Garcia Bernal's performance in The Motorcycle Diaries has been praised

His latest role as iconic revolutionary Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries has ensured that his career is about to reach new heights.

But in the eyes of his home country, his reputation as one of Mexico's finest actors is already in the bag thanks to films like Amores Perros and El Crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro).

Many have tipped him as the "Mexican Marlon Brando" - a comparison his good looks and charming on-screen persona seem to justify.

Child star

Born on 30 November 1978, in Guadalajarain, Mexico, his mother Patricia Bernal is an actress and former model and his father, Jose Angel Garcia, a film director.

One of four children, his parents were a huge influence on his fledgling acting career, often joining them in productions with the local theatre company.

FILMOGRAPHY The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) Bad Education (2004) Dreaming of Julia (2003) Dot the I (2003) The Crime of Father Amaro (2002) I'm With Lucy (2002) Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) Amores Perros (2000)

After his parents divorced, Garcia Bernal moved with his mother to Mexico City where she began winning acting parts on television.

He spent his early teens on screen in the soap opera El Abuelo y Yo (The Grandfather and I), which cast him alongside childhood friend, Diego Luna.

At 17 he left his native Mexico to travel across Europe, eventually settling in London where he won a scholarship to the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama.

His first short film, De Tripas, Corazon (Of Guts, Heart), was shortlisted for an Oscar - in the short film category - in 1997.

While studying in London he was cast in his first major feature film - the powerful Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch).

Acting awards

The role would secure Garcia Bernal two best actor awards - one at Mexico's Ariel Awards and the other at the Chicago International Film Festival.

The film itself was also nominated for an Oscar in 2000, in the foreign language category.

Amores Perros also caught the eye of acclaimed director Alfonso Cuaron, who was impressed with Garcia Bernal's portrayal of a street child who falls in love with his sister-in-law.

Cuaron snapped Garcia Bernal up to play one of the three lead roles in the lusty 2001 film Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too), which saw Garcia Bernal reunited with Luna.

The friends would share the Marcello Mastroianni Award for the film.

In 2002 he was cast to play Che Guevara in the television mini-series Fidel - a role he would reprise in The Motorcycle Diaries.

Controversial role

Despite Garcia Bernal's celebrity status in Latin America, his career has not been without controversy.

In 2002, the Catholic Church threatened to ex-communicate Garcia Bernal for his role in the film El Crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro).

Garcia Bernal has played revolutionary Che Guevara twice

Garcia Bernal played the character of Father Amaro, a young priest who falls in love with a young girl whom he gets pregnant and then abandons.

But despite the flurry of protests from the Catholic Church, the film went on to demolish box office records in Mexico.

Garcia Bernal also courted controversy at the 2003 Academy Awards ceremony, where he was asked to present an award.

He used the high-profile platform to condemn the US-led war in Iraq, and received a mixed reaction from the audience.

'Rave reviews'

Latest film The Motorcycle Diaries, directed by Walter Salles, looks set to become Garcia Bernal's career highlight to date.

Based on Che Guevara's diary when he travelled around South America as a young man in 1952, it has been well received by critics. It won rave reviews when it had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Festival earlier this month.

Garcia Bernal's next project, The King, is due for release next year.

The James Marsh-directed film, which also stars William Hurt, is currently being filmed in Texas.