Bernal at Cannes. (AFP)

Cannes, May 21 (Reuters): Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal has the pin-up good looks that make grown women go weak at the knees, but the sex symbol tag makes him squirm.

“It’s very funny and it’s a bit of a weird responsibility to have because it sort of horrifies me that I should be, like, the sexual ambassador of Mexico,” he said in an interview at the Cannes film festival.

“It might not be a good idea. I know there’s better looking people,” he added, flashing a teasing smile.

The 25-year-old heartthrob has had a week to test his pulling power on the crowds at Cannes and the verdict is unanimous — a new star is born. Local media have dubbed him “Sex Mex” and his name is on everyone’s lips.

Discovered by the Mexican films Amores Perros and Y Tu Mama Tambien, the actor is about to go stellar with roles in Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s La Mala Educacion and in The Motorcycle Diaries by Brazilian Walter Salles.

Playing a transvestite in Almodovar’s film, he learned to walk in high heels and lip-synch torch songs. With his piercing green eyes and generous lips, Bernal in drag bears an uncanny resemblance to Julia Roberts.

The Motorcycle Diaries required a 180-degree turn. As the young Che Guevara, Bernal delivers a contained but passionate performance that moved critics in Cannes to tears.

Salles said the actor had a soulful quality and inner strength that were essential to the part.

“People are now getting to know Gael better and as they do, they will soon understand that he’s more than a very talented actor, he’s a really fine, cultured, smart and sensitive young man who is really mature for his age,” Salles said.

The role, which involved travelling thousands of miles across Latin America, is helping Bernal to stay grounded even as the publicity whirlwind around him gains force.

“I discovered my identity, of me being part of a context, and it sort of settled my priorities as well,” the actor said.

While his Y Tu Mama Tambien co-star Diego Luna prepares to film with Steven Spielberg, Bernal has no Hollywood projects lined up. Not that he seems bothered.

“I want to keep both feet planted in Latin America. That is my base, my fountain of life, that is where I am from and that is the source of everything that I am, and that is very important to me,” he said.“Why should I go into exile?”