Eleven years after the release of the film The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, a series based on the book that started it all, is now streaming on Netflix. The crime drama series based on the Michael Connelly books stars Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller alongside Neve Campbell as Maggie, his first ex-wife, and Becki Newton, his second ex-wife Lorna. The crime drama has been making headlines and looks amazing, but who is Manuel? Get to know the Mexican actor below.
© GettyImagesHis early life
Manuel was born on February 25, 1981, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He grew up on a ranch in Jalisco, learned how to speak English in Vermont, and always had big dreams. The actor wanted to be a still life photographer for National Geographic but realized his love for film. Along with his involvement in high school theater, his grandfather was a film enthusiast and amateur director. He shared his passion with his grandchildren, often screening classics by Charles Chaplin and Mario Moreno “Cantinflas.” “Every weekend he would get all our cousins, 31 of us, together for a movie night, ” he told The Los Angeles Times.
He attended the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac in Mexico, studying Communications before heading to California to study at the New York Film Academy. Instead of filmmaking, he decided to pursue his dreams as an actor and moved back to Mexico and stared shooting local project, avoiding soap operas, per The Times.
How he got his start in Hollywood
After shooting his first film in Mexico, “La última y nos vamos” he met actor Richard Schiff in Denver, who offered to introduce him to his agent Hollywood. He met with the agent the next time he went to LA, and the next day she sent him the audition for “Bless Me, Ultima,” which he landed, and was his first big American film as Uncle Pedro (2016). His agent told him he needed to move to LA, and he went on to star in Antoine Fuqua’s “The Magnificent Seven,” Steve McQueen’s “Widows,” Antoine Fuqua’s “The Magnificent Seven,” and Michael Bay’s “6 Underground”
The Lincoln Lawyer
As noted by Remezcla, while the movie starred a McConaughey, a white man as the lead, in the book, Haller was always Latino. “We tried to explore that side of Mickey Haller,” he told the outlet. “I love doing that every chance,” he said, “if the story allows, I love putting my heritage in there.”
© GettyImages
