by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Javier Bardem
GETTING OUT THE ‘VOTO’: Latino actors are appealing to Spanish-speaking voters in rival political campaigns in California over issues that couId be decided by the Hispanic vote.
Three Ugly Betty stars began appearing this week in Spanish-language TV ads against state Proposition 8, which seeks to outlaw gay marriages legalized by the California Supreme Court this year.
“Voting no for Proposition 8 is not just about gay rights,” says sitcom star América Ferrera, who appears in the ads with Ana Ortiz and Tony Plana. All three are U.S. citizens.
The ads counter a rival TV and print campaign which features Mexican actor Eduardo Verastegui, a Catholic activist. “Proposition 8 protects marriage and helps families and children’” he says.
Verastegui, who has endorsed Republican presidential candidate John McCain, is also campaigning in favor or Proposition 4, which would require parental notification when a minor girl seeks an abortion. The actor, a practicing Catholic who claims to practice abstinence, has participated in rallies at California abortion clinics and spoken on the issue while promoting the DVD release of his film Bella, which takes an anti-abortion stance.
Alejandro González Iñarritu with Gael García Bernal.
The Mexican national is among Latino celebrities ineligible to vote who has been criticized for taking sides this electoral year. Also supporting Mc Cain this year is Puerto Rican singer Daddy Yankee, who is a U.S. citizen but cannot vote because he doesn’t live in one of the 50 states. Among those backing Democrat Barack Obama are singers Paulina Rubio (Mexico), Alejandro Sanz (Spain) and Juanes and Shakira (Colombia).
‘BIUTIFUL’ BARCELONA: Spanish actor Javier Bardem was set to return to the capital of the autonomous region of Cataluha this week, where production begins on the new film by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu.
Guillermo Árriga
Biatiful is the director’s first film since his well-publicized break with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, who wrote the trilogy of Amores perros, 21 Grams and Babel. Gonzalez Iharritu himself wrote the new screenplay along with Armando Bo and Nicolas Giacobone.
Bardem, this year’s Oscar winner for No Country For Old Men, will play Uxbal, a man recovering from a devastating heartbreak. The Spanish actor was also seen this year in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a film partially shot in that city. Hispanic Link.
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