Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna: The Movieline Interview

In the comic melodrama Rudo y Cursi, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna (reunited onscreen for the first time since Y tu mamá también) play the titular soccer hero brothers -- and yes, Y tu mamá fans, that familial link means they don't get it on. The brotherly love in Rudo is much more competitive, a terrain that's familiar to longtime friends Bernal and Luna, not to mention Rudo director Carlos Cuaron (brother of Y tu mamá director Alfonso Cuaron). Over the course of a breezy interview with Movieline, both actors displayed a spirited sparring that was still very much in character, with Cuaron stepping in when necessary to play unconventional referee.

Gael, Diego, you guys have been directed by some of the biggest names in Spanish-language cinema...

GAEL GARCIA BERNAL: Yeah, literally! "Al-e-jan-dro Gon-zál-es Iñ-árr-i-tu..."

...and three of them were producers on Rudo. Out of those three -- including Alejandro and Alfonso -- you've acted for everybody but Guillermo del Toro. When is he finally gonna offer one of you a role in something he's directing -- or is he too busy with J.R.R. Tolkien?

BERNAL: Well, we auditioned for "El Hobbito." [laughs] Yeah, the same thing happened when we auditioned for Harry Potter [and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which Alfonso Cuaron directed]. They said, "Uh, we'll call you." And they never called us! Basically what happened with Harry Potter is that part of the audition was to fly with a broom, and we did it, but it didn't look so good because we hadn't done it in a while. [To Luna] Right?

DIEGO LUNA: Right.

BERNAL: I mean, we'd done it a few times when we were kids, but not anymore. [All three crack up]

What's the difference between Alfonso and Carlos in their approach to directing?

BERNAL: Well, I will say that if Alfonso had directed this film, he would have said things like, "OK, two minute warning!" in the soccer match. "Touchdown!"

LUNA: "And then you bring out your racquet..." Alfonso doesn't know anything about soccer, but he pretends to know, and that says a lot about them as directors. Carlos would not come to direct until he knows everything about the subject, you know? And Alfonso tells you everything you need to hear to be there. It's like, one thinks more as a writer, and the other thinks more as a director. And there's no rule on which way you have to be, but Carlos waited until everything was on the page and every answer was there. When there was confusion, he would say, "OK, let's go back to the script and the answer is there." Easy.

And with Alfonso?

LUNA: With Alfonso, he finds a lot in the moment. Also, I think Carlos is a guy who would hear everyone's opinion and decide where to go, versus Alfonso, who would shout if you even opened your mouth. [all laugh] Like, if I was the actor, Carlos would let me say anything I wanted, but with Alfonso, there's this feeling that either he's going to think you said something smart or you're going to be punished for the rest of the film!

Carlos, some people may go into this expecting a typical sports film, but nearly all of the actual soccer action happens off-screen -- often, literally out of frame as the camera focuses on a bystander's reaction instead of, say, a stunning goal. Was it like that in your script, or was that a practical consideration later on?

CARLOS CUARON: Yes, I wrote it that way. At some point, the director [in me] took over in the rewrites, and that's when I put that in...sort of.

BERNAL: The truth is, you wrote it like this and then you saw Goal...[all laugh] and you thought "Cha-ching! Cha-ching! I should rewrite it!"

CUARON: No, the truth is...you know Michael Haneke's Funny Games? It's very violent, but all the violence is off-camera. My feeling when I was writing the script was that the [soccer] was getting in the way of the drama, that it was interrupting the flow, and when I saw Funny Games, that was the answer. Why not shoot the soccer off-camera?

LUNA: From the very beginning, at the first lunch we had at that terrible restaurant, we sat down and talked about why soccer films have never worked and why they're not good. And Carlos has a good theory, saying that [soccer] is not as dramatic as other sports where there's a pause, there's a choice in every moment, the team gets together and a guy has all the pressure on him...soccer is not like that. It's beautiful and it has a flow and it lasts ninety minutes. And he made a choice -- and that's what I'm saying about how he would never have started that film without making a choice. He had it on the page.

Carlos Cuaron on the set of Rudo y Cursi

Gael and Diego, you've both directed your own movies recently. Did that change you as actors?

BERNAL: Oh, yeah.

How so? Are you more outspoken or more cooperative on set?

BERNAL: More cooperative, surprisingly.

LUNA: What do you think, Carlos?

CUARON: No, they are a pain in the ass. [all laugh]

LUNA: Became a pain in the ass, or...?

CUARON: They've always been a pain in the ass. It had nothing to do with directing.

LUNA: We have changed a lot! This guy has no idea how we've helped him.

BERNAL: Hey, it's his first film, come on.

LUNA: No, it's not like we helped him to direct this film, but we were more aware of what it takes to be directing a film. The amount of pressure you go through, the longing that directing brings to you, that's something we learned. I remember one day I had just come from doing the helicopter shot in my film -- which cost like half of my budget -- and it didn't work. It was shaky, it was terrible. And I came out of the shower and I realized I had red dots all over my body from feeling terrible. So every time I saw Carlos sweating or going through a problem, I was like, "Shit! We can stay longer [on set] if you want us!" You want to help the guy who's going through that.

Diego, what kind of response did you get from your role as Jack Lira in Milk? How was it received?

LUNA: You mean in my house, or...?

In your house, or on the street.

CUARON: How is it in San Francisco now?

LUNA: Oh, San Francisco is amazing! I love going to San Francisco now.

BERNAL: He has a "long-lost cousin" there. And he goes up there a lot to "visit his cousin." [Bernal and Cuaron laugh]

LUNA: I eat for free in many places now. That was happening in New York, with all the Mexicans in kitchens, and now it happens in San Francisco. You know, my wife kind of hated the role, but she loves that.

What did she hate about it?

LUNA: Well, he's not a very likable guy. He was a very needy person, he was everything you would hate from a partner.

BERNAL: I think that's why Sean didn't pick you [in the movie], man.

LUNA: But eventually she loved it, it was fun. I sent her many pictures when I was creating the character, and every time I came home I would receive a reward. [laughs]

Gael, later in the year you have the Lukas Moodyson film Mammoth, which recently got some boos at the Berlin Film Festival.

BERNAL: You know, it's an interesting film that creates that kind of reaction -- either you like it or you don't. Maybe it's because normally a film is manipulative in this kind of dramatic situation, but Mammoth is passive and even a bit critical. That causes great confusion sometimes with people who don't like seeing that. With Lars Von Trier's films, it's the same response. From one side or the other, you sometimes have films that are either too manipulative or too cold and distant, and I think that's what happened with this film. It creates that kind of mixed reaction.

But surely you're being offered "more manipulative" big-studio fare. Weren't you being talked about for a villainous role in the last Bourne film [that eventually went to Édgar Ramírez]?

BERNAL: [suddenly downcast] Well...

Is that a sore subject?

BERNAL: It didn't happen.

But are you interested in doing a huge blockbuster like that? So far, you haven't.

BERNAL: I wouldn't mind! I wouldn't mind. I'm actually very curious. It could be fun.

Well, maybe Guillermo will take pity on you and offer you a part in El Hobbito.

BERNAL: El Hobbito!

LUNA: For that, he would have to fight me. We're really competitive. [Taunting Bernal] I've got a callback.

BERNAL: What, with Guillermo del Taco? [all laugh] ♦