Early life

Gael García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was young. He started acting at just a year old and spent most of his teen years starring in telenovelas. Garcia studied the International Baccalaureate, with chemistry being his favorite subject. When he was fourteen, he taught indigenous peoples in Mexico to read, often working with the Huichol people. At the age of 15, he took part in peaceful demonstrations during the Chiapas uprising of 1994.

He began studying philosophy at UNAM, Mexico's national university but, during a prolonged student strike, he decided to take a sabbatical to travel around Europe. He then moved to London, England and became the first Mexican accepted to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career

García Bernal was becoming a soap opera heartthrob. At age 19, he left Mexico's television world to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, the first person from Mexico to be accepted into the program. Briefly before this, he had begun to study philosophy at UNAM, Mexico's national university, before a strike closed the college and he left for London. Describing his time in London as 'life forming', he considered acting simply an 'odd job profession' until the Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu offered him a part in Amores Perros. His debut as a working-class dreamer in the Oscar-nominated Amores Perros was what first grabbed Hollywood's attention.

Subsequently, García Bernal starred in some of Mexico's most celebrated recent films, including 2001's Y tu mamá también (his first pairing with Diego Luna) El crimen del Padre Amaro (2002). He has also done some theatre work, including a 2005 production of Bodas de Sangre, by Federico García Lorca, in the Almeida Theatre in London.

García Bernal also portrayed Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara twice, first in the 2002 TV miniseries Fidel and then, better known, in The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), an adaptation of a journal the 23-year-old Guevara wrote about his travels across South America. García Bernal has worked for acclaimed directors including Pedro Almodóvar, Walter Salles, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Michel Gondry, and Iciar Baillin, among others. He has taken on roles in English-language films, including the Gondry-directed The Science of Sleep, the Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel, and The King, for which he earned rave reviews. He was nominated for a BAFTA in 2005 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for The Motorcycle Diaries and, in 2006, was nominated for the Orange Rising Star award, which acknowledges new talents in the acting industry.

In 2007 he was also a member of the jury of the 57th Berlin International Film Festival.

García Bernal directed his first feature film, Déficit (2007).

Pursuing musical interests, García Bernal is also featured on the 2007 Devendra Banhart album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, contributing vocals on the first track entitled "Cristobal."

García was cast for the 2008 film Blindness, an adaptation of the 1995 novel of the same name by José Saramago, winner of the Nobel Prize, about a society suffering an epidemic of blindness. As in the novel, the characters have only descriptions, no names or histories; while director Fernando Meirelles said some actors were intimidated by the concept of playing such characters, "With Gael, he said, 'I never think about the past. I just think what my character wants.'" García Bernal again paired with Diego Luna in Rudo y Cursi directed by Carlos Cuarón.

García Bernal and Diego Luna own Canana Productions. The company recently joined with Golden Phoenix Productions to produce a number of television documentaries about the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez.

In May 2010, García Bernal did a cameo appearance as himself, playing Cristiano Ronaldo in Ronaldo: The Movie for the Nike advertisement, "Write The Future".

In 2010, he co-directed with Marc Siver four short films in collaboration with Amnesty International. This tetralogy is called "Los Invisibles" about migrants from Central America in Mexico, their journey and risks, their hopes, and what they can contribute to Mexico, the US and the world. He directed the movies, did the interviews and also narrates the four short movies.

He starred in Even the Rain (2010), the official Spanish entry for the Academy Awards; it made the nine-film shortlist and received high praise from critics.

García Bernal narrated Human Planet for Hispanic audiences, which premiered on Discovery en Español on April 25, 2011 and aired on Discovery Channel in Latin America on May 12. For the third time García Bernal appeared with Diego Luna in the American Spanish-language comedy film Casa de Mi Padre, opposite Will Ferrell, where he played a feared drug lord. García Bernal's next projects include a film adaptation of José Agustín's Ciudades Desiertas and the Jon Stewart directorial biopic Rosewater, in which he portrayed Maziar Bahari to widespread critical acclaim. He starred in the 20th Century Fox reboot Zorro film called Zorro Reborn. The script is by Glen Gers, Lee Shipman, and Brian McGeevy.

In April 2014, he was announced as a member of the main competition jury at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

In June 2014, he began production as the star of the dramatic comedy "Zoom," directed by Pedro Morelli.

In 2014, he was cast in the lead role of Rodrigo in the Amazon Studios comedy-drama television series Mozart in the Jungle. His performance in the show was met with rave reviews, earning him a Golden Globe Award in 2016.

Personal life

Gael García Bernal was with his partner, Argentine actress Dolores Fonzi, from 2008 to 2014. They met on the set of "Vidas privadas" in 2001. They never married, contrary to media reports according to an interview given by Gael Garcia Bernal in Elle magazine. On Thursday, January 8, 2009, their son Lázaro was born in Madrid, Spain. Their daughter Libertad was born on April 4, 2011, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The couple ended their relationship in September 2014. He divides his time between Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Gael García Bernal helped to create the organization and film festival Ambulante A.C., which works to bring documentary films to places where they are rarely shown, and helped to create the Amnesty International Short Documentary Series Los Invisibles. For this work, he was awarded the Washington Office on Latin America's Human Rights Award in 2011.

He has described himself as "culturally Catholic but spiritually Agnostic".

Awards

Golden Globes

Año	Categoría	Serie	Resultado
2016	Best performance by an actor in a TV series musical or comedy	Mozart in the Jungle	Template:Celda

Premios Ariel

Año	Categoría	Película	Resultado
2001	Best actor	Amores Perros	Template:Celda

BAFTA Awards

Año	Categoría	Película	Resultado
2006	Estrella emergente	-	Template:Celda
2005	Mejor actor	Diarios de motocicleta	Template:Celda

Premios Goya

Año	Categoría	Película	Resultado
2002	Mejor actor de reparto	Sin noticias de Dios	Template:Celda

Premios Oye

Año	Categoría	Tema	Resultado
2009	General Popular - Revelación del Año	Quiero que me quieras	Template:Celda
2009	Tema de Telenovela, Película o Serie	Quiero que me quieras	Template:Celda

Anexo:Premios El Heraldo de México|Premios El Heraldo de México

Año	Categoría	Película	Resultado
2001	Mejor actor	Y tu mamá también	Template:Celda

Premios Juventud

Año	Categoría	Película	Resultado
2010	¡Qué Actorazo!	Rudo y cursi	Template:Celda

Festival Internacional de Cine de Venecia

Año	Categoría	Película	Resultado
2001	Premio Marcello Mastroianni a la interpretación revelación (compartido con Diego Luna)	Y tu mamá también	Template:Celda

Premios ACE New York

Año	Categoría	Tema	Resultado
2005	Mejor actor	Diarios de motocicleta	Template:Celda

Premios Mayahuel de Plata

Año	Categoría	Tema	Resultado
2009	Trayectoria cinematográfica	El mismo	Template:Celda

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Teresa	Peluche	Recurring role
1992	El abuelo y yo	Daniel Garcia Medina	Lead role
2000	Queen of Swords	Churi	"Honor Thy Father" (season 1, episode 8)
2006	Soy tu fan	Emilio	"¡Que viva México!" (season 1, episode 8)
2014—present	Mozart in the Jungle	Rodrigo	Lead role Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy Image Foundation Award for Best Actor - Television

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	De tripas, corazón	Martín	Short film
2000	Amores perros	Octavio	Ariel Award for Best Actor Silver Hugo Award for Best Actor Premio ACE for Best Actor
2000	Cerebro
2001	Bendito Infierno	Davenport	Cinema Writers Circle Award for Best Actor Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor
2001	The Last Post	José Francisco	BAFTA Nomination for Best Short Film
2001	Vidas privadas	Gustavo "Gana" Bertolini
2001	Y tu mamá también	Julio Zapata	Valdivia International Film Festival — Best Actor Venice International Film Festival — Marcello Mastroianni Award Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
2001	El ojo en la nuca	Pablo Urrutia	Honorary Foreign Student Oscar Award
2002	Fidel	Ernesto "Che" Guevara
2002	El Crimen del Padre Amaro	Padre Amaro	Ariel Award for Best Actor Premio ACE for Best Actor MTV Movie Award for Favorite Actor Nominated-Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Sexiest Scene
2003	Cuba Libre	Ricky	Released as Cuban Blood in the US
2003	Dot the I	Kit Winter
2004	Bad Education	Ángel/Juan/Zahara	Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival — Jury Award Glitter Award for Best Actor Valdivia International Film Festival — Best Actor Cinema Writers Circle Award for Best Actor Spanish Actors Union Award for Lead Film Performance
2004	The Motorcycle Diaries	Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna	Premio ACE for Best Actor Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture
2005	The King	Elvis
2006	Babel	Santiago	Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Palm Springs International Film Festival Award — Ensemble Cast Award San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Nominated—ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor - Motion Picture Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated—Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2006	The Science of Sleep	Stéphane	French film, written and directed by Michel Gondry
2007	Déficit	Cristobal	Also director/producer
2007	El Pasado	Rímini
2008	Blindness	King of Ward 3	Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film
2008	Rudo y Cursi	Tatto
2009	Sin Nombre
2009	Mammoth	Leo Vidales
2009	The Limits of Control	Mexican
2009	8 - 'The Letter'	-	Producer/writer/director Only
2010	Los Invisibles
2010	Letters to Juliet	Victor
2010	Even the Rain	Sebastián	Premio ACE for Best Supporting Actor Palm Springs International Film Festival Award — Ensemble Cast Award
2010	José and Pilar	Himself	Documentary about José Saramago (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1998)
2011	Miss Bala	Producer from Canana Films
2011	A Little Bit of Heaven	Julian Goldstein
2011	Casa de Mi Padre	Onza
2011	The Loneliest Planet	Alex
2012	No	René Saavedra
2013	Deserted Cities	Eligio
2013	Who is Dayani Cristal?	Himself
2014	The Ardor	Kaí
2014	Cesar Chavez	Cameo	Also producer
2014	Rosewater	Maziar Bahari
2015	El aula vacía	Narrator	Also producer; film directed by 10 directors
2015	Desierto
2015	ZOOM		Edward
2016	Neruda

[ Source: Wikipedia ]