DIEGO CALVA

ACTOR

When the trailer dropped for Damien Chazelle’s upcoming Golden Age of Hollywood extravaganza “Babylon,” we glimpsed a host of familiar stars — Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart — and one face we didn’t know, a young Mexican seen snorting coke with Robbie and propping up Pitt the morning after a bender. The actor is Calva and he’s playing Manny Torres, son of Mexican immigrants, aspiring actor, an outsider looking for a way in. The Mexico Citybased Calva won the role after spending a year sending Chazelle videos of himself in different scenes. Chazelle recommended studying Al Pacino, and when it came time for Calva’s in-person read with Robbie, the director played the theme from “The Godfather” to help him get into character. Now after a steady career working in Mexican and Argentine films and a key role in “Narcos: Mexico,” Calva has a movie that might do for him what “The Godfather” did for Pacino — make him a star.

— Glenn Whipp