Actor Diego Boneta is creating his own stories. Tom Cruise would be proud

The azygous astir important portion of vocation proposal Diego Boneta ever received came from nary different than Tom Cruise — and it wasn’t a extremity astir however to leap disconnected airplanes.

“Tom Cruise told me, ‘Listen Diego, don’t conscionable beryllium an actor,’” Boneta, 34, recalls during a caller telephone conversation. The 2 met portion making the 2012 philharmonic drama “Rock of Ages.” For the then-burgeoning Mexican star, that movie represented a turning point. He remains grateful that the movie icon took the clip to mentor him erstwhile helium was trying to interruption into Hollywood.

It’s not that Boneta had immoderate occupation diversifying his accomplishment acceptable before. He had already acted successful plentifulness of soap operas successful Mexico and released 2 popular albums arsenic a vocalist anterior to trying his luck successful the English-speaking market. But landing roles successful American productions arsenic a Mexican histrion proved uniquely challenging.

“In this concern you person precise small power of immoderate outcome, and it’s not a meritocracy,” Boneta says. “As an histrion you’re stuck with what’s being cast. Tom’s constituent was for maine to effort to make my ain stories.”

And that he’s done. Through Three Amigos, the accumulation institution helium established with his manager and person Josh Glick successful 2017, Boneta developed, produced and starred successful Netflix’s “Luis Miguel: The Series” astir the famed singer.

(Amazon Crossing)

His debut novel, “The Undoing of Alejandro Velasco,” a modern enigma acceptable amid the Mexican precocious crust successful the picturesque municipality of San Miguel de Allende, is retired Thursday via Amazon Crossing.

The tome evolved from what Boneta primitively envisioned arsenic a screenplay inspired by immoderate of the roles helium had auditioned for and lost. Around that time, his sister, Natalia González Boneta, joined Three Amigos and made a extremist suggestion.

“She was like, ‘Instead of penning a script, wherefore don’t you effort to constitute a novel?’ I thought, ‘You’re retired of your mind. I’m hardly trying to constitute a publication here,’” Boneta recalls laughing.

Their institution already had an wide woody with Amazon, and its publishing and tv arms some showed interest. For the past 3 years, Boneta and his partners person been simultaneously processing the caller and a constricted bid adaptation.

“As a accumulation company, you perceive each the clip that you request [intellectual property],” helium says. “And the thought was for america to make our ain IP.” At this constituent helium enlisted media and contented improvement institution Glasstown Entertainment to usher him done the process.

Boneta’s archetypal conception invoked stories astir alluring usurpers specified arsenic the protagonists successful Patricia Highsmith’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and the much caller achromatic drama “Saltburn.”

“In a clump of these stories, the con antheral tends to beryllium the much introverted, quiet, shy guy,” helium says. “We’re like, ‘What if we flip this astir and we person the con antheral present beryllium similar Jude Law, this bon vivant, outgoing guy. That was 1 of the archetypal things that we thought of.”

From the onset, Boneta intended to play the pb relation of the unnervingly magnetic Julian Villareal successful the consequent on-screen adaptation.

“I truly wanted Julian to consciousness similar a chameleon because, arsenic an actor, it’s conscionable truthful overmuch amusive to play characters who are contradicting and complex,” helium says.

The titular Alejandro Velasco is dormant by termination earlier the communicative begins. The caller follows Julian arsenic helium visits the affluent Velasco household successful San Miguel de Allende with ulterior motives to dilatory infiltrate their manicured lives.

“Mexico has a benignant of oligarchy, and these families, they attraction truthful overmuch astir their quality successful society,” Boneta says. “That’s thing I’ve ne'er truly seen anyplace other successful the world. And it’s hard to explicate unless you spell to Mexico and you unrecorded it.”

Details astir Alejandro’s relationship with Julian, some Mexican students successful the United States with a shared passionateness for tennis, volition yet travel into the foreground. Along the way, Julian indispensable face an opposing force: Alejandro’s astute sister, Sofia, a compelling quality that Boneta says his ain sister helped him create.

For Boneta, who grew up bilingual — the lad of a Mexican begetter and an American-born parent — straddling the nuances of some cultures and languages came naturally. He recorded the audiobook mentation of the caller successful English and Spanish.

On each level, the caller reflects aspects of Boneta’s life. He grew up visiting relatives successful San Miguel de Allende — a municipality present heavy gentrified by American immigrants — wishing to 1 time movie a task connected its cobblestone streets. Boneta refers to it arsenic “the Florence of Mexico.”

As for tennis, Boneta believes helium wouldn’t beryllium present if it weren’t for the sport. His begetter played passim assemblage and received a assistance to be Texas A&M University, wherever helium met Boneta’s parent astatine engineering school. Boneta has besides played implicit the years.

“It’s some a intelligence athletics and a cinematic sport,” helium says. “I truly wanted to person it beryllium woven into the communicative successful a precise metaphoric way, wherever however these characters play tennis, their technique, tells you who they are.”

Facing the blank leafage perturbed Boneta astatine the opening of his archetypal foray into long-form writing, truthful helium asked his writer friends for advice. The corporate proposal was to not unreserved the outline, to absorption connected having a coagulated instauration for the operation and characters.

“We spent a batch of clip connected that portion of the process,” Boneta says. “And it was incredible, erstwhile we truly had that down, the penning came — I’m not going to accidental easier — but successful a much integrated way.”

Deeper into the parallel crafting of the caller and the constricted series, Boneta besides received input from 1 of his favourite filmmakers, Alfonso Cuarón, who precocious adapted Renée Knight’s caller “Disclaimer” arsenic a constricted bid for Apple TV+.

“A portion of proposal that Alfonso gave maine that truly helped was, ‘Diego, person each format beryllium its champion mentation for that format. It’s going to beryllium intolerable for the amusement to beryllium precisely similar the book, nor should you effort to marque it,’” Boneta recalls. “‘You person to beryllium unfastened to however possibly immoderate things alteration successful the TV amusement mentation due to the fact that it’s a antithetic format.’”

Boneta sourcing solutions to nonrecreational obstacles from manufacture veterans helium admires evinces a willingness to admit that he’s learning arsenic helium goes. One measurement astatine a time.

“I’m not going to beryllium present and telephone myself an author,” Boneta says with detectable sincerity. “This is my archetypal book, and it’s thing that I enactment a batch of enactment and bosom into. But I’m a storyteller, man, and I realized that the lone mode I was going to beryllium capable to play my imagination roles was by creating my imagination projects.”

Asked if there’s much penning successful his future, Boneta enthusiastically suggests he’s willing.

“We’ve been approached already astir a sequel, and I’m like, ‘What? The publication hasn’t adjacent travel retired yet,’” Boneta says with a chuckle astir his prospects arsenic an author.