Diego Calva, Actor: Latin America is more than violence, salsa music and food

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2:02Hello, I'm Nikki Badey, BBC presenter, and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. The best conversations coming out of the BBC. People shaping our world from all over the world. Today we are spending trivians on war and peanuts on peace. Wind power in the United States has been subsidised for 33 years. Isn't that enough? Solar for 25 years. That's enough. I don't have army. I don't have missile rockets. I have my body. I have my voice. I love singing and so my goal was always to do better and better at it. I was still in an induced coma in hospital when the world was defining me. For this interview, I meet the Mexican actor Diego Calva, one of the biggest talents to emerge from Latin America in recent years.

2:51He built a strong reputation in Mexico's independent film scene, starred in the TV series Narcos Mexico before rising to global fame in the Hollywood movie Babylon, starring alongside Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. That was his first American film and garnered him much praise from critics and audiences alike. You may also have seen him last year in the US film On Swift Horses, a historical romance where he co-starred with Jacob Elordi. An only child, he was raised by a single mother and wanted to be a writer and director before fate intervened. One day, when an actor didn't turn up for a college film he was working on, Diego was asked to step in.

3:35Diego Calva can currently be seen in the second series of The Night Manager, the acclaimed television drama based on the book by John le Carré. Diego plays Colombian businessman Teddy dos Santos. He reflects on navigating fame, the kinds of stories he hopes to champion on screen, and breaking barriers in Hollywood. I talked with so many older actors, older than me, and they told me after Babylon, my first American movie, when they started they had to change their names, for example. Benicio del Toro could be a great example, right? And in my generation I didn't. My name is Diego Calva and I use my real name.

4:15and then all the roles, all the characters, like, I don't know, 20 years ago for the Latino actor or Latino actresses, it was like the farmhand, the narco, they're like very stereotyped and small roles, right? I mean, I've been very lucky, but like being the lead of a movie like Babylon, a Mexican guy 20 years ago sounded probably impossible. So I think the times are changing and mostly now you can create a character or tell any kind of story with any kind of nationality in a way.

4:48Welcome to the interview from the BBC World Service with Diego Calva. It was a pleasure to play Teddy. I think Teddy's just a complex character, right? And every time I choose a character, I always try to search for a challenge. And the first time I got the casting, the first scenes, I just realised this was not like a one-dimensional character. I think Teddy has had so many layers. And me and the director, Georgie Banks, we just figured out how to put more and more and more layers into it. And I'm just going to say it's not your classic villain. So as a Mexican actor playing a Colombian, what would somebody from Latin America know immediately, for example, about your accent or the way you say things?

5:35What would define a Colombian speaking compared to a Mexican? Well, first talking about, for example, representation. With Georgie, we figure out that because I'm Mexican and it's hard to get rid of this accent. And the Colombian accent is so beautiful. It's so musical, so different than the Mexican accent. I think the Mexican accent has like a lot of cut, cut, cut, cut. And the Colombian one is just like a song, you know, it's like flows. So we figure out a way you'll see on the series. And there's something Mexican about Teddy. Oh, I see. We're going to see it. Okay. But I think the most beautiful thing about the Colombian accent is like a salsa song.

6:12That's why they are so good at salsa, because they sing when they talk. That's a poetic way of putting it. So you talked about representing then. Do you feel a responsibility in representing Latin American actors on this global stage? Yes, I do. It's something really kind of new for me. After my first movie in America, I realized there's a responsibility, right? is one of these ideas that you maybe don't think or you never thought before when you're starting in this career, you know? But then you go to a certain level to have the spotlight or some kind of voice in a way. So now I think it's such a responsibility and such a pleasure because Latino America, we have way more than violence, we're more than a salsa or music or food or culture.

6:59So it's just a pleasure and a responsibility to share it with the world in a way. And mostly in a show like this, I mean. With the way that you just described the things that Latin America might be known from, those are presumably the cliches, which then become stereotypes or tropes in dramas or in any form of representation that's visual. So as somebody who is working internationally, what feels different today about the way that the industry sees you? First of all, I talked with so many older actors, older than me, and they told me after Babylon, my first American movie, when they started, they had to change their names, for example.

7:42Benicio del Toro could be a great example, right? And in my generation, I didn't. My name is Diego Calva, and I use my real name. and then all the roles, all the characters, like, I don't know, 20 years ago for the Latino actor or Latino actresses, it was like the farmhand, the narco, they're like very stereotyped and small roles, right? I've been very lucky, but like being the lead of a movie like Babylon, a Mexican guy 20 years ago sounded probably impossible. So I think the times are changing and mostly now you can create a character or tell any kind of story with any kind of nationality in a way.

8:20You just mentioned that narco culture is part of the way people are depicted. One of your breakthrough roles was in the global hit series on Netflix, Narcos Mexico. You played a drug lord. And I just wondered what your thoughts are now on the way that that series portrayed your people and your homeland. Well, I think it's a complex situation because you can't deny the truth, first of all. But then as a viewer, you know, as part of the audience also, like I grew up like watching all these narco shows, all this narco culture. There's like two sides of the of the coin in a way. And when you start in acting, and you're just happy to have a role.

9:05And if you watch the show, if you watch narcos, what I try to do with the character is not what I do usually, that is try to find the human size or side of the character. It was literally playing a cartoon because I'm not down to humanize that kind of people in a way, you know? But did you have to do that subtly or with the permission of your director? Were you just doing it for yourself? I think the difference, for example, between Narcos and Night Manager, Narcos, it is a cartoon. It's created to have like a blowout viewer. You have a Brazilian actor playing Pablo Escobar. for example, right?

9:42And I think the morality of it, when you are doing television, I think in theatre, in television, is actually the place when you can play without no rules, you know? That's why we watch theatre. That's why we watch television. Because then we can see what, in real life, it shouldn't happen. You've been working in the US a lot within the film and television industry. What are the sort of differences that you've noticed between working in Latin America and in the US? Well, honestly, the big toys, probably. What are the big toys? I mean, the big toys for me is like a concept, right? But like being able to shoot one scene for two weeks.

10:29Right. It's something that, in my opinion, only happens in America or in a very big production. but when I arrived to a movie set I mean I shot in Copenhagen I shot here in London I film in Spain, in Colombia, in Mexico at least in my opinion I talk the same language I speak the same language so the difference for me as an actor is just the money maybe they can put in the productions but we're speaking and talking the same language so no much difference actually Do you think that the language of cinema is something that's universal? I do, I do I grew up watching Korean movies, American movies, Monty Python.

11:08I mean, so, yeah, I think emotions are a universal language and movies, cinema, use emotions as letters to create sentences. So the language, you know, the grammatic of it is universal, in my opinion. Mexico claims some of the greatest filmmakers in the world right now. Alejandro González y Niritu, five Oscars. if we're measuring by Oscars. Alfonso Cuarón, four Oscars. That's just naming two. Why do you think that is? What is it that you guys do? Well, first we have, we come from a very, very big tradition of filmmaking. We had what we call La Epoca de Oro, the golden age of Mexican cinema. And it was all this black and white, these charro movies.

11:55We had El Indio Fernández, we have Juan Orol. It was a whole generation. and then during the 60s we had all this lucha libre el santos we came from a very long tradition of filmmaking and also i think art it's always i mean this is going to be kind of controversial in a way but i think we have a really close relationship with death from our traditional from uh that's the day of the dead the day of the dead you know not not i'm not talking about violence. I'm talking like culturally we have all these relations like really close relationship with death for our ancestors like the Aztecs being dead it was like an honor you know so I also think there's something about it like the nature of the Mexicans.

12:42Guillermo del Toro another great director says like well he has a very beautiful quote that says like why your movies are so beautiful and horrible and kind of scary at the same time because soy mexicano because I'm not afraid to death.

12:59You're listening to the interview from the BBC World Service. People shaping our world from all over the world.

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14:34For this episode of The Interview, I'm speaking to the actor Diego Calva. Diego came to BBC Broadcasting House in London for our conversation and after making a humble entry into the studio, no big entourage, I apologised for the stuffiness and heat. He simply laughed, flashed his infectious grin and said, this is hot, I'm from Mexico. Dressed in casual but very cool garms with small silver-hooped earrings in each ear, he exuded a relaxed confidence and was really engaged and thoughtful during the conversation. He's already a big star, but was almost childlike in his thrill to be on the BBC, something he felt his mother would be very proud of.

15:23Anyway, let's return to my conversation with Diego Calva. Do you feel a responsibility as an actor to be able to represent certain parts of your life, your culture, your people? Yes, I do. And I will always going to believe that I'm going to quote my mother. She always said like, it's not about not losing your head. You know, it's not about don't get crazy or don't be sometimes like too high in the clouds. It's about remember the way back home. so I always want to think that representing my country saying that I'm Latino, I'm Mexicano speaking in Spanish at some moments, you know, even with my characters going back and forth with English and Spanish is going to be my way of putting, you know, like my little drop there, like my little piece of representation because at the same time I also think the most important part of being responsible with this representation is for me to be free and for me to be able to explore and for me to be able to play all kinds of characters in all kinds of countries and don't let myself to put my limit because I'm from Mexico or China or wherever.

16:35So it's kind of an interesting situation, you know, like being responsible with representation, but at the same time, realizing that being responsible is just to be free and open to explore with it. Yeah. So what have you witnessed in your own career that proves that arts and culture, especially cinema, can bridge worlds more effectively than politics ever could. What have you experienced that bridges worlds? I think every character I played, and I'm going to talk only about Teddy dos Santos, my character on On Swift Horses, Henry, that's the name of the character on On Swift Horses, and Manny Torres from Babylon.

17:17I think they're loaded with political ideas, but not maybe in a spoken way. They don't have to say it just to be there. And this is a shame in a way, you know, but we're still living in a world where a Mexican guy, a Mexicano playing around, kissing Jacob Elordi or kissing Margot Robbie. It's something impressive, you know, like people are still impressed. It doesn't matter who it is. It's impressive, isn't it? Well, the idea is like it shouldn't, you know, But I think like the difference between cinema and politics is like cinema affects your heart. Politics is always like the mind, the cerebral kind of situation.

17:58So every character, if touches your heart, then comes the politics of it. Then comes the politics of the story, of the character, of all the untold story. But I think always like feelings and heart is going to open more doors than any political idea, in my opinion. In a way, you've bridged all those cultures by acting in the way you have and traveling in the way you have. As I said, I'm just trying to be free. How would you feel about living in America as a Mexican with the political rhetoric that's been coming out of the White House, the increased ice activity, that sort of thing? Well, I'm living in Mexico City.

18:36I was born and raised there and I think I'm going to stay there. But how would you feel about living in America? I lived in Los Angeles for like... For work. For work, and then I stayed for, well, mostly for work, you know, networking and all that. But now I think it's kind of the same situation. You know, there is a part of me that says like, I will never going to live in this place or other place. But at the same time, in this idea of being free, and González Iñárritu in his last movie, Bardo, He has this beautiful also idea of a VIP immigrant. Let's be honest. I am a VIP immigrant. I go to hotels.

19:17I go for work. But representation is also, and this is something very important to me, if you don't see someone like you living, acting, working, going and doing stuff in so many different places, it's hard for you to imagine yourself there. So at the same time, I think it's important. And I will buy a house someday in America, believe me. OK, but what you're saying is you have to see it to be it. I think it's really important because, for example, when I was doing the research for Babylon for my character, it was so hard to find a Mexican guy during the 20s, a Mexican actor. I mean, I found René Cantona, who was a Cuban-Mexican producer.

19:59You have Manuel Silvero, who was like a Mexican actor and a couple of Mexican actors, even Elindo Fernandez. But it was not the common thing, you know. So I think it's important to see yourself, to imagine yourself there. So I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about and this is going to I'm going to brag a little. But I really hope that someday one kid is going to watch one of these movies and say, like, hey, I can be an international actor. Like it happens to me with Diego Luna and Gal Garcia. Yeah, I mean, after watching their careers, I was thinking like, OK, this might be possible, you know.

20:32Yes. What global stories or themes do you think are underrepresented in the world today in terms of telling stories through the arts? Well, my mother is 60. Is your mother an artist? In her heart. She's a publisher. She's a editor. She does books. So I grew up around books and culture and poetry all my life. Hola, mamá, estoy en la BBC. Sorry. What does that mean? Hello, mother. I just said, hello, mother. I'm on the BBC. Oh, I love that. But I always have this idea that there's like a hole of woman's representation, actually. Like, I don't see a lot of stories of women like my mother in their 60s, single, for example, you know.

21:20So, yes, I think there's like a hole there, in my opinion. and we are just starting this conversation about gender and I think that's the revolution of our time. Not only like breaking, let's say, the borders, right? And the situation with nationalities, Mexicano, Chinese. I think also we're starting a very important conversation about gender. I don't know if that's an answer, but I don't think so. Well, yeah, so when I said underrepresented stories or themes, women in their 60s, gender in many, many ways. What kind of stories would you like to tell next as an actor? I mean, what sort of role would you like next as an actor?

22:03Or perhaps you can tell us what you are doing next. Well, I'm going to quote my mother again. She likes to say that futuriare, you know, like to think a lot about the future is just not worth it. So like I never sat down and said like, OK, I want to play this. I want to play that. I like to wait for it. And I just want to have the wisdom to be able to choose, you know, to say, like, this is what I really want to do. This is something that I might not. But what kind of character? I don't know. I want to go to space. I want to be a pirate. I want to try to... I want to go everywhere. Yeah, why not?

22:39And what about... Because you've studied cinematography and the technical side of filmmaking, the practical side. can you see yourself directing anything and if so what's bubbling in your mind well i used to be the coffee guy i was a driver i work in sound department art department prop department then i did my first movie then i quit acting and starting film direction so since i remember as in goodfellas this scorsese movie i always want to be a wise guy a gangster where i always I remember that I always went to do something related to movies. For me, love is about the time you put in on things, on people, on whatever you love.

23:25For now, acting is my love, is my complete passion. And I found that directing and acting, there's something symbiotic about it. And I would love to go back to Mexico and direct in Mexico, because I think that's something really important. when Iñárritu went back to Mexico and directed, it just revolutionized our industry again. So I think that's really important. I don't know about the story. You're going to think this is a cliche, but I have this script that I've been writing for like five years about my mother's life. I would love to go back to Mexico and direct there and do it there with Mexican actresses, with Mexican actors, with a Mexican producer, and just try to give it a push of my industry because in the end I came from the independent movie scene in Mexico.

24:11So I'm not pretending to do a big movie. I really want to direct an independent movie in my country. Yeah. And Diego, do you think that today an actor of your caliber, for example, or anybody who's your contemporary who's from Mexico or anywhere else in the world outside America, do you think it's still the thing that people seek to go to Hollywood? Or has that changed? And if so, why has it changed? After, for example, having Los Tres Amigos, Iñárritu, Del Toro, Cuarón. These are the three big filmmakers in Mexico. After having this generation, this new generation of Oscar winners, etc., there's another generation that is growing and growing and growing, like Amat Escalante is another big director, Alonso Ruiz Palacios.

25:01Then you have this other generation that is bringing all the other awards to Mexico. So we have so many different directors that won the Camp Dior in Cannes, that won Berlin now, that won Rotterdam. So I think there's a generation now that wants to be part of the independent movie scene in Mexico and Latino America, right? And there's always going to be people that wants to be Brad Pitt or wants to be Leonardo DiCaprio and wants to go to Hollywood. both are the meccas now now there's not just one way to be on the spotlight in a way you know I've been lucky enough to play in both sides of the coin you know to play in the very independent movie scene in Mexico and even outside Mexico right and then Babylon, Hollywood so if I'm able to I don't want to belong anywhere I just want to belong to the movie situation to the movies