HOW THE OTHER ‘HALF’ LIVES
Star hopes film opens eyes about the real Mexico
The new comedy “Half Brothers” offered Mexican megastar Luis Gerardo Méndez much more than his first leading-man role in a Hollywood movie.
The film about odd-couple siblings also gave him the chance to represent his country in a way that isn’t often depicted on the big screen in the United States.
“A Mexican character who’s a successful businessman, dressed up in really expensive suits, I’ve never seen that before in Hollywood,” Méndez, 38, told the Daily News. “I think that’s important, because we are also that. Mexicans, we are also businessmen and filmmakers, and writers and poets, and mothers and fathers. We, as Mexican filmmakers and actors and producers, need to tell our own stories.”
Méndez stars in the movie, which hits theaters Friday, as the businessman Renato, who is thriving professionally but never recovered emotionally from his childhood, when his father left Mexico to find work in the U.S. and didn’t return.
Renato only learns he has an American half-brother named Asher decades later when his father is on his deathbed and urges his two sons to embark on a road trip together.
Asher, who is played by Connor Del Rio, is kindhearted but comes on strong with his big personality, and his antics often irritate Renato.
“These characters are completely opposite, and each one of them represents one country,” Méndez explained. “My character represents Mexico. Asher represents theh States. Putting those guys in the same vehicle, we could talk about all the differences between us, but most important, about the things we have in common. At the end of the day, we are also half-brothers, and we are not that different.”
The movie is five years in the making for Méndez, who also served as a producer on “Half Brothers” and was heavily involved with its script.
Méndez got his start as a theater actor in Mexico. He rose to larger fame after starring in the 2013 comedy film “Nosotros los Nobles” (“The Noble Family”), which at one point was the highest-grossing Mexican movie ever.
The actor considers comedy an effective way to explore social topics and provide a mirror for society. “Half Brothers” includes commentary that addresses stereotypes about Mexico, and also features a powerful scene depicting a detention center at the U.S. border.
“If we are able to present those situations on screen with success, you start conversations with the audience, and that’s where everything starts to be more interesting,” Méndez said.
The actor hopes viewers connect with the themes of empathy and acceptance in “Half Brothers,” and is eager for audiences to experience the movie.
“I think people are going to laugh for the first 60 minutes,” Méndez said. “I think the last 30 minutes are an emotional roller coaster where hopefully everybody is going to be sobbing at the end of the film.”