Diego Luna is a Mexican actor, singer, director, and producer. He’s best known for his leading roles in ‘Narcos: Mexico,’ ‘Star Wars: Rogue One,’ and ‘Y tu mamá también.’
Who is Diego Luna?
Mexican actor-director Diego Luna appeared in a string of Mexican telenovelas and films, including Y tu mamá también; Dirty Dancing; Havana Nights; Rudo y Cursi; Open Range; Milk; The Terminal; and Berlin, I love You. He plays the role of a drug trafficker Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, in the first two seasons of Narcos: Mexico and Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Early Life
Diego Luna was born on December 29, 1979, in Toluca and raised in Mexico City. His Mexican father, Alejandro Luna, worked as an opera set designer and theater director who instilled the importance of arts in Luna’s life. His mother, Fiona Alexander, was a costume designer. She died in a car accident when Luna was two years old. Luna and his frequent co-star Gael Garcia Bernal have been friends since childhood.
Acting Career
Luna began acting when she was seven years old. He appeared in many telenovelas from childhood. In 2001, she appeared in Y tu mamá también, playing Tenoch Iturbide alongside Gael Garcia Bernal. Y tu mamá también is a Mexican road trip movie that was directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Aside from achieving critical and box office success, the film introduced him to his childhood friend Garcia Bernal, with whom he worked in numerous films.
Luna starred in the Oscar-winning Frida and Vampires: Los Muertos in 2002. He also appeared in Open Range (2003), Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), Criminal (2004), The Terminal (2004) alongside Tome Hanks, Fade to Black (2006), Only God Knows (2006), Mister Lonely (2007), Milk (2008), Just Walking (2008), Rudo y Cursi (2008), and Elysium (2013).
Luna joined the cast of Ana Lily Amirpour’s film The Bad Batch in March 2015. He played Cassian Andor, a captain, and intelligence officer of the Rebel Alliance, alongside Felicity Jones in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). In November 2018, Luna played Mexican drug cartel leader Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo in the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico.
Other Work
In 2005, after starring in many telenovelas, Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal created Canana Films. In 2012, he directed the biopic Cesar Chavez, his first film about the eponymous founder of the United Farm Workers.
In January 2015, in a video, Luna narrated the challenges faced by children migrating from their home countries and seeking refuge in the United States.
In October 2019, Luna, Garcia Bernal, and Adam Grant announced they were joining EXILE Content, a Creative Advisory Board for a TV and Film development company.
Luna received a Daytime Emmy Award in 2019 for Outstanding Daytime Talent in a Spanish Language Program for his Amazon Prime Video talk show Pan y Circo.
Personal Life
In February 2008, Diego Luna married Camila Sodi. The couple has two children: Jeronimo, born on August 12, 2008, and Fiona, born on July 1, 2010. The two divorced in March 2013.