Gael Garcia Bernal receives Locarno Film Festival’s Excellence Award

Mexico City, Mexico (4E) – Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal received the prestigious 65th Locarno Film Festival’s Excellence Award Moet & Chandon in Switzerland Wednesday.

The 33-year-old is said to be one of the youngest actors to ever receive such award. Accepting the award at the Piazza Grande, he humbly acknowledges his room to grow despite being in the business for two decades.

Rising to fame in 2004 for his portrayal of Che Guevara in Walter Salles’ “The Motorcycle Diaries” and known for his eccentric role in Pedro Almodovar’s “Bad Education,” Garcia Bernal has starred in many films such as Alfonso Cuaron’s “Y Tu Mama Tambien” with Diego Luna, and Michel Gondry’s “Science of Sleep.” The year 2007 marked his directorial debut with the film “Deficit,” about bridging gaps between social classes in a Mexican society.

Furthermore, Garcia Bernal was regarded by the Festival as having “Latin sex-symbol charisma, fused with an engagement with the world and a mimetic talent for seeing right through his characters—from screenplay choices on—before creating them in their full physicality.”

Meanwhile, in a press conference for his latest film “No” directed by Pablo Larrain, he talks about his acting roots. He said, “I never thought I was going to be here ever. I never thought I was going to do films…not only in Mexico but outside of Mexico as well.”

For Gael Bernal, acting allows him to be different persons at a time. He said, “I like being able to be different. It is the reason why I want to be an actor—to get away with everything.”