Alejandro González Iñárritu wins Best Director for "Birdman" at the 87th Academy Awards. Reuters
In many ways, Alejandro González Iñárritu stole the show at the 87th Academy Awards. The “Birdman” director was on stage three times, accepting Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director – where he joked that he was wearing actor Michael Keaton’s underwear from the movie -- and Best Picture. Sean Penn brought even more attention to the man with a questionable green card joke while presenting Best Picture. So, who is Alejandro González Iñárritu?
Here are five fast facts about the Oscar-winning director:
To many fans watching the Oscars Sunday night, Iñárritu might have been a new name. But he's far from a new face in Hollywood. He was previously nominated for Best Picture and Best Director for 2007’s “Babel,” and three of his other films – “Biutiful,” “21 Grams” and “Amores Perros” – have earned nominations.
Iñárritu became the first Mexican director to be nominated at the Oscars for “Babel.” But his friend Alfonso Cuarón became the first to win the award last year for “Gravity.”
Iñárritu, 51, was born in Mexico City. At the age of 17 he traveled across the Atlantic Ocean on a cargo ship and spent two years working his way across Europe and Africa. This experience has greatly influenced his films, which often have international settings.
Iñárritu has said music shaped him as an artist more so than film. He began his career as a DJ and later the director at a rock radio station in Mexico, which he helped make the most popular station in the country. During that time he composed the scores to several films, before becoming a filmmaker himself.
Iñárritu wrote his first three films – “Amores Perros,” “21 Grams” and “Babel” – with writing partner Guillermo Arriaga before the two parted ways during the filming of "Babel." They have not worked together since then.
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