Diego Calva feared being a 'one-hit wonder', but why?
Diego Calva felt uncertain about his acting career after starring in Babylon.
Diego Calva feared becoming a "one-hit wonder" after the success of Babylon.
The 34-year-old actor starred in Babylon, the black comedy drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle, in 2022, but Diego feared that his career might fizzle out thereafter.
Diego - who also starred in Narcos: Mexico, the hit Netflix series, in 2021 - told The Hollywood Reporter: "This idea of being a one-hit wonder was a big thing. The other was that I never fully dedicated myself to acting."
Diego likened starring in Babylon to attending "college".
However, he's also retained a wide variety of passions and hobbies, including a desire to "direct some movies" one day.
The actor shared: "Even after Narcos, the Netflix show I did in Mexico, I wanted to write and to paint and to keep trying to do music or directing — that was the goal. It still is in a way, to be a director or to direct some movies. But Babylon was going to college."
Diego started to see himself as an actor after the success of Narcos and Babylon. But he's always felt a bit out of place in the American movie industry.
He said: "I started to call myself an actor, but it was hard to navigate a new industry. I kind of knew the Mexican industry, but then I was thrown to the American industry and to the European industry and everything was just too fast at some moments.
"I was really concerned about my decisions and not knowing how to swim in this beautiful sea called Hollywood. But I’m learning at least, and finally I’m having a good time."
Diego thinks returning to Mexico has helped him to remain "grounded". Despite this, he's now keen to explore the idea of moving to Los Angeles.
He said: "I go back home all the time to the people that don’t care. My friends don’t care if I was nominated for a Golden Globe any more than if I’m eating a cold slice of pizza. They don’t care.
"That was very important, going back to Mexico after Babylon, keeping myself grounded. Now I might be ready to come to L.A. and live here, but it was the right decision at the moment."
