My father had to play the role of mother and father.
We live in a classist, racist, homophobic society into which we are very assimilated, that's all. I'm not really proud about that.
I always wanted to be a futbol player, but I was never good enough.
Acting is therapy. It keeps you in contact with your feelings.
I always thought of documentaries as films through which you find your voice as a narrator.
It makes no sense that this country has 11 million workers feeding, building this country, making America what it is, and they don't share the same rights of those who are consuming the fruit of their labor.
When you make a film, it's because it's important to you, it means something to you.
Before 'Y Tu Mama,' I did 16 movies that only my family got to see because I invited them to the premiere.
In Mexico, you need to be a bulldog to make a movie because everything is set up for you to go back home and get depressed and not do the movie.
In Mexico, we call it 'terco': the guy who goes out every day, and every day they tell him no, and the next day he's there, and the next day he's there. That's the kind of people who make movies in Mexico.
There's a reality that the market is changing, and the stories of the Latino community need to be out because there's a huge audience in need of films that would represent them.
My first son was born in Los Angeles; he's a Mexican-American.
No makeup can substitute for faces that have actually been under the sun.
It's indifference and ignorance that stops people from doing the right thing.
Film can be a tool for change; it can start a debate.
My father became completely responsible for my education and for raising me.
It's tough to say where I live. There are some bills that get to the house in L.A., some to the house in Mexico, and some to the house of my father - so I never lose track of those.
I started to work when I was really young. For me, friendship is work, and work is friendship. Those who are next to me and that have been there for a long time are those who can work with me, play football with me, and go watch a film with me.
I'm a terrible dancer.
Everyone is different, and so I don't want to repeat anyone else's career. I want to do mine.
