Born: December 29, 1979
Age: 44
Birthplace: Mexico City, Mexico
Diego Luna Alexander (born December 29, 1979) is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también and supporting roles in American films, including Rudo y Cursi, The Terminal, Elysium and Milk. He also starred with Romola Garai in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights and provides the Spanish language narration for the National Geographic Channel documentary Great Migrations.
Luna was born in Mexico City, the son of Fiona Alexander, a British costume designer and Alejandro Luna, a Mexican set designer who is one of the most acclaimed living theatre, cinema and opera set designers in Mexico. His mother died in a car accident when he was two years old. She had worked in the film industry and had made sure that this was a life in which Luna would be immersed. His father also reinforced the importance of theater and the arts in his life. When Luna was a child his father would bring him to the sets and mentor him in different aspects of art, furthering in him a desire to become an actor and uphold the family tradition. Luna wed Mexican actress Camila Sodi on February 5, 2008 and they had a son Jerónimo (born on August 9, 2008) and a daughter, Fiona (born July 1, 2010) who is named after Luna's late mother. They announced their separation in March 2013. He and Gael García Bernal co-founded Ambulante A.C., their organization and film festival that works to bring documentary films to places where they are rarely shown. Ambulante was awarded the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) prestigious Human Rights Award in 2011. Luna now sits on WOLA's Board of Directors, and in January 2015 he narrated a WOLA video examining the barriers that Mexican migrant children fleeing violence in their home country face to seeking refuge in the United States.
From an early age, Luna began acting in television, film and stage, his film debut was Antonieta (1982). His next role was in the telenovela El Abuelo y Yo (1992) with his childhood best friend, Gael García Bernal. In 1995, he played the role of Laura León's troubled son Quique in the Mexican soap opera El premio mayor. Luna had his big break, when he was cast in the critically acclaimed Y tu mamá también (2001), once again alongside Bernal. He currently made a name for himself in the United States market, having starred alongside Jon Bon Jovi in Vampires: Los Muertos (2002) and the Academy Award-winning Frida (2002). He was also in the western Open Range, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, The Terminal and Criminal. In 2008, he starred in the Harvey Milk biopic Milk as his emotionally unstable lover, Jack Lira. Luna and Bernal own Canana Productions which is recently joined with Golden Phoenix Productions (owned by producer Tom Golden of Hot Springs, Arkansas) to jointly produce a number of television documentaries about the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juárez. For the fourth time, Luna and Bernal starred in the American Spanish-language comedy film Casa de Mi Padre with Will Ferrell. In 2011, Luna played the male lead in Katy Perry's music video, "The One That Got Away". In June 2012, he began directing his first English-language film Cesar Chávez, a biopic about the life of American labor eponymous leader, who founded the United Farm Workers. In March 2015, he joins the cast for Ana Lily Amirpour's cannibal romance film The Bad Batch. In 2016 he was a member of the jury for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1982 | Antonieta | N/A | Uncredited |
1999 | A Sweet Scent of Death | Ramón | |
2000 | Before Night Falls | Carlos | |
2001 | Y tu mamá también | Tenoch Iturbide | |
2002 | Frida | Alejandro 'Alex' | |
2002 | Vampires: Los Muertos | Sancho | |
2003 | Nicotina | Lolo | |
2003 | Soldados de Salamina | Gastón | |
2003 | Open Range | Button | |
2004 | Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights | Javier Suarez | |
2004 | The Terminal | Enrique Cruz | |
2004 | Criminal | Rodrigo | |
2006 | Only God Knows | Damián | |
2006 | Fade to Black | Tommaso Moreno | |
2006 | Un mundo maravilloso | Reportero en Estocolmo | |
2007 | El Búfalo de la Noche | Manuel | |
2007 | Mister Lonely | Michael Jackson | |
2008 | Just Walking | Gabriel | |
2008 | Rudo y Cursi | Beto | |
2008 | Milk | Jack Lira | |
2012 | Contraband | Gonzalo | |
2012 | Casa de Mi Padre | Raul | |
2013 | Elysium | Julio | |
2014 | Cesar Chávez | N/A | Director and producer |
2014 | The Book of Life | Manolo Sanchez (voice) | |
2015 | Blood Father | Jonah | |
2016 | Mr. Pig | N/A | Director |
2016 | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Captain Cassian Andor | Filming |
2016 | The Bad Batch | John | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | Carrusel | N/A | Episode #1.1 |
1995 | El premio mayor | Quique Domínguez | Recurring |
2002 | Fidel | Renato Guitart | Television film |
2010 | Great Migrations | Narrator | Miniseries |
2013 | American Dad! | Mauricio (voice) | Episode: Poltergasm |
2015 | Casanova | Giacomo Casanova | Amazon Studios pilot |
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2011 | "The One That Got Away" | Artist Boyfriend |
Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Premio Marcello Mastroianni Award | Best Actor | Y tu mamá también | Won |
MTV Movie Awards | Best Insult | Won | ||
Best Kiss | Nominated | |||
2004 | MTV Movie Awards | Favorite Actor, Best Performance and Worst Smoker | Nicotina | Won |
Best Turn-On Performance | Nominated | |||
Best Performance | Open Range | Nominated | ||
2009 | Cinema Writers Circle Awards | Best Actor | Just Walking | Nominated |
Goya Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | ||
Silver Ariel Award | Best Actor | Rudo y Cursi | Nominated | |
Screen Actors Guild Awards | Best Ensemble | Milk | Nominated | |
Critics Choice Award | Best Ensemble | Won | ||
2012 | Imagen Award | Best Supporting Actor/Feature Film | Casa de mi Padre | Won |
2014 | Audience Award | Narrative Spotlight | Cesar Chavez | Won |