It’s not easy to act, but to direct to act. It goes form one place to the next. It’s not heading for the punchline, and also it’s not about scoring goals. It’s about passing the ball, and the goals will come by themselves. – Gael Garcia Bernal
I was asked to go to Cannes to present Amores Perros. And little did I know that this film would be huge. I saw it for the first time in Cannes, and it was the first time I’d seen myself on such a big screen. And it had a huge impact on me – it was the strangest feeling. – Gael Garcia Bernal
You know, Motorcycle Diaries has no incredible stories, no sudden plot twists, it doesn’t play that way. It’s about recognizing that instance of change and embracing it. – Gael Garcia Bernal
Talking about food is like talking about your dreams. Everyone has something to say. We all have to eat, it’s just what we eat which differs. Some people eat for fuel and I feel bad for them. – Gael Garcia Bernal
Films, fiction, can encompass a whole global vision on a particular subject with any story, whatever it is. You can play the story in whatever country with whatever language in whatever style you want to tell the story in. – Gael Garcia Bernal
I always wanted to act, but I never thought it would be my profession. I thought that I’d end up doing other things, but that in the meantime I’d do plays. – Gael Garcia Bernal
We all have a cross-gender character: Every woman has a man that they can play, and every man has a woman that they can play. – Gael Garcia Bernal
Doing films in Latin America is like an act of faith. I mean, you really have to believe in what you’re doing because if not, you feel like it’s a waste of time because you might as well be doing something that at least pays you the rent. – Gael Garcia Bernal
Life certainly points it out to you – ‘you can go this way or the other way.’ You have to decide and it’s a very strong decision because, would you sleep well knowing that you’re living in the best place, but you’re letting the place where you should live alone? – Gael Garcia Bernal
My parents separated when I was very small. I grew up with my mother, and I was a single child then. She was very independent, doing her things and having fun alone and working. – Gael Garcia Bernal
I asked the producers when I was doing ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ if they could give me a VHS recording of the film that I could show to my family, because in Mexico and Latin America, when you do a film, you don’t expect anybody to see it, especially not in the cinema. – Gael Garcia Bernal
It’s very difficult to raise money, especially in the United States, for independent movies. – Gael Garcia Bernal
A person isn’t born with the intelligence to be with someone special; you learn it, and you fail in the path of life, but you don’t have to give up the chance to love. – Gael Garcia Bernal
The collective experience of watching a great film together in a room is a transcendent moment that will never die. – Gael Garcia Bernal
Histories are to educate so that we understand better for ourselves and for motivation. – Gael Garcia Bernal
A boxing workout is the heaviest thing, but it’s the best. The worst part is that boxing gyms are the smelliest things in the universe. You have to lie down on the floor, where everyone has been sweating and spitting, and do 1,000 situps and push-ups. – Gael Garcia Bernal
I was little there were times I wanted my parents to be normal. I wanted them to have a religion. I wanted them to have a job, like the parents of every other kid I went to school with. – Gael Garcia Bernal
Mexican food is far more varied than people think. It changes like dialects. I was brought up in Jalisco by the sea on a basic diet – tomatoes, chillis, peppers of every size and rice, which is a Mexican staple. The Pacific coast has a huge array of seafood. – Gael Garcia Bernal
Alexander Gonzalez Inarritu is a great director. He’s the one I first worked with. He’s amazing. – Gael Garcia Bernal