Daniel Giménez Cacho (left) and Diego Calva
With the Venice Film Festival kicking off tomorrow, the race for awards season has unofficially begun and the pundits have already started making their predictions on the films and talent that are shaping up to be this year’s top contenders for the major awards. And in these predictions, the names of two Mexican actors are creating buzz: Daniel Giménez Cacho and Diego Calva.
Clayton Davis of Variety has mentioned both Mexican actors in his most recent list of Oscar predictions for Best Actor, listing Giménez Cacho as one of the predicted Oscar nominees, while referring to Calva as a one of the top-tier contenders. Giménez Cacho is starring in the latest film of director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Bardo (or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths) / Bardo, falsa crónica de unas cuantas verdades, while Calva is starring in Babylon, the most recent film by Damien Chazelle.
Giménez Cacho is a veteran film, theater, and television actor, having worked with numerous filmmakers including Pedro Almodóvar, Lucrecia Martel, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Arturo Ripstein, among many others in titles such as Zama, Memoria, Cronos, Bad Education, Sólo con tu Pareja, Y Tu Mamá También, Blancanieves, and Deep Crimson.
In Bardo (or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths), which is having its world premiere this Thursday, September 1 in the official competition for the Golden Lion at Venice, Giménez Cacho plays the role of Silverio, a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker living in Los Angeles. After being named the recipient of a prestigious international award, he is compelled to return to his native country, unaware that this simple trip will push him to an existential limit.
Born in 1992, Calva studied at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC) in Mexico City. He has starred in Julio Hernández Cordón’s I Promise You Anarchy, José Ramón Chávez’s Help Me Make It Through the Night, Artemio Narro’s Colozio, and Guillermo Magariños’ Beatiful Losers. He also participated in the third season of Narcos: Mexico, and forthcoming acting credits include the Spanish remake of Bird Box and Apple’s Midnight Family.
In Babylon, a period film set in Hollywood in the 1920s, Calva plays the role of Manny Torres, a Latino character in the film industry. Also starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, the American drama chronicles Hollywood's transition from silent films to talkies. The movie will be released in December.
