Alfonso Cuaron is one of the most popular directors out there with a substantial net worth of $20 Million. Cuaron is widely known for his recent space thriller Gravity which was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award and earned Cuaron the Best Director award. He is a brilliant filmmaker who really knows how to convey extreme spaces on screen and has found success and positive response to nearly all of his work, but here are five things you didn’t know about Alfonso Cuaron.
5. Cuaron is best friends with Guillermo del Toro
Cuaron and fellow director Guillermo del Toro are actually very close friends to one another. They both share a Mexican background and have similar taste and style in their film making styles, which gives plenty for them to converse about. Cuaron even helped out with del Toro’s Oscar winning Pan’s Labyrinth as a producer on the movie.
4. He knew little about Harry Potter
Cuaron is also very popular for his one film involvement in the Harry Potter series where he directed the series’ third installment; The Prisoner of Azkaban. Upon being offered the directing position, he had never read the Harry Potter books and knew little about the franchise. Cuaron read the books and loved them but still hoped that he would be able to create the film with his vision while also staying true to the source material so he wouldn’t upset fans.
3. He was expelled from college
Cuaron attended a university where he continued to pursue his dream of being a film maker. At one point he was collaborating with a friend on a short film called Vengeance is Mine, which they decided would be entirely in English. Apparently the class professor was not a fan of this at all and constantly would argue with Cuaron about switching it, to which he always refused. Eventually this led to such continuous problems that both students were expelled from the school, which clearly didn’t have much of a negative impact for Cuaron.
2. Cuaron has always been dedicated to cinema
When he was younger, Cuaron was apparently not very social and rather than making friends, would just enjoy going to the movies. He would even lie to his mother and tell her he was going to see friends while in reality he would go check out the latest release by himself. Later in life, his mother never approved of him chasing his dreams to become a director, so he made sure to honor her wishes without giving up what he wanted. In the mornings, he would dedicate his time to studying philosophy and then going to film school in the afternoon and night.
1. He will not watch any of his films after they are finished
Cuaron knows what he is setting out to do whenever he directs a film, but once all is said and done, he will not re-watch any of his films. I’m sure that throughout the entire process it gets tiring to see and hear the same things over and over again, but it amazes me that he never wants to reminisce on his brilliant career.
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