SUNDAY
THE PARK
"On Sundays, I just walk in the park. Half the population of Mexico
City goes to Chapultepec Park with their kids to play. I went there
with Melanie and the kids. They have boats, little attractions, and
museums. I used to pass through there because it was on my way to
the studio from the hotel. There is a fantastic roller coaster in
Chapultepec Park. It's one of the best roller coasters in the
world."
EXCURSION
"I've climbed to the top of both of the pyramids in Teotihuacán and
sat there for a while. It's about 30 minutes from the city, and
it's very worthwhile to go there. The pyramids are called the Sun
and the Moon. If you have an imagination and you stop in front of
the pyramids and remember that this was once a huge avenue with
buildings and houses on the side, you realize the magnitude of what
that empire was 1,500 years ago. It's impressive. I was expecting
just to see two pyramids among the trees, and what I saw was an
entire city with houses, with streets, with squares. It's an almost
spirit-ual place to go."
ONE MEMORABLE DAY IN MEXICO CITY
"The day that Angelina Jolie won the Oscar, we brought a huge
mariachi band - probably 50 guys - to play songs for her.
Violinists, trumpet players, guitarists. We were in the middle of
shooting when Angelina got the Oscar nomination. She'd won the
Golden Globe and had the possibility of getting the Oscar, so the
production decided to stop for a couple of days to allow her to
attend the ceremony in Los Angeles. I had to go, too, because I was
giving the award for Best Foreign Language Film, which I gave to my
friend Pedro Almodóvar. We had a party after the Oscars at my home,
but since we had to shoot the next day, a private plane was going
to be waiting for me at 4:30 in the morning. I was at home, no
drinking, no nothing, while everybody was nuts, swimming in my
pool. And there were Oscars everywhere. Suddenly, I had to leave. I
got on the plane and arrived in Mexico City around 11 in the
morning their time. I went straight to the studio and started
shooting. Angelina got back around 4 p.m. At around 4:30, the
mariachis came. We brought Angelina out of the makeup trailer and
they sang for her. It was a beautiful thing. The entire crew was
there, and each member gave her a rose - like 150 roses - one by
one. At the end, she got a big bouquet of flowers."