“Together we feel very strong”

And that’s precisely what he did with Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” for Audible. A story in which Gael García Bernal plays the narrator and protagonist Gregor Samsa, accompanied by the exceptional performances of Mauricio Isaac And Cassandra Ciangherottiand which can be listened to on ATMOS for a complete experience. It’s the kind of care that the actor and producer puts into all his projects, since this audiobook was developed with The Gulf Streama production company founded by the performer and his great friend and colleague Diego Luna.

Their friendship transcends time and overcomes all challenges, including that of collaboration, which so often ends in more than strengthened relationships. In a conversation with ABC, Gael García Bernal talks about what it was like to participate in this project and his friendship with Diego Luna, among others.

How has your metamorphosis taken place since the first reading of the book until today?

These are the things that we remember with great affection and perhaps also a certain nostalgia, aren’t they? The innocence of having read it because of school obligations in high school, I think. That is to say, be around 14 years old. In my case, perhaps this also happened to some people, because I had to do an essay, a critical exercise, I did not appreciate it as I appreciated it now, I had not reread it but I remembered very well what it was about, because it is also a very short novel. I had also seen it staged once, in a play in England.

Were you a good student?

Yes, I think so, I questioned myself a lot. There was something semi-rebellious in me, I also wanted to be a person who stood out, someone enlightened. But I felt quite at a disadvantage sometimes because reading, for example, “Don Quixote” at that age was incredibly difficult, you can’t understand it, there are concepts and humor that completely escape you.

And what has been your personal transformation since reading it until now? What happened to it?

I don’t know, so much has happened… Acting and finding a calling in film has given me the opportunity to explore many worlds and live many lives in one. I would tell you that, unlike when I was this worried young man, now I worry about the loss of certain freedoms that I previously thought we already had.

There are starting to be somewhat regressive thoughts on certain things, I sometimes wonder if certain films could be made today. For example, in Kafka’s story, the story of the other, of the stranger, of this person seen as a lunatic, with disgust and revulsion, and of a family that was ashamed of him…revealed in a way what was going to happen later in many parts of the world. I feel like today we are in such a similar moment, of something terrible, that we very much recognize the smell and need to counteract it.

I understand that you mean something broader than the politics of a specific country, because you work internationally.

Yes, yes, yes. Today we are already talking about this categorization, we are talking about the world. Culturally, we move in all waters, from different places.

A special end-of-year tradition

What assessment do you draw from your year?

I am very happy because this year I managed to realize a project that has been going on for a long time and about which I cannot say much yet, but I can say that it has been achieved. We did it, we ventured out. And I feel very happy, relieved and excited.

And personally, it’s been a year in which I feel that the different waters have calmed a lot, I’m full of energy to immerse myself in things and what’s happening in the world. It’s a year of excitement, I guess the same thing happened to many, we took a little space and then jumped headlong into it. We’re living in strange times today and that’s why maybe it’s making us feel like we need to celebrate a little every day.

Is there a tradition you do every year, a wish you express in some way?

Usually here in Mexico we always go to the beach at Christmas. So that’s what I’m going to do. It’s part of the ritual, it’s one of those crazy things that until you start traveling to other parts of the world you don’t realize that for you it was normal, but for many countries it’s something completely exotic and different, not associated with Christmas.

As a producer, is it worth it to move projects forward?

Literally too, but it’s worth it. This has its unpleasant side, but it is fortunate to be able to do it. What’s difficult in production today is keeping the focus on whether you want to invite people in or trap them in projects where there’s no indication that everything will go well. When the film comes out and this alchemy is achieved, a whole life is born from this ritual which surpasses you and survives.

Your relationship with Diego Luna gave you these jobs, but what about it personally? Are they going to dinner now, for example, at Christmas?

Yes. Sharing this life journey with someone who does something similar to what I do and understands the problems that suddenly presented themselves to me is a fortune. I thought it was normal, actually, but this is completely atypical. Above all, maintain a friendship that also works very well at work. I realized it was weird recently. Many people do not have what destiny offered us and we knew how to take advantage of it, we sought it and we took care of it. It has been fantastic, together we feel very strong.