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Día Siete 2002
He comes by way of Revolution Avenue sidewalk. His face glued to the cell phone. His hair bleached (a semi-blond cut with little aesthetic rigor), squashed by a blue baseball cap. On his shoulder, a black backpack worn-out by use. He arrives late to the interview with Día Siete (Day Seven) [magazine] and apologizes with a disarming smile. Yes, definitively, this boy wins over the world with smiles. Overflowing friendliness comes to him, it would seem, of self confidence that infects and stuns by the minute.
He defines himself as "an old boy”. At 22 years old, with an anthropologist girlfriend that reads many books a month, he hates only pop music profoundly. Of the rest of the things that life has put in front of him, he has been able to win support. And it adds up, instead of remaining. He is Diego Luna, one of the most noteworthy actors from the new Mexican generation.
He was born on December 29 in Coyoacán. He was orphaned of a mother at the age of two and since then lives a relationship of closeness with his theatrical designer father. Of his adolescent body, of his bent walk, of his frustrated soccer vocation, of his passion for risky roles that demand the maximum acting performance, they do not guess his adventures by the luxurious hotels of Beverly Hills, not even the journalistic demands that in Spain have turned him into “the boy of the moment” of new Hispanic cinema.
It was the movie by Alfonso Cuarón, Y tu mamá también, starring next to his close friend Gael García and the Spaniard Maribel Verdú, which pushed him to the first division cinema universe. The candidacy of the movie at the Golden Globe [Awards] and the trips that he has embarked on around the world to promote the movie gave him an international projection that he lives with genuine joy.
Like Gael, Diego is a militant actor. He accepts, humbly, that “in Mexican cinema we are sold out. In Europe and the U.S. they believe things are fine because we did Amores perros and Y tu mamá también. What they don’t know is that we did those and nothing more,” he expresses with certain clamor because things should improve, cinematographically speaking. And he smiles, that’s what it’s about.
How did you become an actor? Is it a tedious, long story? Diego: Tedious not so much. Long, fortunately. I began as a child. I was 6 years old and worked in a play called De película. At that time I didn’t know I was going to be an actor my whole life, but my mother died when I was two years old and the only way of sharing a little of my father’s world, he’s is a theatrical designer, was to go to the theater with him. I never made the decision to be an actor. I saw myself on a stage and I believe that the decision consisted of not getting down from there.
However, he always demands his actor's condition in contrast to jobs that can be similar. He avoids, for example, going to television unless they offer him interesting roles... Diego: It’s that somehow I believe it’s like that. Luckily, life has given me the chance to do characters that impose challenges on me. Actors that I admire are from theater or cinema. Although I do believe that it’s possible to do worthy work in television. I have not split with that, but each time it's more difficult for the pace that television imposes on you. They give me desires to always see myself doing theater or cinema, which is where you have more of a chance of doing handmade work.
When did he feel that he was really an
actor?
And what does he feel when he shares the stage with such experienced actors like Jesús Ochoa en Las Obras Completas de William Shakespeare (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare), or with Rodrigo Murry? Diego: I enjoy it very much. When actors with so much strength deign to play with you, I become happy and glad, more than nervous. My father has a very strong presence and energy. I have always been surrounded by domineering energies and that has helped me. An experienced actor is grateful to you when you go and punch the belly just as they punch you. It is not a question of losing respect, but of losing distance.
Does he ever then feel demanded opposite an actor with more experience? Diego: Yes, I feel demanded because if you don’t get your act together they use you as rag. But I like playing tough. Also, the actors that I admire are very generous and that is very important. In the movie by Retes, for example, I met Héctor Alterio, one of the biggest actors in the world. And suddenly this gentleman, when he has you say your part, is seeing and helping you. Carmen Maura used to stay to give you the answer until the end. I believe generosity is a condition that makes good actors and that when you lose it, you stop being an actor.
Did he wonder “why me?” when he became aware that he had to grow up without a mom? Diego: No. The truth is no. My condition was that and thus it was my childhood. I am not sorry for myself and my father was always very close. Death is having to learn to live with holes; you don’t cover them with anything. It’s necessary to be able to live with our cracks, except knowing that these cracks, once they are opened, never close.
Where did he grow up? Diego: I grew up in Coyoacán, which is like a small town. I grew up in a time when it was not yet very touristy. I used to live on El Callejón del Aguacate (The Alley of the Avocado), where cars do not enter, in a rare house made by my dad. We’ve always lived like bachelors together. Well, there was always Irene, my nanny that did all the work that a pair of bachelors couldn’t do. I used to go to school and when I got out I would go to the theater. I used to love going to the UNAM rehearsals, for example.
It seems good this being a Mexican actor of the new generation... Diego: Yes, that’s true. It touched us at a good time. I believe that it departs from the good thing that is happening with Mexican cinema which is that young people are doing it. If you start watching the latest most commercial movies, they belong to very young directors. Two of them, also, are first works: Sexo, pudor y lágrimas (Sex, Shame and Tears) and Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch), that also have a completely new casting. And all that in a way in which we can presume, like in baseball, a good percentage of batting. We make very few movies. What happens is that we are leaving a very good impression and they are turning around. A view that has changed is that we are starting to sell well. We no longer make movies to see them with our friends. We actors have started travelling to present the movies, before one was only travelling to the people of IMCINE (Instituto Mexican de Cinematografaía).
He has a lot of success with girls and not exactly for his lady's man figure... Diego: It seems to me that it is because in the movies that I do, they see characters very similar to people on the street. Success consists of the fact that the public believes in your character, this character makes them feel things and provokes them. Often it provokes more things to see a character in his development than the entire beauty calendar. Now, that business about girls following me, I do not know if it is like that, nor do I know why it will be. The truth is that I don’t go to the gym. I don’t dedicate time to my body. I try to exercise other parts of my being.
And does he like giving autographs?
And does he remember when he signed his first autograph? Diego: Yes, when I was very young and doing Mi abuelo y yo (My Grandfather and Me). In this time I loved signing autographs. I think I liked it more than working on the [TV] series.
What is he filming in Spain? Diego: The movie Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamina), directed by David Trueba. My partner in the cast is Ariadna Gil. I play a Mexican university student whose grandfather is Spanish. In addition, I am going to start other one with director Maria Ripoll.
Is he a good reader?
Does he like music? Diego: Yes, I'm quite easy to satisfy in this aspect. I like electronica and old timer’s music; Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin… of course, I hate pop.
Was it difficult for him to do the sex scenes in Y tu mamá también? Diego: No, because we did not want to sell anything extraordinary. The scenes were natural and had to look the age of the character. Besides, acting is not feeling embarrassment because they see you as you are. So it was not difficult for me to undress either.
How was the experience of theatrical production
in Las Obras Completas de William Shakespeare?
It is very entertaining, the public laughs a lot. What happened to him when he read the script? Diego: I think I laughed even more than the public. It is the perfect play for any actor. It makes fun of all that do theater. Shakespeare was writing for the people and with this play we bring it back to the people.
Who of all the actors that are employed in the play deserves to do Hamlet? Diego: Me, of course, why do you doubt it? I elect myself for that role, definitely.
Is there a paternalistic relationship between you and Jesús Ochoa? It would seem that he takes care of you a lot… Diego: No, of course not. I have to take care of him (laughs). “Chucho” (Jesús, one of the most recognized Mexican actors, protagonist, among others, of [the film] Bajo California), is one of my greatest friends.
What did his father say when he saw the play? Diego: He loved it. He identified with it a lot, like the good theater man that he is.
What does it mean to be Mexican? Diego: In principle I must tell you that for me nationalism is sad. It is not necessary to carry the flag by all sides in order to feel Mexican. Mexico is a very nice country of which I like the food and especially the people that don’t ask themselves what it means to be Mexican. What I don’t like about Mexico is that the wealth is poorly distributed. And in what it has to do with our cinema, I do not like the little bit of solidarity that exists among us. The people of Mexican cinema live putting one foot in front of the other.
What does he think of drugs?
What does he think of Alejandro González Iñárritu, the director of Amores Perros? Diego: He is one of our coolest directors. I would love working with him and he knows it, so if he reads this article, perhaps I refreshed his memory.
What is your favorite sport?
Who are his favorite Mexican actors? Diego: Julieta Egurrola, Memo Gil, Daniel Giménez Cacho... Oh! There are many…
What did he feel when he found out that singer Alejandro Fernández is going to personify Emiliano Zapata in the movie by Alfonso Arau? Diego: I don’t worry about those things. Everyone must have his space and there are movies for everyone.
Your girlfriend is an actress?
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