A Dario Yazbek (Mexico City, 1990), the series by Netflix “The House of Flowers” It changed his life. Gael García Bernal’s brother, son of actress Patricia Bernal, played the bisexual son of this chaotic family created by Manolo Caro and became a reference for the LGTBI community. Now he is playing the lead role in the film “I won’t ask anyone to believe me.”the translation of the novel of the same name by Juan Pablo Villalobos about his life experience as a Mexican living in Barcelona, which the streaming giant has just published. Shares the bill with the Catalan Anna Castillo.
The film was shot in Barcelona. Was this your first time in the city?
I already knew it, but hadn’t spent that much time there. Both the film and the novel it is based on are a love letter to Barcelona with all its problems and chiaroscuro.
However, the city is not exactly hospitable to Mexican characters. One of them even feels left out.
There is always hostility when you leave your city, and a city can be very hostile when you are in a fragile moment of change. Because we go twice ourselves. The mind tells you, “I’ve moved,” but the body takes a little longer to get used to it. In this time delay everything becomes very hostile. The customs and culture also differ from Mexico. It was very interesting how the Mexican actors in the film experienced this. It was fun to experience similar things to the characters.
Did you know the novel on which it is based, which won the Herralde Literary Prize?
Yes, I really liked it and I got along immediately because my family lives in Guadalajara (Mexico). There was a lot of closeness and the humor is very similar to that of the western part of my country. Furthermore, it was a challenge to make a film about a very metaliterary novel.
Some expressions appear in Catalan in the film. Have you learned anything of the language?
I’m ashamed to talk about it, I think I still can’t, but I understand everything.
You come from a family of actors but wanted to become a politician.
I was the black sheep of the family because I wanted to do something different (laughs). The opportunity to solve problems and help people caught my attention. But they pulled me back and I realized that there is not much difference between an actor and a politician.
In what sense?
We both live by lies, although it is nobler in interpretation. I follow politics very closely everywhere, but I don’t regret my decision.
Does it bother you to be compared to your brother (on your mother’s side), Gael García Bernal?
No. Since I decided to become an actor, I knew this would happen. However, our paths were very different. Firstly, we come from different generations and he had a completely different time than me. On a professional level, his career influenced and helped me.
Did it help you more than taking action against you?
I am very aware of the capital it gives me. But from then on I have to work at it and try it like I did.
You became known worldwide with “The House of Flowers”. Have you experienced it as a before and after in your career?
Yes, it was a boom, it changed my career and my life. And it had a very positive effect. My family comes from northwestern Mexico, from Sinaloa, from a very rural, very wild ranch world. When the show premiered, one of my uncles there called me and I was expecting the homophobic comment, but it never came. He told me: “How badly you behaved towards this guy!”, referring to Diego’s character. There I realized that people had changed things, and that was very gratifying.
In Spain the series have recently become much more reflective of the collective LGBTI. Was the series in Mexico groundbreaking in this regard?
Yes, it was very groundbreaking because there was also an approach to love. And in this way he entered into Mexican society and conversation very easily, in a disruptive way, because they laughed and changed their perspective on things. Manolo Caro [el creador] He knows how to present these very complex and profound ideas in a very simple way.
One of the most discussed topics in the series was the nudes. How did you live it?
We were joking. They asked: And Dario’s wardrobe? And they said, Oh, there isn’t one. People think sex scenes and nudity are more interesting than they really are. In fact, it’s the most boring thing ever.
There were three seasons of the series and a movie. Is there a chance they’ll film something else about the same family?
No. We can all agree that you need to know when you’re done. The series will continue to be watched, so it would be better to keep the good taste in the public’s mouth rather than constantly changing their perspective.
He also filmed the series “Now and then” in Spain. Do you have any other projects planned here?
Not now. The most important thing now is to organize the times, because since the strike in the USA several projects have been postponed and now I’m like doing some kind of puzzle that puts everything together.
An American film starring Willem Dafoe, “Pet Shop Days,” is about to be released.
We premiered it in Venice and Maribel Verdú and Jordi Mollà are my Spanish parents. We shot it in New York and it will be shown next year.
