Quién Magazine
15 May 2007
By: Marcia Frías Paulín 

At the age of two he lost his mom and at 17 he almost left performing for a girlfriend who was 15 years older than he. This he did focusing on his work. Today the successful actor and producer throws himself towards a new challenge; directing.

When one hears the name Diego Luna you can’t avoid asking if the public image of the charolastra cool guy that transmits the same behind the spotlights. And yes, but also a very talented 27-year-old, sensitive man exists, one that likes dressing well in his care-free style and who had to mature before time and be a young somewhat solitary child-adult.

We did the interview a few days before the photo session. He received us in the editing room where he finalized sound details of the movie that he is releasing as director and that he would present at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York; JC Chávez.

To see him in action catches the look, just like the scenes on the screen about the biggest boxer Mexico has had. His dad is in the room; set designer Alejandro Luna. The relationship between them is affectionate and respectful. For the actor, his father has been his biggest support since he is the only son and his mother, painter and wardrobe designer Fiona Alexander, died very young in a auto accident.

The protagonist of Y tú mamá también tells that although he is not yet ready, he wants to form a family. His desire is well-known, since his house, where we did the shooting, is not that of a bachelor, but rather a familiar space waiting to be filled.

The death of his mother at the age of two left a profound imprint on him that he took to relationships with older women and he worked on in therapy when he was 13. It is with this incident that we begin our conversation.

You were only two when your mom died. When did you say “I miss her?”
Diego: There is no before or after. It is gradual. You do not miss anything in particular. You have the sensation of absence when you compare yourself with others and you realize that you do not have something that they do. Sometimes, the idea of the loss of my mom was stronger for the people that were close to her than for me, because I never had it. I learned to speak, to live, to be like that without her.

Did you live with her family (she had five brothers)?
Diego: Not very much because they are English. Contact with them was difficult because it reminded me of my mother's absence, so I ran away from this contact.

Did you visit them in England?
Diego: Yes, many times. We know each other very well and when I was little I spent several summers there. But there was also a need not to be related to this world, with this part of myself, and as I was growing I realized that it was foolishness. They were painful trips because it reconstructed a part of myself that I didn't know. And suddenly you realize that you see yourself there, that there are many things in common.

Did you go to therapy?
Diego: Yes, like a year, when I was 13. I knew that I had an issue; that I had to resolve my mother’s death.

Did they take you or did you decided to go?
Diego: My dad had the rule of not imposing things on me, of questioning me, making me think, and once I made a decision, to support me. The psychologist told me that there was a baby Diego, a young child and an adult, and the one he couldn’t find was that of 13 year old. And I felt that. I did not identify with kids my age. I felt that my concerns had more to do with those of adults. I have often said that what I do (being an actor) is the dream of an orphan; by forming a family with who I work with.

Did you overcome the sorrow?
Diego: You do not overcome it. One learns to live with this.

What memories do you keep of your mom?
Diego: In many senses I was turning into my mother because people didn’t have her. I looked like her and was the only thing that was left in Mexico. There were phases where I did not want to known anything about her; others where I spent asking. There were times where I had too many moms. All my friends felt the need to be my mom. I have assembled the best stories of what they have told me; that she was a wonderful woman, super affectionate; bold … It’s been called upon me to gather all that seeded love.

Your first big love… They say that men relate to women depending
on how they did with their mom as a boy.
Diego: I hope it is not true because that means I am going to be alone my whole life (he laughs).

You perceive yourself as a solitary person.
Diego: Yes, yes I am solitary (lonely).

How many sentimental relationships have marked your life?
Diego: Three, although I am not going to enumerate them.

Were they women older than you?
Diego: Since I was little I got along with older people and therefore older women were attractive to me. I have already had relationships with people my age.

Were you looking for a maternal figure?
Diego: Yes, I am not going to deny Freud.

How old were you the first time your heart was broken?
Diego: 17. One never forgets that! I believed that this relationship was for life. She did not live in the DF [Distrito Federal = Mexico City] and I was ready to go away. I had already left everything. I was ready to take a suitcase and surrender to a new life and baam!, they received me with a good blow.

How old was she?
Diego: Like 15 years older than me.

Where did you meet?
Diego: Here in Mexico. She was an awesome girl. I fell in love a lot more than she did. It was the maximum thing, and in fact we continue being friends. At this time she was everything to me and I did not think twice about going away with her.

Was she married? Have children?
Diego: Well...

And what happened with you when this relationship ended?
Diego: It broke my heart but it also threw me into my work. I was returning from the worst trip of my life and on the plane I spoke to Toño Serrano (director of Sexo, pudor y lágrimas), to whom I’d already said no to for a project. He gave me an opportunity and I started working in Argos.

Did you become more solitary immediately after this affectionate disappointment?
Diego: No, I like living through my solitude suddenly.

You have a conqueror's reputation. Is it a myth?
Diego: If half of what they say was true, my life would be hell.

Tell us the qualities of the woman with whom you would form a family.
Diego: That sees life as I do, who amuses herself, values her independence... One has to be able to be alone to start being in a relationship and not on the contrary.

Paola Núñez fits this description. Why did not it work?
Diego: You say that, not me. I have never spoken about any of my partners nor will I because for me they are codes of confidence.

What does a woman have to do to conquer you?
Diego: One thing is a conquest and the other you allow her to bring. She would have to approach, be herself and have desires, that simple.

“I idealize my father”
Were you jealous of your dad’s partners?
Diego: Of course. I was pulling tricks on them and making life impossible. I was a pain
in the neck, very impulsive. They were not going to steal him from me. Wherever I was going he had to go with me. Poor thing. But I grew up and realized my bullshit.

How was the relationship with your father after you went away to live alone at the age of 16 (he sharred an apartment with Oswaldo Benavides)?
Diego : Very difficult, but they taught me to defend myself since I was a kid. I learned to live with the absence of a mother from childhood and it was a big experience. Many people leave home fleeing. I left because I felt that I had all the benefits of being an adult and it was not because I was living with my dad. I wanted to be in charge of paying the rent, what there was to eat, what was clean or dirty... It took us much time to assimilate, but from there we turned out to be much better friends.

How did your father take to having you far away?
Diego:  I told him that I was going to have a bachelor's apartment (he laughs). He was terribly afraid since the psychologists say that when there is a loss, the death of my mother, there is a frightful fear of losing another loved on. It was very sad him saying good-bye to his son, although it was also peaceful because this one was going away to defend in life. Now he is proud.

Of the education that you received, what would not you repeat with your children?
Diego : Thinking about this question I realize that I am not ready to be a dad. It is very unjust because everything that I would change is not my father’s fault. Yes, I’ve seen a few stories where you say « sons of a bitches », but in my case, it was necessary to blame someone for my education, no ? As you will realize, I idealize my father.

Would you like to form a family?
Diego: Of course, although first I have to choose who to form it with.

What are your fears?
Diego: One is to finish were I don’t want, not to be able to do what I enjoy. There are very many people that work where they don’t want, wake up with the woman they don’t want, or have children when they don’t want to. Up till now I’ve been in the right place and that’s a privilege.

Your dark side?
Diego: When I get angry, I explode. If I feel betrayed, I can be very aggressive, and not physically. What has infuriated me most is when they have used my mother’s death in order to sell. It is ghastly when they speak about that and show images.

Have you sacrificed anything for your career?
Diego: One is his own worst enemy. Sometimes I neglect my relationships for work. It’s very difficult for me to say no, then I do 25 things simultaneously and neglect the person that I love. I enjoy what I do so much that sometimes I confuse and boycott myself. Including seeing myself at 27 years old married and with children (in December he turns 28). 

Which has been your biggest education?
Diego: I have learned to be very cynical sometimes, and I say it in the good sense. I’ve learned to laugh at my fears, my misfortunes and my absences.

He throws himself into the ring
Diego has always had the desire to direct, nevertheless he had affirmed that he would not do it until he had something to say. By chances of fate, there accidentally came to him the story that he wanted to tell.

One day he traveled to Las Vegas in order to get used to the duties of the life of a boxer. When he went to see the fight of José Luis Castillo, they sat him next to Julio César and he asked him why he was not doing a movie about him. And then the adventure started, that he prepared with the testimonials of other important people who lived through the golden epoch of the champion (1988 to 1995), just when Diego was leaving adolescence and began to question things, when the country was in commotion about the murder of Colosio, the devaluation and the TLC. Among the people that he interviewed were Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Javier Solórzano, Ann Guevara, José Agustín, Mike Tyson, Don King... 

Was it difficult work to reach Salinas de Gortari? (President of Mexico 1988-1994)
Diego: He received us in the library at his house. He has the strongest personality. He is very intelligent. He fixes you in his conversation. I was nervous, but I was not the only one. Just when I said "run camera”, my sound engineer broke a lamp. It was a relic and very valuable. Fortunately he took it with humor and agility.

I had already interviewed him when I was 14 for a Televisa program when he inaugurated the Museo del Niño (The Child Museum). He was already president. I put the microphone between his staff and nobody could come out because how were they going to seize a child? When the recording was finished they took me by the belt like a bag of potatoes because I had broken protocol: I had put myself opposite where the president’s wife was going.

What did Ann Guevara seem like to you? (Mexican track and field athlete)
Diego: I realized the clear thing that you have in life and the relationship with fame. We chatted for hours on the pressure that she was feeling when she was on the verge of running for a medal and the whole country was stopping to see her. It is like to multiply what I live by two thousand.

And Mike Tyson?
Diego: I was dead with fear. It was a bath of humility of my part because he made me wait one and a half hours. For my fleas it was "how dare you!", and when I interviewed him, he was in a hurry. You want to kill him. There I understood you all. 

What did you discover in Julio César?
Diego: A very dramatic story because he has come very far and he’s also hit bottom; a life of many contrasts; an adorable person. What captivated me most was the relationship with his son and to see how fame and talent can attract so many flies and so much evil.

You also have experienced fame. By the way, what similarities did you find between Julio César and yourself?
Diego: I will never generate what he generated. He is very honest, like me. When you see it from outside, you value the fact that people see and have something to say to you. After all it is recognition of you, of your work... That served me very much because now when it happens to me, I value it more.

What would you like to leave in people?
Diego: I aspire that there is a public that wants to see my work and that are ready to listen to my stories; to love my work as I love it up to now. No more, it would be very pretentious. With that, you are now the luckiest person on the planet, no?