Biography
Gael García Bernal (Spanish: [ɡaˈel ɣaɾˈsi.aβeɾˈnal]; born 30 November 1978) is a Mexican actor and filmmaker. He is known for his performances in the films Amores perros (2000), Y tu mamá también (2001), Bad Education (2004), The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), Babel (2006), Coco (2017), Old (2021), and Cassandro (2023). He has also played music conductor Rodrigo de Souza in the television drama series Mozart in the Jungle (2014–2018) and starred in the Disney+ special Werewolf by Night (2022). Gar...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Magellan
2025
as Ferdinand Magellan
In the 16th century, Ferdinand Magellan, a young and ambitious Portuguese navigator, rebels against the power of the King of Portugal, who doesn’t sup...

Zero A.D.
2025
as Joachim
Before kings and empires feared him, a tyrant sought to erase him. A newborn child ignites a prophetic war. A ruthless prince seeks to crush the proph...

Holland
2025
as Dave Delgado
Teacher Nancy's life with her husband in Holland, Michigan, tumbles into a twisted tale when she and a colleague become suspicious of a secret.

ASCO: Without Permission
2025
Executive Producer
"ASCO: Without Permission" is a genre-defying film that profiles the extraordinary, Los Angeles based, Chicano art group of the 70's-80's, ASCO, who m...

Thesis on a Domestication
2024
Producer
A successful transgender actress and her lawyer husband decide to adopt a child, defying the conservative community in Argentina. But their attempt fo...

State of Silence
2024
Executive Producer
A compelling look at the dangerous, continuing risks committed journalists face in Mexico, where reporting on their country’s corruption and “narco po...

Another End
2024
as Sal
Set in a near-future when a new technology exists that can put the consciousness of a dead person back into a living body, in an attempt to ease the g...

Cassandro
2023
as Saúl "Cassandro"
The true story of Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso that rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, t...

Cassandro
2023
Executive Producer
The true story of Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso that rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, t...

The Mother
2023
as Hector
A deadly female assassin comes out of hiding to protect the daughter that she gave up years before, while on the run from dangerous men.

This One Summer
2023
as Thiago
Every summer, 10-year-old Dune goes with her parents to the south-west coast of France, where she meets her best friend Mathilde. Together, they explo...

Director by Night
2022
as Self
Acclaimed composer Michael Giacchino made his directorial debut with Marvel Studios' Special Presentation "Werewolf by Night." This behind-the-scenes ...

Werewolf by Night
2022
as Jack Russell
On a dark and somber night, a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather at the foreboding Bloodstone Temple following the dea...

Old
2021
as Guy
A group of families on a tropical holiday discover that the secluded beach where they are staying is somehow causing them to age rapidly – reducing th...

Perros, amores, accidentes
2020
as Self (archive footage)
A three-part documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the production of Amores perros.

Wasp Network
2020
as Viramontez
Havana, Cuba, 1990. René González, an airplane pilot, unexpectedly flees the country, leaving behind his wife Olga and his daughter Irma, and begins a...

It Must Be Heaven
2019
as Gael García Bernal
Filmmaker Elia Suleiman travels to different cities and finds unexpected parallels to his homeland of Palestine.

Lorena: Light-Footed Woman
2019
Executive Producer
A young woman of the Tarahumara, well-known for their extraordinary long distance running abilities, wins ultramarathons seemingly out of nowhere desp...

Ema
2019
as Gastón
Ema is a magnetic and impulsive dancer in a reggaeton troupe. Her toxic marriage to choreographer Gastón is beyond repair, following a decision to giv...

Birders
2019
Executive Producer
Bird watchers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border share their enthusiasm for protecting and preserving some of the world's most beautiful species.

Chicuarotes
2019
Director, Producer
Cagalera and Moloteco are two teenagers from San Gregorio Atlapulco who are desperate to get out and move up and away from oppressive circumstances. W...

A 3 Minute Hug
2018
Executive Producer
As daylight breaks between the border cities of El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, undocumented migrants and their relatives, divided by a wall, prep...

The Kindergarten Teacher
2018
as Simon
Lisa Spinelli is a Staten Island teacher who is unusually devoted to her students. When she discovers one of her five-year-olds is a prodigy, she beco...

The Accused
2018
as Mario Elmo
Dolores lived the life of a higher-class student until her best friend was found brutally murdered. Two years later, she’s the only indicted suspect f...

Museo
2018
as Juan Núñez
Mexico, 1985. Juan and Wilson, two perennial Veterinary students, perpetrate an audacious heist in the National Museum of Anthropology, running away w...

If You Saw His Heart
2017
as Daniel
Cast out of his insular community, a damaged and down on his luck man teeters between a life of crime and the path to redemption.

Coco
2017
as Héctor (voice)
Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desp...

Zama
2017
Executive Producer
In a remote South American colony in the late 18th century, officer Zama of the Spanish crown waits in vain for a transfer to a more prestigious locat...

Salt and Fire
2016
as Dr. Fabio Cavani
A scientist blames the head of a large company for an ecological disaster in South America. But when a volcano begins to show signs of erupting, they ...

Salt and Fire
2016
Executive Producer
A scientist blames the head of a large company for an ecological disaster in South America. But when a volcano begins to show signs of erupting, they ...

You're Killing Me Susana
2016
as Eligio
An actor's world comes crashing down after he learns that his wife has left him.

Neruda
2016
as Oscar Peluchoneau
It’s 1948 and the Cold War has arrived in Chile. In the Congress, prominent Communist Senator and popular poet Pablo Neruda accuses the government of ...

Madly
2016
Director, Story, Screenplay
Madly explores love in all its permutations in six short films from a vibrant group of filmmakers representing Japan, Argentina, the UK, the US, India...

The Empty Classroom
2015
Producer
Eleven award winning directors explore why nearly one out of every two students in Latin America never graduates high school.

Eva Doesn't Sleep
2015
as Massera
In 1952, Argentina's beloved First Lady, Eva Perón, died of cancer at the age of thirty-three. A renowned embalmer was commissioned by the grieving Ju...

Zoom
2015
as Edward
A multi-dimensional interface between a comic book artist, a novelist, and a film director. Each lives in a separate reality but authors a story about...

The Chosen Ones
2015
Executive Producer
Sofia, 14 years old, is in love with Ulises. Because of him, in spite of him, she is forced into a prostitution network in Mexico. To set her free, Ul...

Desierto
2015
as Moises
A group of Mexican emigrants attempts to cross the Mexican-US border. What begins as a hopeful journey becomes a harrowing, bloody and primal fight fo...

Desierto
2015
Executive Producer
A group of Mexican emigrants attempts to cross the Mexican-US border. What begins as a hopeful journey becomes a harrowing, bloody and primal fight fo...

Leagues
2015
Producer, Creative Director
Moving between classrooms – static interiors and roaring, raucous exteriors – Leagues explores the subject of academic exclusion in native communities...
The Visible Hand
2015
Director
Romina goes to Silvina's to give her a haircut. They met through an online platform that connects people offering and looking for services of all kind...

Rosewater
2014
as Maziar Bahari
In 2009, Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was covering Iran's volatile elections for Newsweek. One of the few reporters living in the country...

The Ardor
2014
as Kaí
Kaí is a mysterious shaman who emerges from the Rio Paraná to help a poor farmer and his daughter, who are threatened by a band of cold-blooded mercen...

Paraíso
2013
Executive Producer
Carmen and Alfredo live a happy, quiet life in the suburbs surrounded by friends and family. After Alfredo receives a promotion, the two move away to ...

Who Is Dayani Cristal?
2013
as Himself
An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for identity leads us back across a continent to s...

Who Is Dayani Cristal?
2013
Producer
An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for identity leads us back across a continent to s...

Vamps
2012
as Diego Bardem (uncredited)
The modern-day story focuses on two beautiful young vampires who are living the good nightlife in New York until love enters the picture and each has ...

No
2012
as René Saaverdra
In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will...

The Loneliest Planet
2012
as Alex
Backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains, walking for hours, an engaged couple and their tour guide trade anecdotes and play games to pass the time, unti...

Casa de Mi Padre
2012
as Onza
Scheming of a way to save their father's ranch, the Alvarez brothers find themselves in a war with Mexico's most feared drug lord.

Miss Bala
2011
Executive Producer
The story of a young woman clinging on to her dream to become a beauty contest queen in a Mexico dominated by organized crime.

Breaking the Taboo
2011
as Self
Narrated by Morgan Freeman, this groundbreaking new documentary uncovers the UN sanctioned war on drugs, charting its origins and its devastating impa...

A Little Bit of Heaven
2011
as Julian Goldstein
A guarded woman finds out she's dying of cancer but, when she meets her match, the threat of falling in love is scarier than death.

Even the Rain
2011
as Sebastián
As a director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia, local people rise up against plans to privati...

Los Invisibles
2010
as Self
This short documentary reviews the lives and experiences of mexican and centroamerican migrants as they try to reach the US border.

Los Invisibles
2010
Director
This short documentary reviews the lives and experiences of mexican and centroamerican migrants as they try to reach the US border.

José & Pilar
2010
as Self
A deeply moving story about love, loss and literature, this documentary follows the days of José Saramago, the Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, and...

Hidalgo, Frenesí de Libertad
2010
as Narrator
Heroes of Flesh and Bones

Revolución
2010
Director
Made up of 10 short films, 'Revolucion' analyzes through the eyes of the directors what is the revolution today and what it means to the young minds o...

Letters to Juliet
2010
as Victor
An American girl on vacation in Italy finds an unanswered "letter to Juliet" -- one of thousands of missives left at the fictional lover's Verona cour...

The Limits of Control
2009
as Mexican
A mysterious stranger works outside the law and keeps his objectives hidden, trusting no one. While his demeanor is paradoxically focused and dreamlik...

Sin Nombre
2009
Executive Producer
Sayra, a Honduran teen, hungers for a better life. Her chance for one comes when she is reunited with her long-estranged father, who intends to emigra...

Mammoth
2009
as Leo Vidales
While on a trip to Thailand, a successful American businessman tries to radically change his life. Back in New York, his wife and daughter find their ...

Rudo & Cursi
2008
as Tato
Two brothers living a hard life of manual labor in rural Mexico have a simple dream: saving enough money to build their mother her dream house. But fa...

Walking Vengeance
2008
Executive Producer
Frantic to be free of Felix, her wealthy but drunken and violent drug-lord husband, Ana tricks her fresh-from-prison sister, Aurora, and two other ex-...

8
2008
Director, Writer, Producer
8 shorts centered around 8 themes directed by 8 famous film directors involved and sharing their opinion on progress, on the set-backs and the challen...

Blindness
2008
as Bartender / King of Ward Three
When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of ...

Chevolution
2008
Examines the history and legacy of the photo Guerrillero Heroico taken by famous Cuban photographer Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez. This image has thrived for...

The Past
2007
as Rímini
After 12 years, Sofía and Rímini decided to separate. While Rímini finds it easy to move on and start a new life, Sofía stays stuck in the past and co...

Common Ground: Under Construction Notes
2007
as Self
The making of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel is chronicled through an observational approach that captures the creative and logistical challenges...

Saint Death
2007
as Narrator
In Mexico there is a cult that is rapidly growing- the cult of Saint Death. This female grim reaper, considered a saint by followers but Satanic by th...

Déficit
2007
as Cristobal
Cristóbal is the son of a corrupt politician with great power. Without his parents at home, he decides to have a party with his wealthy friends. In co...

Déficit
2007
Director
Cristóbal is the son of a corrupt politician with great power. Without his parents at home, he decides to have a party with his wealthy friends. In co...

Babel
2006
as Santiago
Tragedy strikes a married couple vacationing in the Moroccan desert, which jumpstarts an interlocking story involving four different families.

The Science of Sleep
2006
as Stéphane
A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.

Drama/Mex
2006
Executive Producer
Two stories unfold over the same long, hot day in Acapulco. The first involves Fernanda, who is forced to deal with the emergence of her ex-lover. Her...

The King
2006
as Elvis
A motiveless malignancy? Elvis leaves the Navy and heads for Texas where he contacts his father, whom he's never met, the pastor at a Christian commun...

Impressions from the Shoot: Making Bad Education
2004
as Self
A short featurette of behind the scenes footage from Almodóvar’s Bad Education (2004).

Bad Education
2004
as Ángel / Juan / Zahara
An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.

The Motorcycle Diaries
2004
as Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna
Based on the journals of Che Guevara, leader of the Cuban Revolution. In his memoirs, Guevara recounts adventures he and best friend Alberto Granado h...

Traveling with Che Guevara
2004
as Che
In 1952, Ernesto Guevara, then a medical student aged 23, and his friend Alberto Granado, a biologist of 29, began a long journey through the South Am...

Dreaming of Julia
2003
as Ricky
The year is 1958, and in Holguín, Cuba, a boy's world is about to change forever.

Dot the I
2003
as Kit Winter
Young lovers in London are wrapped up in a love triangle that may not be exactly what it seems. Carmen, a beautiful Spanish woman with a tendency to l...

The Crime of Padre Amaro
2002
as Padre Amaro
Sent to Mexico to help take care of aging Father Benito, young Father Amaro faces a moral challenge when he meets a 16-year-old girl who he starts an ...

I'm with Lucy
2002
as Date 2 - Gabriel
It's an hour before Lucy's wedding and her best friend wants to hear all about what led up to that moment. So, Lucy tells about the five men she had b...

Fidel
2002
as Che Guevara
Fidel Castro rises to power in Cuba.

Don't Tempt Me
2001
as Jack Davenport
Two angels, one from the heaven and one from the hell, come to earth to save the soul of a boxer.
The Last Post
2001
as Jose Francisco
October 1982: War is waged between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. A British soldier stumbles upon an Argentinean soldier. They shar...

Y Tu Mamá También
2001
as Julio Zapata
In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

Behind the Scenes of 'Y Tu Mamá También'
2001
as Self
On-set documentary about the making of the film "Y tu mamá también."

Private Lives
2001
as Gustavo 'Gana' Bertolini
Carmen Uranga is a 42 year-old woman who after 20 years jurisdiction of her native country (Argentina), she returns to solve a family problem related ...

The Eye on the Nape
2001
as Pablo
This is the story of Pablo, a young uruguayan exiled in México, whose father was disappeared during the military dictatorship.

Amores Perros
2000
as Octavio
A fatalistic car crash in Mexico city sets off a chain of events in the lives of three people: a supermodel, a young man wanting to run off with his s...

De Tripas, Corazón
1996
The coming-of-age story of young milkboy Martín (García Bernal). While his friends Jesús (Altomaro) and Roberto (Mora) are cocky and apparently they h...

Z
N/A
as Zorro
The western frontier reemerges. And as in the past, a hero answers the people's cry for justice.
Monkey Hill
N/A
An heiress accused of a white-collar crime hides away with her husband at a luxury resort in an Indian holy city. In deep denial of the growing scanda...
Untitled Adam Sandler/Josh Safdie Project
N/A
Set in the world of high-end sports card collecting in the 1990s, a retired Baseball pitcher attempts a comeback as a sports memorabilia agent attempt...
The End of It
N/A
In a near-future world where ageing can be cured and death is now optional, Claire, a former provocative artist approaching her 250th birthday, decide...