What's the One Accent Gael Garcia Bernal Can't Nail?

Feb. 13, 2013— -- Since Almodovar's Bad Education we know Gael García Bernal can credibly and enthusiastically curse like aSpaniard. Motorcycle Diaries had him doing a young Che Guevara's subtle Argentine accent. In Rudo y Cursi, he's the sexiest naco ever. Inhis latest, NO, out February 15, Gael García Bernaltries his hand at a not-so-easy accent, that of a native Chilean from Santiago.

Pablo Larraín's film, nominated this year in the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars, was inspired by actual events. García Bernal plays Rene Saavedra, a brash young adman spearheading a campaign aimed at ending the military dictatorship of AugustoPinochet during the country's 1988 referendum. Riding on the slogan "Chile:Happiness is coming!" this opposition campaign emerges victorious, setting Chile free from a rule definedby human rights abuses, and "desaparecidos." As García Bernal notes: "The campaignappealed to optimism and to happiness in a country submerged in the painful shockof its recent politics."

Putting his brilliant performance aside, how did he fare with the Chilean accent? Ona scale of 1 to 10, we'd say he sits comfortably at an 8. But what happens when wechallenge him to do other, tougher Latin American accents? Let's just say he needs alittle practice…