Demian Bichir: Bridging borders

SINGAPORE — He found fame in his native Mexico with movies such as Sex, Shame And Tears (the No 1 movie in Mexico’s cinematic history); and yet, despite being a prolific film star there, actor Demian Bichir remains a mystery to much of the world, even after appearances in popular American drama series such as Weeds, and now, starring in crime drama The Bridge alongside one of the hottest actresses from Germany, Diane Kruger.

The show title refers to the Bridge of the Americas that serves as a border crossing between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, where the series is set. It follows two police detectives, American Sonya Cross (Kruger) and Mexican Marco Ruiz (Bichir), as they hunt down a serial killer, only to have their efforts complicated by pervasive corruption and widespread violence. And Season 2 is expected to be darker and deeper, said Bichir.

“But there’s always room for improvement. You learn throughout every episode the things that you can change, to do better. We want to think that it’s going in a better direction in every aspect,” he added.

Bichir’s character is somewhat of an anti-hero, having struggled with the separation of his family and the loss of his son. However, the actor said his character won’t be “breaking bad”. “Marco is a good cop who doesn’t take bribes, but needs to play by certain rules with demons and angels at the same time in order to survive in a very difficult environment,” he explained.

“I don’t think (his losses) will make him throw in the towel. If anything, that makes him more dangerous to the bad guys because he’s fearless and has nothing to lose now. He can jump off a cliff and doesn’t give a f*** if he smashes his skull on the ground.”

Ruiz may be the antithesis of drug kingpin Esteban Reyes, Bichir’s character on Weeds, but those two roles do break Hollywood stereotypes when it comes to Mexicans. “If it’s Mexican, it has to be filthy and really bad and ugly, maybe a rat walking by,” he said. “We are careful not to fall into those cliches, and to try to make it real as much as we can. I’ve been lucky to have those characters — it’s not only luck, but you have to say no to stereotypes and cliches in order to find the really good material.

“It’s like soccer. It’s about who you play with in the field; otherwise you’re not going to have a good time,” he added. “Robert De Niro and Al Pacino wouldn’t have a career if they thought, ‘Ah, no gangsters! We can’t play gangsters over and over again!’ We are actors in search of great, juicy memorable characters. Sometimes a good script is not enough, the director and actors have to be great too.”

He should know. At 50, he is trying his hand as a first-time director with romantic feature film titled Refugio (“refuge” in Spanish), which tells the tale of a circus kid who becomes a man throughout his search for true love, with fate playing the key role in his voyage.

“It’s very cool,” said Bichir of the film, which was shot in six weeks. “I have a fantastic cast. Newcomer Stepfanie Sherk plays one of the leads, then I have Jason Patrick and Eva Longoria, as well as Jeorge Peruggoria, one of the greatest Cuban actors.”

But this is for later. As The Bridge rolls into its second season, fans hoping for at least some relationship development on the Marco-Sonya front can take heart that the duo will eventually find each other again, said Bichir.

“Because we respect each other and probably love each other too. But a lot of things will happen in this second season that will make you crazy and question who the other person really is,” he said. “It’s hard for Sonya to trust Marco fully because of the way he plays his cards. Marco has his own personal agenda about bringing down those motherf******. We’ll see if he can.” Transcript courtesy of FOX

The Bridge Season 2 is on Thursdays 5.15pm (9.50pm encore) on Fox HD (StarHub TV Ch 505/SingTel mio TV Ch 330).