting gods. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.