What is Gael García Bernal's Net Worth?
Gael Garcia Bernal is a Mexican actor, director and producer who has a net worth of $12 million. Gael García Bernal is best known for his roles in such Spanish-language films as "Amores Perros," "Y Tu Mamá También," "Bad Education," "The Motorcycle Diaries," and "No." He has also appeared in numerous English-language films, including "A Little Bit of Heaven," "Rosewater," and "Old." On television, Bernal has starred in the Amazon streaming series "Mozart in the Jungle," for which he won a Golden Globe Award, and the Disney+ special "Werewolf by Night."
Early Life and Education
Gael García Bernal was born on November 30, 1978 in Guadalajara, Mexico to actor and director José Ángel García and actress and former model Patricia Bernal. When he was still young, he acquired a stepfather named Sergio Yazbek, through whom he has two half-siblings named Darío and Tamara. Active in the community as a teenager, García Bernal taught indigenous people how to read and participated in demonstrations supporting the 1994 Zapatista uprising. For his higher education, he attended the National Autonomous University of Mexico before a major student strike halted his studies. In response, he traveled around Europe. García Bernal eventually moved to London, where he became the first-ever Mexican student accepted to the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career Beginnings
García Bernal began his acting career as a teenager on telenovelas in the late 80s. He first appeared in three episodes of "Teresa," which starred Salma Hayek and also featured García Bernal's mother. Later, in 1992, García Bernal played a lead role on "El Abuelo y Yo."
Film Career, Part 1
García Bernal made his feature film debut in the 2000 psychological drama "Amores Perros," which was also the directorial debut of Alejandro González Iñárritu. A huge critical and commercial success, the film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. García Bernal next appeared in "Don't Tempt Me" and starred alongside Diego Luna and Maribel Verdú in Alfonso Cuarón's "Y Tu Mamá También," which was a major crossover success in the US. In 2002, García Bernal starred in another hit film, "The Crime of Padre Amaro," which broke box office records in Mexico. The year after that, he appeared in the English-language films "Dreaming of Julia" and "Dot the I." García Bernal went on to give two of his most acclaimed performances in 2004, in Pedro Almodóvar's "Bad Education" and Walter Salles' "The Motorcycle Diaries." For his portrayal of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in the latter film, he earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. García Bernal subsequently starred in "The King."
In 2006, García Bernal reunited with Alejandro González Iñárritu for the director's psychological drama "Babel." The same year, he starred in Michel Gondry's surrealistic fantasy comedy "The Science of Sleep." In 2007, García Bernal starred in "The Past" and "Déficit," the latter of which also marked his directorial debut. He went on to write and direct a segment in the 2008 anthology film "8." García Bernal subsequently appeared in such films as "Blindness," "Rudo y Cursi," "Mammoth," "The Limits of Control," "Letters to Juliet," and "Even the Rain." In 2011, he starred in three very disparate films: the romantic dramedy "A Little Bit of Heaven," the Western comedy "Casa de mi Padre," and the psychological drama "The Loneliest Planet." The next year, García Bernal starred in Pablo Larraín's acclaimed historical drama "No."
Film Career, Part 2
In 2014, García Bernal starred in the Western "The Ardor" and Jon Stewart's political drama "Rosewater," in which he portrayed Iranian journalist and political prisoner Maziar Bahari. His credits the following year were "Desierto," "Zoom," and "Eva Doesn't Sleep." In 2016, García Bernal stepped behind the camera again to write and direct a segment of the anthology film "Madly"; he also starred in "Neruda," "Salt and Fire," and "You're Killing Me Susana." García Bernal went on to star in "If You Saw His Heart" in 2017. Also that year, he voiced the deceased trickster Héctor in the Pixar animated film "Coco." In 2018, he had a starring role in the heist film "Museo" and supporting roles in "The Kindergarten Teacher" and "The Accused."
García Bernal had one of his most prolific film years in 2019. That year, he returned to the director's chair with "Chicuarotes," and starred in Pablo Larraín's "Ema" and Olivier Assayas's "Wasp Network." He also appeared as himself in Elia Suleiman's "It Must Be Heaven." After a rare one-year break from the big screen, García Bernal returned in 2021 to star in M. Night Shyamalan's thriller "Old."
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Television Career
After appearing on telenovelas for a few decades, García Bernal made his English-language television debut in 2014 on the Amazon streaming series "Mozart in the Jungle." He played Rodrigo De Souza, the new conductor of the New York Symphony. The show ran for four seasons through 2018, garnering García Bernal a Golden Globe Award. He returned to the small screen in 2021 to play the recurring role of Arthur Leander in the miniseries "Station Eleven." The following year, he starred as Jack Russell in the Disney+ special "Werewolf by Night," based on the Marvel Comics character.
Film Entrepreneurship
In 2005, García Bernal and his friend and frequent costar Diego Luna founded the production company Canana Films. Later, García Bernal founded the Ambulante Documentary Film Festival and helped create the Amnesty International short documentary series Los Invisibles.
Personal Life
From 2006 to 2014, García Bernal was in a romantic relationship with Argentine actress Dolores Fonzi. The couple had a son named Lázaro and a daughter named Libertad. García Bernal began dating Mexican journalist Fernanda Aragonés in 2019; they had a child in 2021.
