Carlos Gallardo

Carlos Gallardo (born June 22, 1966) is a Mexican actor, producer, occasional screenwriter and director. Gallardo frequently collaborates with his friend, director Robert Rodriguez. Life and career Gallardo was born in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, to a Mexican father and an Irish mother. Gallardo's first taste of fame came with the feature film El Mariachi, a critically acclaimed film renowned for costing US$7,000 to make. The film won the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, and won Gallardo an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, an accolade he shared with Rodriguez. He also was credited as unit production manager and for special effects in El Mariachi. Following El Mariachi, Gallardo went on to be co-producer of the Robert Rodriguez-directed Mexico Trilogy sequels, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Both films featured Antonio Banderas in the role of El Mariachi, in place of Gallardo, though Gallardo had a minor role in Desperado, playing El Mariachi's friend, Campa.