- 2008: Co-starred with Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo in Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness"
- 2006: Played a young man who learns to manipulate his dreams in Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep"
- 2006: Cast in "Babel," directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and co-starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett
- 2006: Plays an intense Mexican-American in his first major English language role in "The King," directed by the British documentary-maker James Marsh
- 2004: Cast as Che Guevara in "The Motorcyle Diaries" based on the journals of Che Guevara, as he recounts the adventures he and best friend Alberto Granado, had while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s
- 2004: Starred in Pedro Almodóvar's "Bad Education" which centers on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends
- 2002: Starred as Father Amaro in "The Crime of Father Amaro"
- 2001: Starred as Che Guevarra in the English language "Fidel" miniseries for Showtime
- 2001: Co-starred with Diego Luna in the international hit "Y Tu Mama"
- 2001: Appeared with Penelope Cruz in "Sin noticias de Dios"
- 2000: Co-starred in the critically acclaimed "Amores Perros" by director Alejandro González Iñárritu
- 1997: Left Mexico and travelled to London; worked odd jobs before being accepted at the presitigious Central School of Speech and Drama
- 1996: Starred in the short film "De Tripas Corazon" which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film
- Spent his youth acting in plays with his thespian parents in Mexico




