Diego Luna felt like he was ‘choking on his own skin’ during hardcore transformation-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro

The Star Wars actor recalled how his skin ‘couldn’t breathe’ (Picture: Cristian Salvatierra/Hulu)

Diego Luna has revealed what it was like undergoing an intense, prosthetic-heavy transformation for his new TV drama, explaining how it felt as though he was ‘choking on his own skin’.

For more than two decades, the Mexican actor has been a part of one of the strongest acting duos in cinema, frequently working with his long-time collaborator and childhood friend Gael García Bernal, with whom he starred in their 2001 breakthrough hit Y Tu Mamá También.

Their brand new project – La Máquina on Disney Plus – literally pulls no punches, starring Gael, 45, as ageing boxer Esteban and Diego, 44, as his appearance-obsessed manager.

The show, which is Hulu’s first Spanish-language original series, follows the pair as they strive for a final shot at glory – but there are menacing forces at play behind the scenes that hinder their ambitions, and even endanger their lives.

Metro recently had the chance to speak to Diego about the programme and how he transformed to embody Andy, as well as other areas of his career, including the highly-anticipated second season of Star Wars hit Andor.

When depicting the boxing manager for La Máquina, the actor explained how his transformation was far more than just the prosthetics that he had applied heavily to his face.

While Gael and Diego are lifelong friends, their characters Esteban and Andy have a complicated relationship (Picture: Hulu)

The actor explained what drew him to the role (Picture: Chad Salvador/Variety via Getty Images)

His portrayal dug far deeper, shining a spotlight on a ‘sickness’ that exists in the world.

‘Andy is a very strange character. A guy that lives behind the most popular boxer in Mexico, a star of the boxing world. It must be tough for him to understand that he has to stay there. He really wants to be in the front. He really wants to be seen. He’s obsessed with popularity, with the way he looks,’ Diego explained.

‘He has this sickness that the world we live in is bringing and showing us – how many people are so interested in the surface, in the way we look, in the way we pretend to look, in fact. He’s going through the process of having to let go.’

While the prosthetics to give Andy a face filled with Botox and tweaked with cosmetic surgery played a big part in the star’s performance, he insisted that he could never ‘get used’ to the prosthetics adorning his face every day of filming.

‘They’re painful. Basically, your skin doesn’t breathe. You’re choking your own skin. It’s hardcore,’ he outlined vividly.

‘But gladly, we had a beautiful team, very talented artists that created this character with me, and we had strict rules on how long and how to use them and when.’

Diego underwent a huge physical transformation for the part (Picture: Carlos Somonte/Hulu)

Andy and Esteban are both striving for a final shot of glory in La Máquina, but there are treacherous obstacles in their path (Picture: Carlos Somonte/Hulu)

However, he added that the essence of Andy is ‘not just the prosthetics’, stating: ‘There’s an amazing work of costume design, the sets, the props, everything around him – it’s telling a story. Everything is telling a story, and here’s this guy that represents everything that’s worth nothing. His life is so empty.

‘I thought it was a good message to send today and a good reflection to have, how much we are investing in stuff that is worth nothing and that we are not taking with us.’

Diego and Gael have a friendship that anyone would cherish in their lives – one that began when they were children and has lasted throughout their careers, resulting in them launching production companies together, as well as the Ambulante Documentary Film Festival.

‘It’s constant, and he’s been part of my life since day one. So I’m pretty, pretty sure this will happen – as long as I tell stories, he’ll be part of that somehow,’ the former said.

Diego and Gael both gained greater attention from the masses after the release of their 2001 classic Y Tu Mamá También (Picture: IFC FILMS/Everett/Rex/Shutterstock)

Their working partnership – as well as their friendship – will undoubtedly continue for many years to come (Picture: Jaime Nogales/Medios y Media/Getty Images)

Diego revealed that they had been talking about doing a story about a boxer and his manager ‘for 10 years now’… which makes the release of La Máquina even more special.

‘I think it’s a great tool to talk about the world we’re living in,’ he said of the message that viewers might take away from watching the six-episode show.

‘This idea of having to end a career, having to say goodbye. No one teaching you to say goodbye. It’s quite fascinating to see these characters that are our age, but that have reached the end of something, or at least what they think life is about, and finding something else, getting to understand that life has so much more to give, but that you have to let go.’

While Diego’s character Andy might have to face the looming end of his position as Esteban’s boxing manager in La Máquina, the actor’s career in real life is continuing to go from strength to strength.

In 2016, he made his Star Wars debut in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Rebel captain Cassian Andor… and over the past eight years, numerous fans have hailed the movie as one of the greatest in the entire franchise.

The love for Rogue One continues to grow eight years later (Picture: Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)

Diego returned to reprise his role as Cassian in his eponymous TV series, Andor (Picture: Des Willie/Lucasfilm Ltd.)

His spin-off prequel series Andor about Cassian’s backstory was yet another roaring success when it aired in 2022, with many calling it the best Star Wars TV series so far.

The tear-jerking show is set to make a return for a second and final season, the end of which will lead directly to the beginning of Rogue One.

So what – if anything – could Diego tell us about what we can expect from Andor’s second outing?

‘Oh my god, no I can’t say much. The only thing I can say is that this show has shown me how patient I can be,’ he told us.

‘We’ve been working for a long time, and I can’t talk too much about it, but I can tell you, the wait is worth [it]. The amount of work behind the second season… and I think that the connection between the audience and the characters, it’s going to pay out.’

The actor continued: ‘I don’t know how to say it, but I think there’s things you wait too long for. This one, it’s not going to feel like that. The beauty of this second season is that you can go straight to watch Rogue One, and it’s going to have a different meaning. It’s going to look different and feel different.’

Diego made it clear how big a fan he is of Star Wars too (Picture: Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios)

It’ll be an emotional goodbye when Andor comes to an end with its second season (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.)

Diego’s gratitude for the love that he’s received from Star Wars fans couldn’t be more apparent, as he emphasised how passionate a fan he is too.

‘The love for Star Wars, the passion that fans have. It’s a very special connection, because I’m a fan too. I really like Rogue One. I’m really proud of what we did there,’ he said.

‘I really like Andor. I like it as a professional, but also as part of the audience. That connection doesn’t happen often.

‘It happens with this universe and I’m lucky enough to work and belong to a family of very talented people. I work with the best doing that show. It’s been great. Everything, every part of the process has something very special, and it’s because of the people involved.’

So from the boxing ring to a galaxy far, far away… what’s next on the horizon for Diego?

‘I am doing nothing,’ he quipped light-heartedly. ‘No, I’m producing and I’m developing stuff. But as an actor, I’m gonna take a second. I’m gonna promote La Máquina and promote Andor and find what’s next.’

La Máquina is available to stream on Disney Plus.

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