Manuel Garcia-Rulfo might be best known as the suited and booted star of The Lincoln Lawyer, but he has a new role now.
The star — who plays the brilliant Mickey Haller on the hit Netflix series — is displaying a far more rugged appearance, making him almost unrecognizable.
Manuel is headlining the upcoming Mexican movie, Pedro Paramo.
“The movie is based on the story of Juan Preciado (played by Tenoch Huerta), who is searching for his father, Pedro Páramo (played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), following his mother’s death,” the Netflix film synopsis reads. “The town where Preciado heads to is seemingly abandoned, and past and present beguilingly coexist. “
The TIFF website describes the movie as a “mesmerizing story of desire, corruption, and inheritance.”
Manuel has been promoting the movie — which is based on the 1955 novel by Juan Rulfo — on Instagram and shared a promotional movie poster.
He sports a heavy moustache and Mexican attire and looks very different to how fans are used to seeing him.
The gripping trailer, which can be viewed above, sees him speaking his native tongue as the actor was born and raised in Mexico.
Manuel inherited his love of movies from his grandfather who was a local dentist with a talent for movie-making.
“There was no shortage of cast,” Manuel recalled to the WSJ. “He had a huge family of eight girls and my father. Decades later, when I was growing up, he’d screen the short films for me and his 31 other grandkids. They were wonderful action dramas, usually about cowboys or robberies.”
© NetflixHe added: “My grandfather’s home movies were like Hollywood productions. Instead of shooting 16mm footage of his kids at the table or playing outside, he created stories and scripts and used a professional editing deck.”
He moved to America to learn English at 12 years old, when his parents enrolled him in an exchange program in Vermont.
“My parents had purposefully chosen a remote town in a small state where there wouldn’t be any Spanish-speaking kids,” he explained. “The goal was to put me in a situation where I had to learn English.
“The family was warm and loving, and their son, Mark, treated me like a brother. We’re still in touch today. In addition to becoming fluent in English, I learned to ski.”
Manuel resides full time in the US and is currently dating Audrey McGraw, the daughter of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
