In his house in Mexico there is only a bed, a fridge and a poof.
But the scarcity of objects does not bother him. On the contrary, he knows it is
the beginning of something that will be his and that can be big. With this
sensation of relief and plenitude, of certainty and absolute confidence, we chat
with Diego Luna. First in his house, then at a party, by phone, in the street
and seated, and finally on the couch of his antique house.
Diego Luna’s life has
changed radically in the last two years. In 2003 his agenda was filled, for the
first time in his career, to the ceiling. He did not come to Mexico any more
than a month and a half the whole year. He was occupied filming abroad, being
present at film festivals, at premiers, to appointments with the big ones of
Hollywood, who were starting to become interested in the 24 year old Mexican.
From this moment the ascent of his career happened suddenly, and in a short
time, Diego already had the attention of the producers and the most famous
directors: Steven Soderbergh, Steven Spielberg, Kevin Costner and Lawrence
Bender. Something that not even he was hoping began to happen in his life.
The Basic: Pals
For Diego there is one
thing that is fundamental in life: his friends. On having spoken with him, one
realizes that only there is something which he makes a special emphasis and of
what he is absolutely sure. This is what he calls his second family, his
friends. He says that his combination of friends is odd, a mix of ages and
personalities (we must say celebrities?) that only have one common denominator: acting. Chucho Ochoa,
Chema Yazpik, Osvaldo Benavides, Gael Garcia and Rodrigo Murray are the first
ones that he names. “Time passes and you become good friends that end up
becoming your family, and it is cool to be able to choose your family. We can
work together also, and that causes the relationship to become super rich.”
Nevertheless, Diego is out
of the country most of the year. And it is obvious that he misses many things,
who wouldn’t. “Nostalgia hits strong when you spend too much time outside;
strange food, friends, parties, but it is necessary to have time to return and
to see what has happened in life that you want. Looking after friends is most
important.”
Till not long ago, when
Diego was coming to Mexico, he stayed, slept, and ate at his friends’ homes
because he still didn’t have one of his own. Fortunately now he has one of his
own: “I already have a house in Mexico. I have slept there five nights. I have a
bed, a fridge and a chair. Although I know that I am going to keep on traveling,
it is good to know that I have a place of my own to go to.” Furthermore, tells
the actor, he also gets fed up with hotels and that everything smells clean and
new. Nothing like having ‘home sweet home’. “Right now I have everything that I
need. I am happy: house, friends, work and I am in love. What more can you ask
for.”
The next most important
person in his life is his father (Alejandro Luna is one of the most important
Mexican theatrical designers). “My dad and I are in contact a lot. If something
has been good about working so much, it is the fact that now I can ask for an
extra ticket so that I can go visit where he is. We are always in communication
because I want it and I always want to know what he thinks and what I am doing.”
And when there are bad days, problems or doubts (of each guy), Luna goes to his
father. “And buddies too. It is fantastic what is happening to Gael because
somehow he is living through the same thing that I am. Although our careers are
different and we are doing different movies, the
phenomenon is
similar. To be able to talk to him, to share what happens to us, and that you
can identify with is the best.”
One year ago exactly, Luna
said in an interview in order to live well one only needs to eat, a girlfriend,
work, and football.
Now you no longer eat (you
are very skinny), it’s a long time that I do not know you have a girlfriend, you
do not play football, but of course, you have much racket. Do you still follow
with this idea of life?
He laughs… “I keep eating
very well, nothing more that I suddenly have to put myself on a diet (if the job
requires that he is skinny); I continue watching football. Whenever I can play
it, although each time is less. It is always possible to have a girlfriend and I
think that the most important thing in life is to be in love and to make someone
happy. So to sum up I am very well. I cannot complain.”
A Tough Guy
Diego was seven years when
he set foot on stage the first time. Since then he has done everything:
soap-operas, film, and of course theater. Undoubtedly, his time in television is
what more repudiates him. “The worst of all my works has been in television in
general. In any country in the world Mexican soap-operas are happening and the
bad thing is that in Mexico one does not make good TV. Everything stays in
intentions, but it sells so well that nobody is interested in making it better.
It is like a factory of potatoes. What they are interested in is not feeding the
people, but that they buy the product and they have a mind to watch.”
On the other hand there is
theater that, for ages, monopolizes his best memories. Not only because it was
his first introduction with acting (due to his father), but because there he has
met his best friends. One of Diego’s most sincere smiles in this interview was
when we speak about The Complete works of William Shakespeare (abridged).
- Did you enjoy yourself in
this work?
“It is one of the most
entertaining things that I have done. It was a work where three actors and
friends were producing, this is paradise for any actor. Furthermore, the theater
was filling up almost always and that does not happen much in Mexican theater.
In Toluca, for example, we gave performances for 2,600 spectators and this is
the closest thing to feeling like a rock star. Imagine the 2,600 laughing at the
same time. It was necessary to take 40 second breaks in hopes that they would
keep silent. I believe that this presentation lasted three and a half hours. It
was impressive.”
- After Y tu mamá también
nothing was the same again?
“Since we started filming
to date, this movie keeps on giving me incredible things and people remember it
very well. For some reason, the eyes of the world stuck on us from this film,
and immediately after that I began to receive job offers abroad.”
But in addition to showing
on a global scale, Y tu mamá también had other repercussions. For the
first time, Diego and Gael worked together, which in this moment did not mean
very much, but in the course of time this work opened the doors to both and now
there are several who hope to see them sharing credits again.
“Yes there are plans to do
something together – it urges us, but we still don’t know exactly what. To film
with him again is going to be great for both of us, in addition it is marvelous
to work with someone that you love so much.” The only problem is that they be in
the same place and at the same time.
The Biggest Screen
After theatre and
television, the biggest international showing that Luna has done, of course,
cinema. In the career of any actor, cinema can be synonymous with glamour,
stardom, lights, money, fame, and what one becomes in Hollywood can be very
tempting. But Diego’s perspective is different, not because he doesn’t like
stardom, but because it is seen that he loves what he does and believes in that.
Acting makes him feel good inside.
“Cinema is incredible
because it allows you to add a little of your reality and what you are. I like
cinema in which you forget that you are in a movie and you get really into the
story. The funny thing is that this cinema is cheaper than that of Hollywood.
And although the Hollywood productions are definitively a work opportunity, the
sure thing is that it is necessary to be able to choose, since this industry
does bad cinema, and a lot of it. ”
“To have it as a goal to
do it in the United States is an error; to go there and hope to snare it can be
very depressing because it makes very bad cinema and there is also a lot of
competition. There is a lot of dough (money) but that does not mean that there
is quality. Nevertheless, there are also actors, photographers, and excellent
directors with whom it is possible to work. But this is not a work of money, but
of convictions and desires.” It’s that simple. An actor’s success is not taking
an airplane in the direction of Los Angeles. Or at least this is his vision.
The glamorous part does not
seem to call him so much attention either. “When you do a red carpet it is not
you; I do not go out in the street in a suit, I don’t worry if brown goes with
black, if I need to take sunglasses or not. Suddenly everything that they set
up, the glamour and the parties, only represents more work. The different
parties, which belong to friends, they are never going to belong to those. The
only good thing is that I am not going to buy myself clothes for a long time;
they send you clothes and they fit you. That is incredible. It is amusing,
especially the first time.”
In Mexico or Latin America,
making cinema is very different from the United States, where the budgets are
incomparable, glamour does not exist, and the form of work is opposite. “Here
they take so much time raising a project that you are not going to get to any
thing, but something that really matters for you because you have to invest time
and money. It’s a hard process where you often leave injured.”
The form of work is so
different that it even might look like a joke. Luna knows that while in the
United States there is an expert for everything – “to place the table, to say
‘action’, to move a light”, here there are ten people who do everything, that
repair and improvise to make the day. For example, at least in Mexico, there are
times that the camper does not come and Diego has to change his wardrobe in the
car, so many others have had to lend their clothes or their car for what it
offers. “On the other hand there (in the US) – he adds - everything is much more
comfortable, which works in the 'big' productions because the people do not come
to the shooting tired and you do not have to worry any more than about the
movie.” But in the middle of so much comfort there must be a good script, a good
story, because if it is not like that, “it does not matter how many comforts
they give you, you are going to be the nuisance. A bad script does not make a
good movie nor does a lot of money,” he specifies.
The Most Anticipated:
Criminal
When a film is written by
Steven Soderbergh and Gregory Jacobs, and led by John C. Reily, Maggie
Gyllenhaal and Diego Luna, we can be sure that we will have a good movie.
When Diego received the
proposal to do Criminal, he was in the middle of filming Dirty
Dancing: Havana Nights: “I was suffering very much because it was a movie
easily different from everything else I had done” – let’s say that Luna had
never been considered to be dancer. “In one of these tortuous days the script
for Criminal came to me. As soon as I read it I was completely sure of
wanting to do it. This is the first movie that they offer me without meeting me,
nothing more because they saw me in Y tu mamá también. I did not
do casting (and even though I like to do castings because it is useful to see if
you want to work with the director, if you believe him, if there is chemistry);
but in this occasion Gregory Jacobs and Steven Sodebergh told me that I was
their first option to play the role. In addition, incredible people entered the
project: John C. Reilly, Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Peter Mollan, among many others.”
Criminal
is a remake of the famous Nine Queens. Luna’s role is that of a Mexican
swindler, “but not the typical role that they offer to Mexicans,” he clarifies.
The character description said: this is a guy that inspires confidence, he
looks like a nice guy. And the actor likes that. Furthermore, for the first
time, he says, he felt comfortable and relaxed acting in English. It is the
first time that he films a movie in so few days (28 days of filming) and it is
the first occasion that he notices an absolute commitment on behalf of all the
staff members of a film. “Each and everyone was there for the story, up to the
chauffeur who picked me up every day had read the script.”
On November 19 (2004) Criminal makes its début. The eyes of Mexico will be on Diego. He knows that
this might be the second big springboard in his career, but he does not want to
get ahead of himself. “Nothing can assure the success of this one, nor any film.
And you cannot expect things go well because if not, you get upset about life.
That a film comes out well depends on many things, so many people… and magic.
You need all that so it comes out well, and of course it’s a bitch.”
Diego Quickly
- What you enjoy most about
your work?
“To tell lies and that you
create them. ”
- One frustration:
“Movies for which I have
already have prepared myself for that suddenly they fall through.”
- Your greatest quality as
actor:
“Mmmmm, I don’t know. The
cool thing about this career is that you can always improve, grow and take new
risks.”
- 5 things people envy about
you:
“I don’t know, rather I
hope that nobody envies anything about me.”
- Best moment of the day:
“When I’m not working; to
be able to get up at whatever hour. The only thing that hate about movies is
that they wake you up at 6:00 every day. And when I am filming, the best part of
the day is when shooting starts.”
- A disk (CD):
“Right now I am listening
to Jack Johnson, Dub Side of the Moon, and Beta Band.”
- Your biggest extravagance:
“To travel with my small
can of chipotle chilies.”
- Favorite object that you
use every day:
“My Blackberry. It is my
contact with the world. And my i-pod because in that thing you take your music
all over and, when you have music you miss less.”
