Manuel Garcia-Rulfo started dreaming of a career in movies while growing up on a ranch in Mexico. A terrible student, he preferred to watch films and lose himself in the magical worlds within them. Seeing Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook in Steven Spielberg’s Hook made him want to be an actor. From the moment he first saw Jurassic Park in the theater, he was obsessed with everything from the dinosaurs to the theme music to the characters. Now that the 44-year-old finds himself as part of the ensemble, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey, in the latest dinosaur epic, Jurassic World: Rebirth, it’s easy to understand his excitement reminiscing about his experience on the project. “Every day, we would look at each other and take a moment to go, ‘We’re a part of Jurassic.’ It’s big. It’s really big,” Garcia-Rulfo says with a sense of awe over being a part of the hugely popular long-running action-adventure franchise of which he is a longtime fan. After the global premieres and press tours were complete, and the actor had some time to himself in Europe, we met over Zoom for a nearly hour-long chat the day before a release that exceeded box office expectations in its debut. Relaxed and in the off-duty wardrobe of many an actor – a T-shirt and baseball cap – Garcia-Rulfo, who has an easygoing and friendly vibe, admits to being a dreamer. “My school and the world that I lived in was always about dreaming, and that was because of movies. I either wanted to direct or be an actor, or something in that world.” And while he’s currently in a summer blockbuster and he’s leading a Netflix TV series as the title role in The Lincoln Lawyer, that wasn’t always the case, having first moved to Los Angeles at a time when there weren’t many roles for Latinos.
Garcia-Rulfo Took Every Role He Could — Even the Ones He’d Rather Forget

Image via Columbia Pictures

In the 2014 film Cake, Garcia-Rulfo played a handyman hired by Jennifer Aniston’s character to do some garden repairs. And in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series that same year, he was a narco. While he just wanted to work and was grateful for each role, like any actor, he made some decisions he’s not proud of, but he also feels that each of those decisions has brought him something, in one way or another. “Every project that comes, I do it because I like the project and I like the people involved. I can’t mention which one, but I did a movie where I was like, ‘Why did I do that?’ and all of a sudden, a director I really respect was like, ‘You’re magnificent in this, we have to work together.’ I was like, ‘Are you serious? Because of this movie? Okay.’” The first big Hollywood role that Garcia-Rulfo scored was as Vasquez, a Mexican outlaw on the run, in director Antoine Fuqua’s modern vision of the classic western story The Magnificent Seven. A grueling and intense five months in unbearable heat, wearing leather all day during a Louisiana summer, didn’t take away from the fun. “I was working alongside Denzel [Washington] and Ethan Hawke and [Vincent] D’Onofrio and Chris Pratt, with horses and guns playing cowboy, and Antoine was such a generous director,” he says fondly. “It was honestly one of the best experiences. It was the first time I was on a set that was that big. I remember seeing so many stunts and all the horses, and even going to craft services and seeing all the candy you could have. I was like, ‘What, you have Snickers and Milky Way at the same?’ It was huge, every detail of it. It was being in that world that I always wanted to be in as a kid.”
Garcia-Rulfo Faced His Fears and a Mosasaur in His Biggest Movie Yet

While that was a huge production, and one where Garcia-Rulfo got to live out his cowboy dreams, Jurassic World: Rebirth was exponentially and epically bigger in scale, marking the first time he’s worked with visual effects and sharing scenes with huge things that are not there. Thankfully, he found himself in the hands of director Gareth Edwards, whom he refers to as “the master for that” because he always knew where to put the camera compared to where he was going to put the dinosaur. His trust in the filmmaker responsible for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Creator, Godzilla, and Monsters helped him to overcome his doubts on set. “There were always doubting moments of, ‘How are they going to make this happen?’ When you don’t have it there, physically, it’s very hard to imagine, especially with it being my first time doing that kind of film. But then, I saw the film, and it’s such a fun film. The visual effects are insane. What they do is 80% of the film, and their talent is insane. Hats off to them.” In Rebirth, Reuben Delgado is a well-meaning father looking to connect with his daughters, 18-year-old Teresa (Luna Blaise) and 11-year-old Isabella (Audrina Miranda), by taking them on a summertime sailing trip. At first, the only thing threatening to ruin their family adventure is the fact that their eldest has brought along her annoying and seemingly useless boyfriend, Xavier (David Iacono). But Reuben quickly learns that there is far worse out there, after a Mosasaur causes his ship to capsize, and they’re rescued by a crew led by extraction expert Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson). The Delgado family just better not get in their way as they pursue DNA from the dinosaurs left behind in the jungles of Ile Saint-Hubert. Not only did the Delgado family have to survive enormous predators in the water, on land, and in the sky, but they also came face-to-face with a T. rex in a scene that director Spielberg and writer David Koepp had first talked about including in Jurassic Park. “As soon as it was out there that that scene was going to be in the film, Jurassic fans went crazy,” Garcia-Rulfo shares excitedly. “It’s such a cool moment in the film.” But in big Hollywood blockbuster fashion, that rafting scene was shot in two parts and two different countries because they had the time and budget to do so. “We started it in Thailand, and then two months passed, and we finished it in London in this fake river where they train for rafting for the Olympics,” he continues to explain. “Thailand was so hot, and London was freezing. That was one of the toughest moments, physically, to do. We all got hurt, and it was freezing. But it turned out so well. I’m very proud of that.” Listening to Garcia-Rulfo talk about his experience making Rebirth, it’s clear that the time and effort he put into preparing for the role were important to him. A smile spreads across his face as he recalls the joy of it all, even the moment he faced his fear and learned to scuba dive. “I’ve always wanted to scuba dive,” he reveals, “but I was so afraid of it that I never did it. For this, they were like, ‘You have to do it.’ So, I was like, ‘Okay.’ When it’s not your work, you can say, ‘No, thank you.’ But if you want to look good and you want to do a good job, you have to do it. It’s good because it makes you push yourself and see that there’s nothing to fear.” Although not yet a father in real life, playing a girl dad doing everything he can to keep his daughters alive made Garcia-Rulfo feel very protective of his movie family. “Luna is older, and she knows what she’s doing. With Audrina, that father instinct really kicked in, even though I’m not a father. She’s so good that it was hard not to have that instinct of protecting her. Every time she had to look terrified, it was so real that I had the urge to project her and hug her.” Instrumental to surviving the peril they continue to face throughout Rebirth, the Delgado family, along with Xavier, have to work together and have each other’s backs. They’re pushed to the limits, but they also learn what they’re capable of. However, when you find yourself in a position of not wanting to fall prey to dinosaurs, getting one of them on your side can be very valuable. Enter Dolores, the Aquilops that Isabella effectively adopts as the fifth member of Team Delgado. New to the Jurassic franchise, the horned herbivore is a petite relative of the Triceratops that lived around 100 million years ago. The only problem is, while Dolores is cute enough to want to keep as a pet, Reuben probably should have intervened and not let Isabella take a dinosaur home in her backpack. “I know, it’s so irresponsible,” says Garcia-Rulfo, trying to justify the misguided decision of his character. “I don’t want to generalize because not every dad is like this, but my friends who are dads don’t know what to do with a kid, so they give them anything. With the worst candy that is bad for them, the mother is like, ‘No, no, no, you can’t have that.’ But the dad doesn’t want to get emotionally involved. The less they can get emotionally involved, the better. They’re like, ‘Just take it! It’s fine. Whatever.’” The bonus of scene-stealer Dolores being small enough to fit in a kid’s backpack is the fact that she could actually be on set in the form of an 18-inch animatronic, so that the actors didn’t have to just imagine what she would look like. “It was not in every scene, but it was there most of the time,” Garcia-Rulfo says of his dinosaur co-star that was operated via remote control by a team of puppeteers. “It did everything. It chewed, it made noise, [and] it would close its eyes. It was like a little dog. Every time it was there, everybody was drawn to it and touching it, and making these faces at it. It was really cute. It was very well done.” Team Delgado are not the only survivors of Rebirth. The trio of Zora Bennett (Johansson), former military man Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), and Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), a former student of Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and current colossal dinosaur specialist, also manage to not get eaten long enough to return home — perhaps with more altruistic goals than they originally embarked on their journey with. And while they wait to find out if their story will continue in another possible Jurassic film in the future, whatever that story could turn out to be, Garcia-Rulfo says he could see Reuben hanging out with them again. “After an event like this, the connection is very special. When you share a moment so traumatic, the connection is always there. I, for sure, could see them hanging out and being like, ‘Come for dinner on a Sunday.’”
Garcia-Rulfo Turned ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Into a Breakthrough for Representation

Image via Netflix

If being in Jurassic World: Rebirth was the fulfillment of a dream to appear in the fantastical worlds that movies can create, then The Lincoln Lawyer was the dream project Garcia-Rulfo had never imagined. The audition came up during COVID-19 when actors weren’t working and productions had been shut down and put on hold, so he just wanted to work. Even then, he hesitated when he got a call back, considering that being the lead in a TV series meant you could be there for years, but ultimately realized that the role of Mickey Haller was a no-brainer. “Being from another country, that country shapes you,” explains Garcia-Rulfo. “In every part that I play, my essence is from Mexico. I’ve been living in the States for so long now, but you bring something of that country, whether you want to or not, because it’s part of you. It’s your essence. That’s why The Lincoln Lawyer and Mickey Haller was huge… For Netflix and A&E and (showrunners) Ted [Humphrey] and Dailyn [Rodriguez] to put their money on a Mexican actor to play this character, it’s really big for me and for so many others.” Based on the series of bestselling novels by Michael Connelly, the Netflix series The Lincoln Lawyer follows Mickey Haller as he takes on big and small cases across Los Angeles, often running his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln. His support system includes his second ex-wife Lorna (Becki Newton), who’s an invaluable part of his legal team, former biker gang member and current investigator Cisco (Angus Sampson), who’s Lorna’s partner in life and love, and Izzy (Jazz Raycole), who’s gone from being one of Mickey’s clients to someone he’s come to rely on. Outside the office, he’s got his first ex-wife, Maggie (Neve Campbell), to keep him on his toes, the spark between them never waning even though his work came between them. It’s a show that works on a variety of levels. It’s sharp, it’s smart, it has a charming lead character that can get himself out of just about any situation, it has a great team surrounding him, it has the thrill of the legal cases, and it has romantic entanglements. So, it’s not surprising that Garcia-Rulfo also loves the character. “To be in the world of Michael Connelly, I’m honored. This is one of those characters that is bigger than life. People really like him because he’s always juggling and struggling with so many obstacles in his life – the kid, the wives, the cases. As an audience, you always root for those kinds of people that are down and struggling to win. I like those characters. I’m just blessed and really happy to play him.” The Netflix series is not the first iteration of The Lincoln Lawyer. More than a decade before the premiere, Matthew McConaughey played Mickey Haller in a big-screen version of the character, and Garcia-Rulfo reveals that it was McConaughey’s take on the criminal defense attorney that inspired his own performance. “McConaughey is such a cool dude, and I remember seeing him say something about Mickey Haller that really painted the way I saw the character,” explains Garica-Rulfo. “Before I started shooting the first season, I heard him say that Mickey Haller was a character that danced in the rain without getting wet. For me, that was so perfect. Mickey Haller is always dancing through all these obstacles and getting away with it. He’s struggling, but he’s dancing. That was beautiful. So, thank you, McConaughey.”
Embracing the Chaos as Mickey Haller Faces His Toughest Trial Yet

Netflix

However, that ability to get away with things will be tested like never before in Season 4, as Mickey Haller faces his biggest and most personal challenge yet – beating a murder charge. The 10-episode season, based on the sixth book in the series, The Law of Innocence, will pick up where Season 3 left off, after a cop finds the dead body of a former client in the trunk of Mickey’s car. Electing to represent himself is sure to take the characters and the audience on an unforgettable roller-coaster ride. “I can’t wait for people to watch,” declares Garcia-Rulfo. Because the series is based on the books, they want to follow the story of the books, but some things inevitably have to change for the format of television. That being said, it’s safe to say that there will be some surprises in store for the audience. Thankfully, Garcia-Rulfo does get the scoop on where things are going to be headed. “They have an idea and they tell me, ‘We’re planning to go this way.’ They definitely tell me where they’re going with it and what’s going to happen.” And if you’re wondering when you might get to see how all of that will play out, Garcia-Rulfo is only able to say that it will likely be the end of this year or early next year. “It’s definitely the most emotional season yet because of how you find the character. I had a lot of fun, but it’s heavy. It’s emotional. It has a lot of moments that are deeper. It was very cool.” We’ve all heard the quote, “A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.” But if anyone can pull it off successfully, it’s Mickey Haller. Garcia-Rulfo adds, “This season gets very emotional because of that. It’s against him. Some things happen during the season that are really important and very sad. Being the guy that’s charged, it makes the stakes higher and more delicate.”
Garcia-Rulfo Leans on His Castmates to Bring Heart to the Chaos

Image via Netflix

It was easy to be disappointed by the fact that Campbell only appeared in two episodes of Season 3. Not only is she a fan-favorite, but she plays such a huge role in Mickey’s life, and now that she’s been upped to a series regular for Season 4, she’ll be more present. Maggie is a clear grounding force in Mickey’s life, which it seems he’ll need, considering the predicament that he’s going to be in. “She’s back, and I love that she’s back,” says Garcia-Rulfo with clear admiration for his co-star. “I love Angus and Becki and Jazz because they’re so fun and we’re always laughing. But this season, I enjoyed working with Neve because she’s the anchor of the emotionality of the story. They share a daughter, and you’ll get to see them together. I love working with Neve. She’s such a wonderful person and actress. I love that she’s back. There’s a lot of Maggie and Mickey, for sure.” With the ongoing bonds he has with Maggie, Lorna, Izzy, and his teenage daughter Hayley (Krista Warner), and the relationships he’s had with characters like Lisa Trammell (Lana Parrilla), Glory Days (Fiona Rene), and Andy (Yaya DaCosta), Mickey Haller is someone who’s always surrounded with a lot of female energy. If Maggie is the emotional heart that softens Mickey, then Lorna is the backbone that keeps pushing him forward. And that’s not lost on Garcia-Rulfo. “Without them, Mickey would be nothing. I meant it. Not just as the actors they are, but also the characters. Mickey Haller would be nothing without Maggie or Lorna. Lorna is the [motivation] behind Mickey, and then there’s all the emotional support with Maggie. He’d be lost without them.” Added to the mix of Season 4, Constance Zimmer is taking on the role of Dana Berg, the relentless prosecutor featured in the book that will be facing off with Mickey in court. And when you throw in the fact that she’s also worked with Maggie in the L.A. DA’s office, things are sure to get fiery. “With Constance, oh my goodness, we had so much fun,” he says with a smile on his face. “It was such a pleasure to have her. I really mean that. She’s not just very talented and a great actor, but she brings so much joy to the set. She has one of those personalities that is perfect to have around, and she puts that into her acting. That’s why she’s so good at everything.” In the world of crime fiction, two iconic names easily jump to mind, both created by Michael Connelly and both seeking justice, one as a lawyer and one as a detective. In the books, Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch are half-brothers who have led very different lives. The characters meet to solve a high-profile case involving a Hollywood movie producer in The Brass Verdict and must navigate the tension that arises as their personalities clash. It would certainly be great to see Haller and Bosch cross paths, and it would undeniably be so much fun to get an episode where Garcia-Rulfo and Titus Welliver get to work together and each bring their own styles to the mix. Sadly, that will likely never happen, as The Lincoln Lawyer is a Netflix series while Bosch is a Prime Video series. But Garcia-Rulfo is definitely on board if there were ever a way to actually make that appearance happen. “That would be amazing,” he says, unable to hide his excitement at the thought. “Because I always wanted to meet Titus, he came to visit one day on set and it was perfect. It was so cool. I would love to work with him, but I guess it’s impossible. It would be amazing though. I haven’t even done the approach of, ‘Hey, guys, do you think we could do it?’ I guess it would be impossible, but that would be so cool.” When he was on set, it would have been particularly amusing to have Welliver walk by somewhere in the background for a blink and you might miss it moment, which it sounds like wasn’t entirely out of the question. “Yeah, we thought about that, to have him walking in the halls of court and Mickey just looking at him,” reveals Garcia-Rulfo. But alas, no such luck, at least yet. While it sounds like the cast of The Lincoln Lawyer is having a blast together, leading a TV series is not all fun and games. The pace of television is a monster, even if you’re not doing a 22-episode network season. “It’s really, really tough for me,” explains the native of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. “It’s five months, you have no life, and it’s every day. On the weekends, you’re trying to study for the next week with these huge monologues and trying to follow it, but not get lost in the story. It’s just really, really stressful. It’s very enjoyable, but it’s stressful and very hard for me, as an actor. To pull that off, I don’t know how it works. At the end, I see it, and I’m like, ‘How did this happen?’ I love it.” To balance out the intensity of the work and the stories that they’re telling from season to season, it’s not only gotten easier for Garcia-Rulfo to get into the character, but he also easily leaves Mickey Haller behind. “As soon as I finish, I drop him. It is easier to get into him now. All the actors know the dynamics now. I know the way Jazz, or Izzy, will react. Everything becomes easier. Now, it’s all about leaning lines and being in the moment and situation that Mickey Haller is in. As soon as I put that suit on, it’s easier to get into it.”
Garcia-Rulfo Isn’t Chasing Fame — He’s Building the Career He Always Wanted

Image via Netflix 

Whether carving out his own space in the ensemble of a blockbuster franchise or leading a hit TV series, Garcia-Rulfo slips into characters and worlds with an authenticity that makes you feel like he could be believable in any genre. Hearing him say things like, “I’ve always wanted to be in the world of fantasy with swords,” and “Being in Star Wars would be a dream,” it feels like it’s only a matter of time before he makes that happen. At the same time, he’s not interested in taking on the role of being famous, citing Ryan Gosling as someone who lives his life, does something amazing, and then goes back to living his life again. “Here in Europe, The Lincoln Lawyer is huge. Every time I go out, people recognize me. There are actors that are friends that I go out with, and I’m happy that I can do this for a living, but I’m glad that I don’t have that kind of attention. That would drive me crazy. I enjoy when people come up and say, ‘I love your work.’ That makes you think that you’re doing the right things. But I am very private.” Growing success hasn’t made Garcia-Rulfo narrow down what he’s looking to do next, and it hasn’t closed him off to wanting to continue to do projects in Mexico. He’s still open to whatever comes his way, as long as it lights a fire in him. “If it speaks to me, then it doesn’t matter if it’s a little Mexican film or an independent American film,” he responds with that dreamer inside him still shining through. “It’s all about the character and whether I feel something when I read the script, and who’s behind it. I want to work with people that I admire – directors, actors, the DP, whatever. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big blockbuster movie or an independent film or a comedy, or whatever it is.” He also hasn’t given up on the possibility of directing that was sparked all those years ago while watching Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Hook, and Star Wars. “Right now, I’m writing with a friend. We bought the rights of a Mexican book and we’re adapting the novel. As soon as we have the script, it’s a very independent film and we’re going to try to get some money to put it up on its feet.” If he continues with the determination and dedication that he’s had in his career so far, we’ll definitely see more from Garcia-Rulfo in the future. Jurassic World: Rebirth is currently out in theaters. The Lincoln Lawyer is available to stream on Netflix.

Jurassic World Rebirth

Release Date

July 2, 2025

Runtime

134 minutes

Director

Gareth Edwards

Writers

David Koepp

Producers

Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley