Carlos Gallardo (born June 22, 1966) is a Mexican

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, producer, occasional

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. Gallardo frequently collaborates with his friend, director

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

Life and career

Gallardo was born in

Ciudad Acuña , also known simply as Acuña, (originally Garza Galán, later Villa Acuña) is a city located in the Mexican state of Coahuila, at and a mean height above sea level of . It stands on the Rio Grande (locally known as the Río Bravo), which mark ...

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, to a Mexican father and an Irish mother. Gallardo's first taste of fame came with the feature film '' El Mariachi'', a critically acclaimed film renowned for costing US$7,000 to make. The film won the 1993

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, and won Gallardo an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

for Best First Feature, an accolade he shared with Rodriguez. He also was credited as

unit production manager In the cinema of the United States, a unit production manager (UPM) is the Directors Guild of America–approved title for the top below-the-line staff position, responsible for the administration of a feature film or television production. Non-D ...

and for

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

in ''El Mariachi''. Following ''El Mariachi'', Gallardo went on to be co-producer of the Robert Rodriguez-directed '' Mexico Trilogy'' sequels, '' Desperado'' and ''

Once Upon a Time in Mexico ''Once Upon a Time in Mexico'' is a 2003 American neo-Western action film written, directed, produced, photographed, scored, and edited by Robert Rodriguez. It is the sequel to '' Desperado'' (1995) and the third and final installment in the ' ...

''. Both films featured

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

in the role of El Mariachi, in place of Gallardo, though Gallardo had a minor role in ''Desperado'', playing El Mariachi's friend, Campa. Gallardo co-wrote, produced and starred in the title role of 2004 independent action thriller, ''Bandido''. He was also producer for 2004 Colombian TV series '' Me amarás bajo la lluvia''. Carlos also participated in the Robert Rodriguez production titled ''Curandero'' where he plays the lead. ''Curandero'' was directed by Eduardo Rodriguez. In 2007, he played Deputy Carlos in '' Planet Terror'',

's portion of ''

Grindhouse A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter, and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a f ...

'', appearing opposite

Michael Biehn Michael Biehn ( or ; born July 31, 1956) is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in science fiction films directed by James Cameron; as Sgt. Kyle Reese in ''The Terminator'' (1984), Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in ''Aliens (film), Aliens'' (1 ...

and

Tom Savini Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including ''Martin ( ...

. It was his first appearance in a Rodriguez film since ''Desperado''.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Interview: Carlos Gallardo
at

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

*https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carlos-Gallardo/169294239805686?bookmark_t=page Living people Mexican male film actors Mexican film directors Mexican film producers Mexican screenwriters Mexican people of Irish descent Male actors from Coahuila 1966 births People from Acuña, Coahuila {{Mexico-film-director-stub