You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger Mexican star right now than Diego Luna. The Y tu mamá también actor has been able to turn that breakout 2001 role into a career that’s had him work with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Gus van Sant, and Julie Taymor. He’s been in a Katy Perry video and starred in a Star Wars film. But, even when he left his native Mexico for Los Angeles, the actor has long made sure that he remained true to his roots. But as he shared in a recent Los Angeles Times interview, Luna eventually decided he couldn’t keep reading about what was going on in his native country from afar. It’s why he decided to move back to Mexico where, with a play about online privacy, his ongoing work with Ambulante, and a commitment to political activism, he’s carving out the next steps in his career.
Speaking of the importance of his work in Privacidad to a packed theater for its 100th performance last month, Luna made sure to connect what audiences see on stage with what’s going on outside the theater. “We live in a country where those on the right side of history are persecuted and spied on,” he said, “and there aren’t the conditions to freely exercise the journalism that we citizens deserve.” It’s but one of the many statements the actor has become well-known for making, whether in response to the border wall, the Central American refugee crisis, or Mexico’s ill-fitting response to the earthquake last year.
But among the many fascinating tidbits from Luna’s conversation with the LA Times is the admission that even though politics is central to what he’s doing now, the actor may not even endorse a presidential candidate in the upcoming summer elections. An outspoken critic of President Enrique Peña Nieto, Luna prefers to work directly with the people in need. He told the newspaper that several political parties have hit him up for an endorsement, with one even offering to make him a senator. He declined, and has yet to lend his celebrity to a specific candidate.