History Creator / DiegoLuna

Diego Luna Alexander (born December 29, 1979 in Toluca, Mexico) is a Mexican actor, producer and director.

Luna is known for his childhood telenovela work, activism, and supporting roles in American films like ''Film/{{Milk}}'', ''Film/{{Elysium}}'', and ''Film/TheTerminal''. He also starred in ''Film/YTuMamaTambien'' with Creator/GaelGarciaBernal, his childhood best friend and fellow actor and voiced lead character Manolo Sanchez in the film ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife''.

In 2016, he starred in ''Franchise/StarWars'' anthology film ''Film/RogueOne'' as Captain Cassian Andor.

** But this was subverted in a previous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFZY_o0QoJk interview with Conan O'Brien to promote ''Elysium'']]

--->'''Diego Luna:''' "Can I say it in Spanish?"

* DawsonCasting: A few notable examples. He was in his twenties when he played 16 year old Button in ''Film/OpenRange'' and 37 when he starred in ''Film/RogueOne'' where his character was officially 26 years old (but that's ''Franchise/StarWars'' time for you). It does have the effect of making Cassian Andor look realistically hardened and weary from his lifetime of service to the Rebellion. The age difference is only going to be even more pronounced in the spinoff series ''Andor'', which takes place five years prior to ''Rogue One'', when Cassian is 21, and began shooting when Luna was ''41'', nearly twice his character's age.

* OldShame: His telenovela work while he was growing up and a lot of his early English-language work seem like this to him, but he especially hates talking about ''Film/DirtyDancing: Havana Nights'' because he finds his attempts at dancing in that movie embarrassingly bad compared to the dancing he witnessed in Puerto Rico while doing research for his role. He remembers being relieved at first that not many people saw it in theatres and hoped it would be forgotten, only for it to do really, really well on home video and TV reruns. As a result of that movie, he says, he is too embarrassed to dance even when he wants to.

-->'''Luna:''' "[...] I asked Creator/HarmonyKorine once, and he said, 'Havana Nights!' And I go like, 'aw, no, what? What?!' [...] I was expecting ''Film/YTuMamaTambien'', or some, you know, weird Mexican film no one watched, but, no, he went for that one. So, uh... now I don't ask that."

** On an 2018 appearance on ''Series/TheLateLateShow'', Reggie Watts asked the guests a long question about nonexistent productions they've dreamed about being in and were disappointed to not actually be in. After being granted permission to answer in Spanish, he cheerfully replied, "No entendí tu pregunta ni madres," which means, [[spoiler:"I don't fucking understand your question."]]

* OldShame: His telenovela work while he was growing up and a lot of his early English-language work seem like this to him, but he especially hates talking about ''Film/DirtyDancing: Havana Nights'' because he finds his attempts at dancing in that movie embarrassingly bad compared to the dancing he witnessed in Puerto Rico while doing research for his role, and the movie was given a wide international release, so lots and lots of people saw it, too. As a result of that movie, he says, he is too embarrassed to dance even when he wants to.

** On an 2018 appearance on ''Series/TheLateLateShow'', Reggie Watts asked the guests a long question about productions they've dreamed about being in and were disappointed upon waking up to not be in. After being granted permission to answer in Spanish, he cheerfully said something to the effect of, [[spoiler:"I have no fucking idea what he asked."]]

* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: His natural charisma and friendly countenance have been cited in multiple productions as a motivator for hiring him for morally ambiguous and even villainous roles. In the 2004 film ''Criminal'', Luna plays a fledgling con-man and is told in-universe by his mentor that he "looks like a nice kid". Much later, Creator/GarethEdwards said that "you just want to be his mate", which is important for a role where Luna's character represents the dirty side of ''Franchise/StarWars'''s normally unambiguously heroic Rebel Alliance. And then in ''Series/{{Narcos}}: Mexico'', where his character is not only villainous but borders on AxCrazy at times, showrunner Eric Newman had this to say:

* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: His natural charisma and friendly countenance have been cited in multiple productions as a motivator for hiring him for morally ambiguous and even villainous roles. In the 2004 film ''Criminal'', Luna plays a fledgling con-man and is told by his mentor that he "looks like a nice kid". Much later, Creator/GarethEdwards said that "you just want to be his mate", which is important for a role where Luna's character represents the dirty side of ''Franchise/StarWars'''s normally unambiguously heroic Rebel Alliance. And then in ''Series/{{Narcos}}: Mexico'', where his character is not only villainous but borders on AxCrazy at times, showrunner Eric Newman had this to say:

-->'''Luna:''' "[...] I asked Creator/HarmonyKorine once, and he said, 'Havana Nights!' And I go like, 'aw, no, what? What?!' [...] I was expecting ''Film/YTuMamaTambien'', or, you know, some weird Mexican film no one watched, but, no, he went for that one. So, uh... now I don't ask that."

* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Having a project that he can share with his son and daughter was his main motivator for doing ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'' and ''Franchise/TalesOfArcadia'', the latter of which his kids were already a fan of, and a happy side-effect of doing a Star Wars movie. He mentioned that when his kids each saw ''Film/RogueOne'' for the first time, they thought he was the coolest dad ever for roughly an hour and 45 minutes until [[spoiler:the Death Star blows him up during the climax]]. In particular, his son looked at him with mingled dismay and disgust, but later came back around when Diego's daughter got to the ending and wailed "What are you ''doing?!''", to which her older brother shushed her with, "this is a good way to die. It's called sacrifice."

* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Having a project that he can share with his son and daughter was his main motivator for doing ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'' and ''Franchise/TalesOfArcadia'', the latter of which his kids were already a fan of, and a happy side-effect of doing a Star Wars movie. He mentioned that when his kids each saw ''Film/RogueOne'' for the first time, they thought he was the coolest dad ever for roughly an hour and 45 minutes until the Death Star blows him up during the climax. In particular, his son looked at him with mingled dismay and disgust, but later came back around when Diego's daughter got to the ending and wailed "What are you ''doing?!''", to which her older brother shushed her with, "this is a good way to die. It's called sacrifice."

* ''Series/{{Narcos}}'' (2018 - 2020) as Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo

-->''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXX-WX194Us I asked Harmony Korine once]], and he said, "Havana Nights!" And I go like, "aw, no, what? What?!" [...] I was expecting something else, like Film/YTuMamaTambien, or some weird Mexican film no one watched, but, no, he went for that one. So... now I don't ask that.''

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As early as 2017, he'd been tapped to play Tony Montana in an eventual reboot of ''Film/Scarface1983'', complete with Creator/AlPacino's blessing, but Luna would later [[https://collider.com/diego-luna-leaves-scarface-remake/ state in early 2020]] that he'd left the project. Considering that this was shortly after he wrapped his run on ''Series/{{Narcos}}'' that the two works take opposing positions on illegal drugs, and that his role in ''Narcos'' was both harrowing for him to act and personally significant to him, it's perhaps not hard to see why he might not want to take another role like that.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As early as 2017, he'd been tapped to play Tony Montana in an eventual reboot of ''Film/Scarface1983'', complete with Creator/AlPacino's blessing, but Luna would later [[https://collider.com/diego-luna-leaves-scarface-remake/ state in early 2020]] that he'd left the project. Considering that this was shortly after he wrapped his run on ''Series/{{Narcos}}'' and that he considers that role to be among the darkest and most demanding of his entire career, not to mention its personal significance to him, it's understandable that he might not want to play somebody like that again.

* ''Wander Darkly'' (2021) as Matteo

** On an 2018 appearance on ''Series/TheLateLateShow'', Reggie Watts asked the guests a long question about productions they've dreamed about being in and were disappointed upon waking up to not be in, and Luna asked if he could answer in Spanish. After being granted permission, he cheerfully said something to the effect of, [[spoiler:"I have no fucking idea what he asked."]]

* ThoseTwoActors: With Creator/GaelGarciaBernal; they have known each other practically since birth. After both did Mexican telenovela work as children, co-starring in the film ''Film/YTuMamaTambien'' brought them to international attention and they later went on to co-found Canana Films and Ambulante A.C. Each continues to describe the other as their best friend and, fandom being what it is, there is more than one tribute to their {{Bromance}} out there on the internet [[https://www.popsugar.com.au/fashion/Diego-Luna-Gael-Garcia-Bernal-Friendship-Photos-42961331?utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=US:AU&utm_source=direct]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOL72MsLTWc]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7i5Xu7Qtmc]].
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As early as 2017, he'd been tapped to play Tony Montana in an eventual reboot of ''Film/Scarface1983'', complete with Creator/AlPacino's blessing, but Luna would later [[https://collider.com/diego-luna-leaves-scarface-remake/ state in early 2020]] that he'd left the project. Considering that this was shortly after he wrapped his run on ''Series/{{Narcos}}'' and that he considers that role to be among the darkest and most demanding of his entire career, it's understandable that he might not want to play somebody like that again.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Starting in 2017, he was slated to play Tony Montana in an eventual reboot of ''Film/Scarface1983'', complete with Creator/AlPacino's blessing, but Luna would later [[https://collider.com/diego-luna-leaves-scarface-remake/ state in early 2020]] that he'd left the project. Considering that this was shortly after he wrapped his run on ''Series/{{Narcos}}'' and that Luna considers that role to be among the darkest and most demanding of his entire career, it's understandable that he might not want to play somebody like that again.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Starting in 2017, he was slated to play Tony Montana in an eventual reboot of ''Film/Scarface1983'', complete with Creator/AlPacino's blessing, but Luna would later state in early 2020 that he'd left the project. Considering that this was shortly after he wrapped his run on ''Series/{{Narcos}}'' and that Luna considers that role to be among the darkest and most demanding of his entire career, it's understandable that he might not want to play somebody like that again.

** On an 2018 appearance on ''Series/TheLateLateShow'', Reggie Watts asked the guests a long question about productions they've dreamed about being in and were disappointed upon waking up to not be in, and Luna asked if he could answer in Spanish. After being granted permission, he said something to the effect of, [[spoiler:"I have no fucking idea what he asked."]]

* BilingualBonus: Often in interviews. On occasion, he even gets away with [[ForeignCussWord swearing in Spanish]] uncensored.

** ''Andor'' (TBA)

* DawsonCasting: A few notable examples. He was in his 20s when he played 16 year old Button in ''Film/OpenRange'' and 37 when he starred in ''Film/RogueOne'' where his character was officially 26 years old (but that's ''Franchise/StarWars'' time for you). It does have the effect of making Cassian Andor look realistically hardened and weary from his lifetime of service to the Rebellion. The age difference is only going to be even more pronounced in the spinoff series ''Andor'', which takes place five years prior to ''Rogue One'', when Cassian is 21, and began shooting when Luna was ''41'', nearly twice his character's age.

* OldShame: His telenovela work while he was growing up and a lot of his early English-language work seem like this to him, but he especially hates talking about ''Film/DirtyDancing: Havana Nights'' because he finds his attempts at dancing in that movie embarrassingly bad compared to the dancing he witnessed in Puerto Rico while doing research for his role. As a result of that movie, he says, he is too embarrassed to dance even when he wants to.

* StarMakingRole: ''Film/YTuMamaTambien'' landed both him and Creator/GaelGarciaBernal international acclaim- then-20-year-old Luna had been known mostly as a teen heartthrob at time and Bernal had to talk the director into hiring him. ''Film/RogueOne'', however, is when he started getting bigger roles and leads in major American productions.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' as [[Characters/StarWarsRogueOne Captain Cassian Andor]]:

* ''Series/{{Narcos}}'' (2018) as Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo

* MethodActing: In a small, very specific way- whenever he has to smoke on camera, he insists on using real cigarettes, not herbals (read: tobacco and nicotine-free). He insists that he can tell when an actor is smoking an herbal cigarette because, he says, they don't give you a "hit" and so the actor takes excessively long drags on it. (Also, he says, herbals taste terrible, like burning lettuce.) And so, for authenticity, he smokes real cigarettes onscreen, which sometimes bites him if there are a lot of scenes where he's smoking, like in ''Series/{{Narcos}}: Mexico'', where he burned up at least a pack a day due to his character either smoking or lighting up in almost every scene.