Café Tacvba’s Rubén Albarrán Makes Acting Debut as the Mambo King

Rubén Albarrán, the vocalist of the Mexican indie-rock and Latine Grammy award-winning group Café Tacvba, is leaping into new artistic territory. This time, with acting. Albarrán is making his debut playing Dámaso Pérez Prado in the film El Sueno de Ayer, directed by Emilio Maille. And this past week, the “Eres” singer arrived at the Morelia International Film Festival accompanied by the Perez Prado Orchestra and its dancers to celebrate the film’s premiere. 

The movie will pay tribute to the Cuban musician 32 years after his passing. Prado was born in Cuba in 1916 and has lived on as an influential figure in the genre of mambo. However, the film doesn’t seek to be a biography of the Mambo King himself. In turn, it’s a fictionalized version of his passion for life and the search for love. In a recent interview, Maille said, “I wanted to make a film about music, but I didn’t want to make a biography, so I came up with the idea of a character who crosses time.”

“I love Pérez Prado, I consider him an extraordinary musician and composer and I love all his music, not just one theme, all his music,” said Rubén on the red carpet at the Morelia International Film Festival, according to Al Día news. 

And surprisingly, Maille’s invitation to the rock singer to participate in the film came after his collaborations with the Perez Prado orchestra, sharing various stages with Café Tacvba, hence being a perfect fit for the role. Over this past year, Albarrán took intensive acting classes and rigorous training to perfect the part, evolving into the star the world sees on screen. 

El Sueno de Ayer is set to be released in theatres and on Amazon Prime Video at the end of Nov. But for now, it will be screened at the 20th Morelia International Film Fair in Morelia, Mexico. So for all us Café Tacvba fans at home, we will have a chance to catch Albarrán on the big screen soon, and we can’t wait!