ACTOR BERNARDO SARACINO PORTRAYS CARTEL KING MANUEL DIAZ IN LIONSGATE FILM ‘SICARIO’
“Sicario” feels like one of the last Westerns…” claims The New Yorker, Drenched in many shades of ambiguity as it dramatizes a complex U.S.-led effort to take out a major Mexican drug lord south of the border
LOS ANGELES – September 16, 2015 – Actor Bernardo Saracino is portraying a character that could be plucked from the headlines – fictional cartel boss Manuel Díaz in the Lionsgate film “Sicario.” The highly anticipated film has Saracino portraying the cat and mouse game of the border drug wars from the point of view of a family-run Mexican drug cartel.
The Hollywood Reporter described it as, “…Drenched in many shades of ambiguity as it dramatizes a complex U.S.-led effort to take out a major Mexican drug lord south of the border,” and Variety describes the tension in the film, “It involves multiple trips back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border as the agents attempt to use one high-ranking cartel boss (Bernardo Saracino) to flush out an even bigger one (Julio Cesar Cedillo), though exactly why is a crucial detail “Sicario” holds close to the vest until late in the third act. In the meantime, Villeneuve stages one extraordinary suspense setpiece after another…”
For Saracino, “Sicario” is his latest role, having portrayed the youthful swagger of millennial’s with the intellect of old souls in previous roles. He’s been seen on screen as a Hispanic World War II veteran in “Bless Me Ultima” as well as a street-smart East LA Hispanic talk show host Juan David in the Funny or Die’s shorts “Juan David.”
Raised outside of Albuquerque within a family that was a blend of Native American, Hispanic and Italian heritage, his multi-ethnic and unique New Mexico heritage has created a platform to showcase comedy, drama and suspense with his work. From early New Mexico to veterans to the heartbreak of losing his family at a young age and being raised by his grandparents, his life resounds in all of his work.
He starts shooting his next film project in October.
