Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is a rising film and television series Mexican actor. Best known for the movie, “Bless Me, Ultima” and the television show, “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”, he also broke through into the limelight as one of the main characters in a remake of the film, “The Magnificent Seven”.
Early Life
Born on 25 February 1981, Manuel grew up riding horses on a ranch in Guadalajara, Mexico. He majored in Communications at Universidad del Valle de Atemajac. He also went to Vermont to take up English.
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It was at UNIVA, a private Catholic school in Mexico, where Spanish is the first language, that he found out his love for making films. For a while, he also pursued film-making at New York Film Academy, but then returned to Mexico to resume his career in acting.
Career
He first made an American film, as Uncle Pedro in “Bless Me, Ultima” in 2013. In 2014, Manuel acted in the America drama film, “Cake”, starring Jennifer Anniston then went on to play “Pedro” in “Term Life”, an action drama film.
It was, however, in 2016, when he starred as one of the leading characters, “Vasquez”, an outlaw, in a remake of the western action film, “The Magnificent Seven”, when his career started to find its ground. Manuel played Biniamino Marques in a 2017 Kenneth Branagh film, “Murder on the Orient Express”, a mystery thriller film.
From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Robert Rodriguez developed the idea of American horror television program, “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”, which grew from the movie “From Dusk Till Dawn”, adding more characters and back-stories to the movie; it first aired on 11 March 2014.
It was promoted and marketed as a Netflix Original outside the US and Latin America, and ran for three seasons, its actors released from their contracts in late 2016. Manuel played the recurring character, “Narciso Menendez” until season two of the series.
Bless Me, Ultima, Cake
Directed by Carl Franklin in 2013, starring Luke Ganalon, “Bless Me, Ultima”, was Manuel’s first American movie, adapted from the 1972 novel by Rudolfo Anaya. The film is set in Mexico at the time of World War 2. The central theme of the movie revolves around an old medicine woman and a young man, supporting each other to deal with good and bad elements in their village.
Manuel played the character, Uncle Pedro in the movie – though not exactly a stellar or prime cast, it was the start of American movie-making for him, earning over $1.5 million at the box office.
On 8 September 2014, Manuel’s second American movie participation as Arturo was released. Directed by Daniel Barnz, “Cake” is a drama film written by Patrick Tobin, starrring Jennifer Anniston and debuting at the Toronto International Film festival. Anniston garnered nominations for Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards. “Cake” fell steeply short of its total budget of $7 million, earning less than $3 million.
The Magnificent Seven, Murder at the Orient Express
Manuel made a total of four movies in 2016. One of them and most outstanding was “The Magnificent Seven”; he played one of the lead characters, an outlaw named Vasquez. The concept of the film was a recreation of the movie “Seven Samurai” in 1954, and a remake of the 1960 movie of the same name. It starred Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt, and Manuel as a Mexican outlaw on the run for several months.
The movie, despite its stellar casting, did not perform as well as expected at the box office, but earned $162 million with a budget of $90 million. Director Antoine Fuqua intentionally cast for diversity in his choice of actors, like Denzel and Manuel, wanting to depict accurately historical reality.
In 2017, Manuel made the mystery thriller film under Director Kenneth Branagh “Murder on the Orient Express”, based on the Agatha Christie 1934 novel of the same title.
Manuel was Bianamino Marquez in the movie, which had its world premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and was a box office performer, with total gross earnings of $352 million and a budget of only $55 million. Branagh himself played Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, the lead role in the movie.
Net Worth and Salary
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo has been in the acting industry, since 2006.
His average annual income is now reputedly $600,000, and his net worth over $3 million. He is married to Lee Min Jung, his co-star in the movie, “The Magnificent Seven”. They have no children.
Physical Features and Style
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is of Caucasian ethnicity and of Mexican nationality. He is and weighs 72 kgs. He has brown eyes and hair and is of fair complexion. A notable facial feature which seems imperfect but quirky is his slightly large nose. He is a smart and casual dresser, and looks daring and true-blue modern Mexican in a plain suit and tie.