Ricky Martin has been revealed as a cast member and executive producer on Gael García Bernal's new film Hombre al Agua, set to world premiere at the Venice Film Festival before heading to the Toronto International Film Festival next month.
According to Deadline, Martin joined the project on the eve of filming in Mérida, the capital of Mexico's Yucatán state, but his involvement was kept secret until now.
The film is described as a comedy-drama with surreal undertones. Bernal, known for Amores Perros and Mozart in the Jungle, directs, co-writes, and produces, as well as stars in the lead role. He plays Camilo, a Cuban lifeguard who rescues Abel, a powerful Mexican businessman with political ambitions, from drowning in the Caribbean Sea. Abel offers Camilo a job as his right-hand man in Mexico, where Camilo cements his position by marrying the businessman's daughter. What seems like a dream life slowly reveals itself to be something else entirely.
Martin plays a character named Roby, an actor hired to portray Camilo in a biographical film being organized by Camilo's wife.
Bernal described Martin's casting as something close to a happy accident. "Ricky was one of those wonderful accidents. He was the first person I imagined for the role, but it seemed like such a crazy, almost impossible idea that I kept his name to myself for most of the development process," he said. "The part only required one day of shooting, so we kept saying, 'We'll find someone.' Then, shortly before we started shooting, I managed to get his number and called him. Before I had even really explained the project, he said, 'Whatever you want'."
Bernal added that Martin's enthusiasm extended well beyond his single day of shooting. "Ricky came in with an enormous generosity, completely embraced the spirit of the film, understood the humor of the character, and became one of the film's strongest supporters. His involvement as an executive producer grew very naturally out of that enthusiasm."
The role is Martin's first fully Spanish-language on-screen performance in more than two decades. He broke into acting in the 1990s through Mexican productions including the musical Mama ama el Rock and the telenovela Reaching for a Star II, before shifting his focus to a solo music career. More recently, he appeared in the Apple TV+ Emmy-winning series Palm Royale, playing Robert Diaz, a bartender with a double life set against Palm Beach high society.
The supporting cast includes Manuel García Rulfo from Jurassic World Rebirth and The Lincoln Lawyer, Natalia Oreiro, Débora Nascimento, Esmeralda Pimentel, Anna Díaz, and Jorge Salinas. Paris-based sales company The Pool Films is handling international sales.
