Science of Sleep Giveaway Winners

As an actor, Mr GGB has a well deserved reputation of being something of a "camaleón" and of being particularly gifted in the art of "improvisación". This has served him exceedingly well in hiding his "el freako manos grande" while working in various films.

"El Crimen del Padre Amaro": This film posed no dificulty for Garcia Bernal as his hands were easily covered by the priest uniform. Any unsightly bulging on the robes was obviously in keeping with character and earned him praise for his "attention to detail" (Garcia Bernal's manual gigantism was little known at the time)

Originally, Bernal chose rather, erm, invasive methods to hide his huge hands in various shots. This worked very well in a movie like "Y tu mama también" but it got him in big trouble with PETA on the movie "Amores perros". This motivated Gael to rethink his hand-hiding strategy. It is a little known fact that Gael's "costars" in "The Motorcycle Diaries" are in fact played by Bernal himself (Serna's role was the left hand, "Mia Maestro" is actually Bernal's right
hand) in what constitute the most prominent performances ever made by elaborate sock puppets. It is rumored that a similar arrangement will be made when GGB stars in the next Jason Bourne sequel (Mr. Damon and Miss Stiles declined to comment).

For "Bad Education", Gael again had to think outside the box. He chose to hide his hands inside director Pedro Almodovar's "el freako grande" hairdo for this film. Consequently there are a lot of closeups of Mr Garcia. Some creative set design was needed however, to accomodate this ("muy pleasante" was Mr. Almodovar's only
reaction) arrangement in the making of the movie's sex scenes.

-- Wladimir Labeikovsky

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Gael García Bernal has been able to hide his huge hands so easily in his previous film roles because they've never been an issue. That is to say, Bernal has a rare allergy to playing a Frenchman. This bizarre condition was of no consequence in his early career playing troubled Mexican teens, but given the increasing number of transnational co-productions pitched to him, Bernal knew he would soon have to test his physical limits, and face his great medical fear.

His first anaphylactic reaction came during the production of 2001's Sin Noticias De Dios (Don't Tempt Me). Originally, Bernal was set to play the leader of a Parisian Heaven, but after several weeks of rehearsals he began to react to the role. Fearing medical lawsuit, creative disaster, and financial flop, the producers met and revised the script, changing Bernal's role to the lord of English-speaking Hell. However, Bernal's allergy was so severe that the damage had already been done, and astute observers will note that Bernal's hands are slightly larger in Sin Noticias De Dios than the rest of his filmography, but for the most part these were well disguised with camera angles and edits.

To allow his body time to recover from this disastrous experiment, his doctors and agents provided a strict regiment of Spanish-speaking antihistamines - the Mexican Padre Amaro, the Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, and the Spanish drag queen Ignacio. Feeling stronger than ever, and earning some of the highest acclaims of his career, Bernal's confidence ran against his doctors' orders to maintain a Hispanic resume for a few more years.

Some would call it a Freudian Death Drive, others a latent Francophilia, but when Bernal received a phone call from Michel Gondry after Rhys Ifans had dropped out of the director's The Science of Sleep project, he knew the lead was a role he had to take. Even at the cost of his hands, which can clearly be seen in previews and the final film as swelling out of control.

-- Edward Robins

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How did he hide his freakishly huge hands? When you've got a weiner as big as Gael does, no one is looking at your hands, no matter how big they are.

-- Joel Martin

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The explanation as to how Gael Garcia Bernal has managed to hide the fact that he has huge hands is actually quite simple (and quite brilliant on the part of the directors, producers, and casting directors involved with his
previous work): he only acts in movies with giant actors. While this might be hard to believe, the capabilities of modern special effects are quite amazing, and all it takes is a little camera trickery and, voila, his freakish hands aren't even noticeable.

Take Amores Perros, for example. That dog in the movie, it's actually 17 feet tall. It also had a guest starring role in King Kong. Unfortunately, it's scenes were cut but will be included on the extended edition DVD. And Y Tu Mama Tambien: Diego Luna's head is actually the size of a Mini Cooper. Little known fact. And in Babel, of course, Cate Blanchett's cheekbones, which are actually the size of dinner plates, will surely distract.

-- Daniel Tikk

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Mr. Bernal has always suffered severe discrimination due to his incredibly large hands. Despite his constant urging and hopes to make people who suffer from the same rare affliction feel more accepted, every director he has worked with previously insisted on digitally reducing the size of his hands in post-production. Gondry should be
applauded for his acceptance and willingness to present the star in all his giant-handed glory.

-- Joe Beres