Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal bring boxing drama to Hulu
Mexican actors and childhood friends Diego Luna and Gael Garc铆a Bernal have paired up again, to deliver Hulu鈥檚 first Spanish-language series, La M谩quina.
Mr. Luna and Mr. Garcia Bernal have been best friends since childhood and have worked on several projects including Y Tu Mam谩 Tambi茅n in 2001 and Rudo y Cursi in 2008.
After a decade of creating and producing, Mr. Luna believes the timing is perfect.
鈥淭en years now make sense in a way, you know, because we couldn鈥檛 be more ready, basically and … it feels like the right moment,鈥 Mr. Luna said. 鈥淚t means a lot, you know, it鈥檚 … the time to do it.鈥
La M谩quina delves into the world of professional boxing, with Mr. Garcia Bernal playing Esteban, a boxer who, despite his knowledge and passion for the sport, is grappling with the realities of retirement due to his body鈥檚 limitations. Mr. Luna plays his manager Andy, who places a higher value on success and money than life.
The show began streaming on Hulu on Wednesday.
The actors reflected on their friendship and the opportunities that have come their way.
鈥淭here is that little moment of, well, this is crazy. Like … who would have thought that we were … riding on the bicycles together and all of a sudden we鈥檙e doing this. It鈥檚 crazy,鈥 Mr. Garcia Bernal said.
Mr. Luna added that 鈥渋t鈥檚 important to allow that, you know, to come. 鈥 There鈥檚 something beautiful about having another opportunity to tell another story.鈥
Director Gabriel Ripstein said the chemistry between the two actors on set was both a benefit and a drawback.
鈥淚t became a challenge at certain points, where we had to like hit the dramatic scenes and these guys would just go off and it was very contagious,鈥 Mr. Ripstein said. 鈥淚t became like a snowball of comedy and my job many times was 鈥 OK guys, let鈥檚 bring it down because … we need to shoot.鈥 鈥 Reuters
