kuno becker: in banderas footsteps
Some years back Kuno was the fury of teen girls in soap operas; today he is outlined as an actor who can conquer Hollywood, and go as far as the same Antonio Banderas.
Playing the violin since he was 6 years old, has molded Kuno Becker's character. It was a romance that started early in his life, attending the National School of Music in the city of Mexico to the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburgo, Austria, after rigorous exams for his entrance to the Academy.
"I'm disciplined because classical music teaches you that", commented the mexican actor who gave his first steps in acting as the favorite of teen girls in mexican soap operas like Dreamers [Soñadoras], Decieved Women [Mujeres Engañadas], Camila and First Love [Primer Amor], and may others, now he has become one of the most promising actors of his country, recently acting along side great names of the filming industry like Antonio Banderas,Emma Thompson and Cecilia Roth, the argentine actress who starred in All About My Mother, which won the oscar for Best Foreign Film, in the year 2000.
Kuno exchanged music, for acting when he was 17 yrs old, at the begining for curiousity more than vocation, he recalls, but later he fell in love in such a way with his career, that he could not be taken off. He studied 3 yrs in the Center of Artistic Education of Televisia in Mexico and there he found that the discipline he learned with music would be very useful in his new career.
"Acting is also an art, a form of expression, just using only a different instrument, the body", commented the 25 yr old actor, whose paternal grandfather arrived in Mexico from Germany, and his maternal grandfather came from Spain. Both married mexican women, one a native from Sonora and another from Tlaxcala. This rich inheritence and his knowledge for different languages, German which he learned in elementary school and later perfected it during his stay in Austria, and English, which he also learned at a very young age, have helped him to undertake the road to Cinematography (Film making). Kuno didn't need an english teacher when he came to Hollywod, because he came prepared, knowing english and speaking it very well. Not like others, for example Eduardo Verastegui, who needed a teacher to learn english, because he doesn't speak a word of it, and even so he went on to make an english film. But apparently his teacher ripped him off, because he is still the same, and didn't learn anything, besides his acting is very cold and too empty. Going back to Kuno, in his short career, he has filmed in Argentina, Spain, Mexico and the U.S. In May he was in miami filming the romantic comedy Two Lovers and a Wedding where he has the leading role and worked with the cast of hispanic actors like Esai Morales and Charlotte Ayanna.
From Mexico to Hollywood, on the road to Argentina
Lucia, Lucia a mexican film based on the novel by spanish author Rosa Montero, La Hija del Canibal, which was released in the U.S. in July, was his first oportunity in a film. In this film he portrays a young musician who finds himself involved in the kidnapping of Cecilia Roth's husband, and later ends up falling in love with her. The film, in which Kuno had a nude scene, took over the mexican box office, winning the top position over films like Eminem's 8 Miles and Al Pacino with Simone. Kuno recognizes that its not a role too different from the ones he did in soap operas, but it let him enjoy the rythm of film making, explains Kuno, its more meticulous, in comparison with soap operas, in which 60 scenes are filmed a day.
The next step was Imagining Argentina, a film directed by the prestigous britanic director Christopher Hampton, winner of an Oscar in 1988, for his adaptation of the novel Dangerous Liaisons. Its a production of the Arenas Entertainment company, whom have set out to approach hispanic themes, as is the disappearance of 30,000 peope durring the military dictatorship in Argentina, in the 70s.
Kuno classifies the film, which will be released in the Spring, "a supernatural thriller, a love story". Besides the great honor and the challenge of sharing scenes with Emma Thompson, one of the most recogonized britanic actresses, winner of an oscar for Howards End, and Antonio Banderas, whom he considers an example to follow for hispanic actors. Kuno's role in the film is complex. "Its not huge, but it gives a turn to the story, Its important. A key character.", he comments, without givng much details, but feeling very happy to talk about the filming of Imagining Argentina and the set.
"We filmed strong scenes of the kidnappings, which impacted us. I remember Christopher Hampson said things that made us relax. He has a great sense of humor and says everything in the exact moment" Kuno commented, adding that the director doesn't have that britanic coldness.
Banderas has apparently left a deep mark on Kuno: "By seeing him work, I recovered my love for my career. He's a professional, even though he is a star, he's there at your disposition, always in a good mood."
Kuno feels inspired by this type of professionalism, which gets him closer to his dream: "I love being in the set, enjoying my film and only that". Portraying great characters is his goal, and he's going through the right road.
