Demián Bichir

DEMIAN BICHIR

Date of Birth: August 1, 1963

Best known in the United States and Canada for his portrayal of a young Fidel Castro in Steven Soderbergh's biopic Che and for his role as Esteban Reyes in the hit Showtime series Weeds, Demián Bichir is one of the most well known and respected actors in his native home of Mexico. Born Demián Bichir Najera in 1963 to the famous theater director Alejandro Bichir and actress Maricruz Najera, Bichir and his brothers, Odiseo and Bruno, are all well known actors. In fact, the Bichir brothers have been in so many films over the years that the MTV Movie Awards in Mexico created a special category named after them: "Mejor Bichir en una Pelicula" ("Best Bichir in a movie"), which Demián won in 2003.

Throughout his career Demián has received and been nominated for an array of awards. He is an Ariel award winner for Best Actor for his role in the Mexican film Hidalgo - La historia jamas contada, and he was nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in Weeds. Bichir has also starred in the independent film The Runway, which won an award at The Galway Irish Film Festival in 2011.

His films have been seen by more than twelve million people in Mexico alone. Demián's features have large audiences in Spain and South America, where he has shot several pictures, including Rojo Amanecer (winner of Grand Jury Prize in the San Sebastian Film Festival), Perdita Durango (starring Javier Bardem), and Hasta Morir (winner of Best Actor Ariel award).

Demián was recently nominated for an Academy Award in the Actor in a Lead Role category for his work in the 2011 American drama A Better Life, directed by Chris Weitz. Originally known as "The Gardener," the screenplay was written by Eric Eason based on a story by Roger L. Simon. The film follows the life of two gardeners, Carlos Galindo (Demián) and Blasco Martinez (Joaquin Cosio). Carlos' son Luis is dating the niece of a powerful local gang leader, while Luis contemplates choosing the gang lifestyle and is at odds with his father.

Some of Demián's recent films include Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-winning film The Hateful Eight (2015), the drama Lowriders (2017) and Ridley Scott's sci-fi thriller Alien: Covenant (2017). His most recent appearances are in the sci-fi thriller Chaos Walking (2021) and the action blockbuster Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Once married to singer Lisset Gutierrez, Bichir is divorced and divides his time between Los Angeles and Mexico.

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