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There are no cheerleaders, no apple pies, nor any sight of Freddie Prinze Jr. in the teen road-trip movie Y Tu Mama Tambien. But Diego Luna is hoping American audiences will still go along for the ride. In his native Mexico, the film is a blockbuster that has censors going nuts, kids scheming to get in and parents refusing to believe their precious darlings could be anything like the movie's horny pot-smoking teens, Tenoch (Luna) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal.)
Despite the subtitles and cultural differences (including scenes steamier than anything at your cineplex), Tenoch and Julio could be your average American teens on summer break. Sex consumes their thoughts when they invite the wife of Tenoch's cousin to the beach, but what they get out of the trip is much more than nookie.
Only 19, Diego Luna was already a popular soap-opera star in his own country before taking on the role of Tenoch. An actor since the age of seven, he has worked almost exclusively in Mexico in TV, film and theater. He was cast in a soap opposite Bernal at the age of 12, and the two became fast friends.
But Hollywood has been beckoning, and Luna scored small roles in Before Night Falls, John Carpenter's Vampires and Showtime's Fidel. His recognition factor, and his ability to score better tables at restaurants, is likely to increase with his role in the upcoming Frida, starring opposite fellow Mexican Salma Hayek.
Which got us to wondering...
The guys in the movie spend an awful lot of time, uh, pounding the piņata, and in one scene it's with Salma in mind. Does she know about this little shout-out?
Diego: "Salmita, little Salma. She knew. Alfonso [Cuaron, the director] asked her if we could do it, and she asked who was playing the roles--and then she agreed. I think it's great because more than 80 percent of Mexicans have done it with Salma in mind. It was very funny."
Tenoch spends a lot of time naked. Is he comfortable with nude scenes?
Diego: "Very comfortable. Gael and I used to say it's like getting into a very cold pool: You have to jump in and not think about it, then once you're in the pool, you don't want to get out."
Was it tough not to get excited during the sexy scenes with Maribel Verdu?
Diego: "Actually, it's very difficult to get excited when you're acting these kinds of scenes. There are a lot of people around and there are a lot of things that you have to be thinking about. It's great that everyone thinks we were having sex, because then we were doing our jobs right. But it wasn't real. It's the most impersonal thing doing a sex scene. Now, I get hot when I see the scenes--but not while I was acting."
What was it like making the movie with his friend Bernal?
Diego: "It was easy. We shared a lot of things, and we gave the characters the chemistry between us. But sometimes it was difficult, because when you're acting you want to go very far from who you are and having your friend there reminds you of who you are. We wanted to create characters, we didn't want it to be us having fun in a movie."
In Mama, Tenoch is pretty inexperienced in the sack. Has that ruined his reputation?
Diego: "I've been fighting to have longer sessions my whole life, and now they ask me to do the opposite. [Laughs.] It was acting! Acting! And I think my timing is good."
Tenoch and Julio live their lives by some pretty interesting rules. Does he abide by them? Diego: "I agree with some of them, like that you can do whatever you want with your life, and I agree that the Dallas football team [Club America] sucks. And please don't screw the girl of another guy."