Gael Garcia Bernal

Born: 30th October, 1978
Where: Guadalajara, Mexico

The actor is emerging as a major player on the big screen after his talents were showcased in Amores Perros and Y Tu Mama Tambien.

A mark of his success was his casting by acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar as the lead in the semi-autobiographic Bad Education.

However, it was his turn as the young Che Guavara in the road movie Walter Salles' The Motorcycle Diaries, that brought him huge international attention.

Born to theatrical parents, he was cast in the Mexican soap opera El Abuelo y Yo at the age of 12, along with his future Y Tu Mama Tambien co-star Diego Luna.

Four years later, Bernal was cast as a quiet and timid milkboy whose friends go on a sexual adventure without him in De Tripas, Corzon.

Bernal acted in other short films and continued theater productions until he moved to London on his own at the age of 17.

Halfway through his studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Bernal returned to Mexico to film Amores Perros for director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

It was a critical success and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

His profile raised, he landed small parts in several major movies, playing alongside Harvey Keitel and Penelope Cruz.

But his next seminal role would come when famed Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron offered Bernal one of two leads in the coming of age odyssey Y Tu Mama Tambien.