Diego Calva Is Stepping Into a Massive Spotlight—and Dressing the Part, Too
There's a story Diego Calva likes to tell about what it means to move up as an actor. See, when you're working on a local production that involves gunplay in his hometown of Mexico City, they ration your (fake) bullets. "They tell you, 'You have three bullets for the whole day, so be careful when you're going to fire, and please fire on camera,'" he says. But after Calva started working on a six-episode arc in Netflix juggernaut Narcos: Mexico, that changed. "When I did Narcos, I mean, Narcos... you can have all the bullets you want. So that's maybe the difference, the amount of bullets."
Calva knows how to spot the signs he's leveling up—like he is right now. After logging time in short films and supporting roles, the 30-year-old actor is making his big Hollywood debut this weekend in Academy Award-winning director Damien Chazelle's Babylon, starring alongside Brad Pitt and Margo Robbie. He plays Manuel "Manny" Torres, a film-industry outsider who, over the course of three decades, becomes an insider—and a big shot. He's the center around which the excesses of the film orbit, the lens through which the audience experiences the tumultuous transition from silent movies to talkies.
The real-life Calva is particularly well suited to the role. Calm, collected, and just as obsessed with the ins and outs of the movie business as Torres. He's well aware of the peculiar moment in which he finds himself, sitting on the edge of superstardom. He's also, as it happens, well versed in the nuances of personal style, walking the line between his father's rock n' roll fashion influences and his years spent delving into the aesthetics of Mexico City skate culture. We caught up over the phone ahead of the L.A. premiere of Babylon to talk about big breaks and bunking with your coworkers, getting dressed in Gucci, plus Manny's—and his own—style evolution.
On Readying Himself for Babylon
I have this feeling there was no way to be ready for Babylon in the sense that one day I was working in Mexico City, making short films, waiting for something like Narcos, or something bigger, and then the man called. I was already working, but not in that dimension. I never had this. I was proud of more than one project I did, but never with a press tour, and never showing the movie so many places with so many people, and being able to talk about the movie and to watch people's reactions.
And the difference between what I was doing and Babylon... Well, the difference is just like the big toys, for example, and the amount of people. But in the end, I also realized that the true magic is the same. It's like when Damien was talking to me, that's only two guys. If you take out all the paraphernalia, all the big toys, in the end, it's just a story, a great director, and actors doing their thing. And the talent is the same, the talent with all the crew is the same here and in Mexico City. But here there's, of course, more area to play.
On Bunking With Margot Robbie and Damien Chazelle
My relationship with Damien, with his wife Olivia, the producer, with Margot, it's very special. Sometimes you work with people and you are friends with these people, but not like this. In this case, I think they really took care of me in so many ways. We really bonded. I mean, I stayed in both of their houses. I stayed with Damien for more than 10 days rehearsing the movie. And then, during the shooting, I moved in with Margot for a couple of weeks. And in both cases, I think it was for the best. You bond more and you create a family kind of situation, which is lovely when you are the new kid in town and you know basically no one besides your coworkers.
On Giving It Back Double
I have scenes with Brad and with Jim, but Margot's character and my character have the most violent and crazy and loving situation in the movie, so my hardest scenes were with her. But hard in a beautiful way, you know? Hard because both characters are very extreme, very wild, but also because she is just the best. She's always putting the level higher and higher and higher. And every scene, I talked to myself and said, "Diego, you have to go bigger and be at her level. She's winning this fight."
And with Damien, it was the same but in the discipline. Damien is so disciplined. He doesn't even sleep. Honestly, I don't know at what time of the day this guy goes to sleep. He's always editing, he's always recording something, writing something. But also, he's always open to hearing your thoughts and your ideas too, like, "What do you think, Diego? Let's try now your version, Diego." I learned a lot, but when you're working with someone that dedicated, if he's giving the 200, you have to give the 400. And sometimes, with Damien, he's giving 1,000 percent. You have to try your best.
On Becoming Manny
Manuel, he's not based on anyone. I mean, no one in Babylon is based on a particular historic character, but there's a little of Clara Bow, for example in Nellie LaRoy, Margot's character. There's something about Rudolph Valentino in Brad's character.
With Manny, I didn't have that kind of source. So I moved my research more into the Mexican communities of that period. I found Chavez Ravine, for example, which was a Mexican community that used to be where the Dodger Stadium is now. During the '60s, the government kicked them out. And I found this beautiful book, Chavez Ravine, with a lot of photos and interviews, and that gave me an idea of how Mexicans could have lived during the '20s. That's where I focused my first part of the research.
And then I started working with an acting coach, and I did a lot of exercises like going to the zoo and watching an elephant to realize the dimension of an elephant, or going to the desert and waiting, just wait to realize what it is to wait. At some moment, I moved from that and just worked with Damien. After finding Manny and writing Manny's biography, I tried to be Manny first with an acting coach, and then I moved again to the script. And then I found Manny in Damien's words. It's so funny, but in the end, everything was already there.
On Manny's Style Evolution
I was working with the custom designer, Mary Zophres, for Manuel's arc. It starts with early '20s and continues to the '50s. So there's 30 years of his life. And something very important is the clothes, because he started very poor, and in the end, he's a big shot. In the beginning, he doesn't have the money to have a three-piece suit, for example, or a double-breasted, or anything like that. He's been dreaming about that and trying to reach that for a long time.
Maybe 10 years after the beginning of the movie, when he starts having some money, now he can buy a regular suit. But in the end of the movie, when he's a big producer, he wants to be with a three-piece suit, everything is custom for him, tailored. This is his first time in something like that.
On His Custom Gucci Suit for the Babylon Premiere
I asked Gucci to do a suit for me, and they agreed. I feel very, very honored. We've been working with different sketches of clothes from the '20s. And I love the idea of the three-piece suit for the premiere because of all that represents for Manny, for my character. But the idea is more a Gucci meets Hollywood in the '20s.
On His Dualistic Sense of Style
I have always had two styles. I was a skateboarder for years. So I have the streetwear inside me. The sneakers, jeans, baggy clothes. But at the same time, because of my father mostly, I'm a very big rock n' roll fan, soul music fan, and blues and jazz fan. My father always dressed like Frank Zappa. So I was between black shoes and looking like Nick Cave, but at the same time, a little more like Tony Hawk. I'm always between those two worlds: the skinny jeans and the baggy jeans, in a way. So if I have to define myself... Pete Doherty on a skateboard, maybe?
On His Own Style Evolution
When I was 12 years old, I didn't want Vans, I wanted to skate with my black shoes and wear skinny jeans. I always dress in what I like. I like a lot anime, too, so I have a lot of T-shirts with Pokemon and stuff like that. And I really believe that clothes could tell a story, and I like to put it that way.
So I'll try to find a way to keep saying who I am, not in a very loud way because I'm not here to be a fashion icon, but I want to have fun, for sure. And I'm very lucky that I found [stylist] Ilaria [Urbinati]—or Ilaria found me, I don't know—but we're working on things together and I think she's pretty open and she's very classy. She knows how to dress a Hollywood superstar, but she's pretty open to my suggestions and she knows that I'm not a Hollywood superstar. She's helping me to understand also what I want. Because now I have so many other options. I never had so many borrowed clothes in my life.
On Supporting the Brands That Supported Him
Way before I did Babylon or stuff like that, so many small brands have supported me and I have so many talented friends here in America that are creating their own brands, and in Mexico. So when the time is right, I would love to wear that. And I'm pretty open to collaborate and keep doing stuff with them.
For example, in America, I love Fried Rice, which is incredible. It's streetwear. It's not fashion. It's just streetwear, but it's amazing. In Mexico City, Totem, which is a magazine and a brand. They have the sweetest collaborations. And Carmen Rion, which is a little more formal, but I love it, too.
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