La Máquina's Gael García Bernal & Diego Luna On Co-Developing Sports Drama And Their Physical Transformations (2025)

Childhood friends Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna are reuniting for the moving sports drama La Máquina. The Mexican-born creative duo have frequently partnered with one another on screen throughout their careers, including for the Oscar-nominated classic Y tu mamá también and Carlos Cuarón's well-received directorial debut Rudy y Cursi, while also co-founding the production company Canana Films. In recent years, both Bernal and Luna have found success in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars franchises with their roles in Werewolf by Night and both Rogue One and Andor.

Bernal and Luna serve as the co-developers of the story for La Máquina, while also starring in the miniseries as Esteban Osuna and Andy Lujan. Bernal's eponymous boxer is a former sports star considering retirement after a devastating loss, only for his manager and best friend, Luna's Andy, to convince him to keep training for a rematch and beyond. As Esteban begins to regain his confidence in his skills, though, Andy's dark past on the corrupt side of the sport puts a target on the backs of both La Máquina and his family, including his investigative journalist ex-wife and their kids.

Alongside Bernal and Luna, the ensemble La Máquina cast includes 3 Body Problem's Eiza González, Lucía Méndez, Jorge Perugorría, Andrés Delgado, Karina Gidi, and Dariam Coco. With Marco Ramirez, who holds the likes of Netflix's Daredevil and Jordan Peele's The Twilight Zone under his belt, the show has proven to be a gripping mix of an underdog sports drama, a fast-paced crime drama, and a powerful character study on past trauma.

Ahead of the show's premiere, Screen Rant interviewed Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna to discuss La Máquina, where the first kernel of the idea for the show first came about for the pair, the physical transformations they underwent for their characters, how much they pulled from their own friendship for their characters' dynamic, and the decision to keep the show entirely in Spanish.

Bernal & Luna's Transformations Required "A Little Bit Of Sacrifice" For Them Both

"...it's the best tool you have as an actor..."

Screen Rant: So excited to chat with you both for La Máquina. I'm halfway through it, and I am loving everything I have seen so far. I would love to start with talking about the physical transformations you both undergo for this show to get in boxing shape, but also to really exemplify this plastic surgery-focused character. What was it like for both of you to really embody those changes?

Gael García Bernal: Really fun, really fun, and it requires a little bit of sacrifice for both of us, in different ways. But there was something that once we achieved a certain point of the preparation, it's the best tool you have as an actor, because you have a character, because you play with it, because you have such ownership of what you're doing. You're able to improvise, you're able to play around, you're able to stretch the limits, and play around. So it was wonderful, but for me, it was very direct. It was just training, a lot of boxing, you know, and getting ready for that. But for Diego, it was a lot of trial and error, no? [Chuckles]

Diego Luna: Yeah, we tried different things, and it was more of teamwork. I mean, I guess you also did the teamwork, but on this team, everyone was working on my team, you know? Everyone was training, because there were the prosthetics, and it's an art to get to the right level of it, and the perfect shape. What we are emulating here matters. So, there was research that we had to do, and so many references we saw from real life that were like, "Oh, no, we cannot go that far." But it was interesting, and it's not just the prosthetics. It's hair and makeup, costumes, the set designs. Everything tells the story of who this man is, and what he's going through.

Bernal & Luna's Friendship Is "Very Different" From Andy & Esteban's

"...I think we're making comments on the world we've experienced together."

One thing I'd love to discuss, too, is you two are obviously longtime friends in real life, and that you came up with the original concept for this show. How much did you pull from your own friendship in really establishing the relationship these two characters have had throughout the years?

Diego Luna: I think it's more of many things we've witnessed together, many people we've met, and stories that are close to each other. Our dynamic is very different than Andy's and Esteban's. We are somewhere else, basically, that our dynamic is not based on that power kind of thing going on that you have with these two. [Chuckles] But it's definitely, our friendship, a great tool to give depth to each moment, and to find reference that, suddenly, we can connect easily with. But I think we're making comments on the world we've experienced together.

Keeping The Show In Spanish Brought A "Musicality" To Its Dialogue

"...that other musicality brings another type of tonality to the show."

Another thing I truly love about the show is that it's all in Spanish. I love that American audiences, like myself, can really engage in another culture. You had the idea of keeping this in Mexico and all in Spanish. How did you go about really ensuring that landed not just for Mexican audiences, but for international audiences, as well?

Gael García Bernal: Well, we've had the fortune — in this case, I would mention it was a fortunate thing to grow up always experimenting, listening to different languages. When we were growing up, like Alfonso Cuarón's said to us, we grew up watching a lot of foreign films, foreign-language films, like The 400 Blows, or Seven Samurai, or Jaws, or Back to the Future. So, we always saw and appreciated these musicalities of different languages, and we know that, for us, this story was in Mexico, so therefore, it's in Spanish.

There was no question about it for us. But, also, to appreciate and value the fact that that other musicality brings another type of tonality to the show. For example, we're talking about a story of how to say goodbye from success, a story where losing is a way of gaining your freedom. Maybe the correct language to talk about that is in Spanish, because it's a bit more ambiguous, or the gray areas are explored with much more ease, in a certain way. And for us, it is easier to express that, because that's our language.

That was where we can fly. So, I guess it's a winning scenario, in all senses, to do it like this. But, we've got to say that to achieve a project this size, we count it with the great support of Searchlight and Hulu, who were wonderful at betting on this, and letting us do all this, and helping us and supporting us, and being good interlocutors of all our worries and all our desires. It has been wonderful to be in this situation.

About La Máquina

After a devastating loss, Esteban “La Máquina” Osuna (Gael García Bernal) is at a low point in his boxing career. Lucky for him, his manager and best friend Andy Lujan (Diego Luna) is determined to get him back on top. But when a nefarious organization rears its head, the stakes of this rematch become life or death. While struggling to mount a comeback, Esteban must also juggle his own personal demons and protect his family, including his ex-wife Irasema (Eiza González), a journalist who finds herself on a collision course with the dark side of the boxing world.

Stay tuned for our other La Máquina interview with Marco Ramirez!

Source: Screen Rant Plus

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La Máquina

TV-MA

Drama

Sports

Boxer Esteban “La Máquina” Osuna struggles to revive his career after a devastating loss, with the help of his manager, Andy Luja. As a dangerous organization threatens their efforts, Esteban must confront personal demons and protect his family, including his ex-wife, who becomes entangled in the dark side of boxing.

Cast

Gael García Bernal , Diego Luna , Eiza González , Lucía Méndez , Raúl Briones , Christopher Evangelou , Juan Carlos Huguenin , Andrés Delgado , Luis Gnecco , Jorge Perugorría , Karina Gidi , Sandra Quiróz , David Diamante , Dariam Coco

Character(s)

Esteban La Máquina Osuna , Andy Lujan , Irasema , Josefina , Juan Carlos , Harry Felix , Memo de la Peña , Raúl , Facundo , Sixto , Carlota , Doctora Liu , Ring Announcer

Release Date

October 8, 2024

Seasons

1

Main Genre

Drama