Throughout his career as a director, Clint Eastwood has assembled one remarkable cast after another for his various award-winning westerns, dramas, and thrillers, and that appears to be the case once more with the actor-turned-filmmaker’s latest offering: Cry Macho. The new movie, which follows an ex-rodeo star as he crosses the U.S./Mexico border to find and bring back his former boss’ son, opened in theaters (and on HBO Max) Friday, September 17, 2021, and after watching the movie you might be wondering just where you’ve seen the Cry Macho cast before. And while it’s easy to recall at least one or two movies starring Eastwood or his co-star Dwight Yoakam, other members of the cast, like Eduardo Minett could be a completely different story. Fear not, as we’ve put together a quick yet comprehensive guide with everything you need to know about each actor’s earlier work.
Clint Eastwood (Mike Milo)
Leading the show on both sides of the camera is Clint Eastwood, who portrays Mike Milo, the ex-rodeo star in need of cash and adventure sent south of the border to get his old boss’ son out of Mexico safely and without incident, though neither is guaranteed. The recipient of four Academy Awards (two each for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby) and a total of 11 Oscar nominations (as well as countless other accolades), Eastwood has spent the majority of his life in Hollywood, appearing in some of the most important movies of all time in a variety of genres. After making a name for himself in Spaghetti Westerns like the Dollars Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) and numerous others, Eastwood became even more popular in the Dirty Harry series and various other critical and commercial hits.
Since making his directorial debut with Play Misty for Me in 1971, Clint Eastwood has directed dozens of feature films, the most notable of which being the aforementioned Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, as well as other great additions like Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima, and American Sniper that have withstood the test of time.
Dwight Yoakam (Howard Polk)
Putting the events into motion in Cry Macho is country-singer-turned-actor Dwight Yoakam, who portrays Howard Polk, the owner of the Texas rodeo where Mike Milo was once a legend. Before playing a father who will stop at nothing to take back his son, Yoakam had one of the most successful country music careers out of anyone in the 1980s and 1990s with hits like “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere,” “Streets of Bakersfield,” and Christmastime classic “Santa Can’t Stay.”
Following a string of chart-topping country hits, Dwight Yoakam took to acting in the early 1990s with his most notable role at the time and perhaps to this day as Doyle Hargraves, the ill-tempered and downright awful abusive boyfriend of Linda Wheatley (Natalie Canerday) in Billy Bob Thornton’s Academy Award-winning drama Sling Blade. Yoakam would later portray the psychotic Raoul in David Fincher’s 2002 thriller Panic Room before showing up in movies like Wedding Crashers, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Crank, and most recently Logan Lucky.
Eduardo Minett (Rafael "Rafo" Polk)
Stepping in as Rafael “Rafo” Polk, the young teenage boy at the center of Cry Macho’s story is relative newcomer (especially when compared to the rest of the film’s cast) Eduardo Minett. Prior the landing the role of a troubled youth who has made a name for himself in the cockfighting circuit with a champion rooster named Macho, Minett had only a few acting credits to his name, though it’s hard to tell after seeing him stand toe-to-toe with a legend like Clint Eastwood in Cry Macho.
Since his career got underway in 2014, Eduardo Minett has only taken on four roles with one short film — Nochebuena — and three television shows — Papá a Toda Madre, Como dice el Dicho, and La rosa de Guadalupe — all of which in the young actor’s native Mexico. Expect to see more of Minett in the very near future.
Natalia Traven (Marta)
Mike Milo and Rafo Polk encounter numerous characters throughout their journey through Mexico and back to the border, but few have as much of an impact on the pair than Marta, a widow who catches Mike’s eye and heart with her beauty. Prior to landing one of the lead roles in Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho, Traven appeared on shows like Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real, La Familia P. Luche, and Pueblo Chico, Infierno Grande, but most will recognize the actress from the handful of movies she has appeared in over the years.
In 2002, Natalia Traven portrayed Lita action thriller Collateral Damage alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is ironic because the former governor of California was originally slated to star in Cry Macho when the film first entered development around a decade ago.
Fernanda Urrejola (Leta)
Fernanda Urrejola shows up in Cry Macho as Leta, Rafo Polk’s mother and former wife of Howard Polk, the man who kicks off the movie’s conflict when he sends Mike Milo to Mexico to essentially kidnap his son. Throughout her career, Urrejola has appeared in a number of films, television series, telenovelas, and theatrical productions both in her native Chile as well as various locations around the Americas. One of Urrejola’s biggest film roles to date (besides Cry Macho) is the 2012 action comedy Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman, in which she played the titular role of a famous bounty hunter. Urrejola also had a leading role in the 2021 Netflix movie Blue Miracle alongside Dennis Quaid.
In recent years, Fernanda Urrejola has appeared on television and streaming shows like the Netflix crime drama series Narcos: Mexico, in which she played Maria Elvira, and then the 2020 reboot of Party of Five on Freeform, which saw her take on the role of Gloria.
Horacio Garcia Rojas (Aurelio)
Horacio Garcia Rojas shows up in Cry Macho as Aurelio, which is the latest in a long line of roles in major film and television productions to come out in recent years. Just in 2021 alone, Rojas has had major roles on the Amazon horror action series S.O.Z. Soldados o Zombies and Todo por Nada. Prior to that, Rojas portrayed Elvis Infante on the Netflix horror action series Diablero, which followed a priest, a demon hunter, and a superhero who worked together to battle a number of evil and demonic entities.
If none of those shows rings a bell, you will most likely recognize Horacio Garcia Rojas from Narcos: Mexico, which saw him take on the role of Tomá Morlet in the show’s first season.
Paul Lincoln Alayo (Sergeant Perez)
Portraying Sergeant Perez on the Cry Macho cast is Paul Lincoln Alayo, who previously worked with Clint Eastwood on the actor/director’s 2018 crime thriller The Mule. Most of Alayo’s work in front of the camera over the years has taken place on television, with appearances on everything from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where he played Francisco Rodriguez in a 2016 episode to the Showtime comedy series Weeds, portraying Chewie for a few episodes in Season 4. Alayo has also taken on small rolls on shows like Criminal Minds, Get Shorty, and S.W.A.T., to name only a few.
Daniel V. Graulau (Mexico Border Guard)
Daniel V. Graulau shows up in Cry Macho as the border guard seen having a quick conversation with Mike Milo as he crosses over into Mexico to find Rafo Polk and bring him back to the United States. Over the years, Graulau has taken on small roles on television shows like American Crime, Snowfall, and Ray Donovan as well as a variety of short films dating back to the early 2000s. He also briefly appeared on the Netflix comedy-drama On My Block back in 2019.
Ana Rey (Señora Reyes)
And then there is Ana Rey, who takes on the role of Señora Reyes in Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho. Rey’s work in show business is mostly in the world of television, including small roles on some of the most popular shows of the 21st Century including the CBS megahit NCIS, NBC comedies Superstore, Parks and Recreation, and Scrubs, and the David Duchovny series Californication in which she portrayed Irma for nine episodes of the popular Showtime comedy-drama between its fourth and seventh seasons.
From top to bottom, the Cry Macho cast is full of talented actors who bring all kinds of experience to the table from the worlds of Spaghetti Westerns, country music, and international television. Now that you have seen Cry Macho and learned all the places the cast has been throughout their respective careers, why not check out CinemaBlend’s list of 2021 movies so you don’t miss any of the movies coming to theaters, streaming services, or both as is the case for all the Warner Bros. titles coming out the rest of the year.
