Born in Acuña, Mexico, Gallardo's first taste of fame came with the feature film 'El Mariachi', which he starred in and produced, with the film being directed by his close friend Robert Rodriguez. A critically acclaimed film, it was renowned for costing only $7,000 to make, and went on to win the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. Following his success with 'El Mariachi', Carlos proceeded to work as an actor and co-producer on the film which would help launch the English language careers of Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas, 'Desperado'. This movie opened the door to many new projects, including 'Bravo' and 'Single Action', in which Carlos filled the roles of producer, director, actor and screenwriter. Carlos went on to be one of the Producers of the third film in the trilogy 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico', featuring Johnny Depp, Willem Defoe, Enrique Iglesias, Eva Mendez, Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas. The Mariachi trilogy franchise has grossed over $246 million worldwide. In 2007, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized Carlos' long time work as a minority filmmaker and honored him with the award 'Oscar Night America', a recognition from the academy as a Latino filmmaker. Carlos also participated in a cameo role for Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's award winning action thriller 'Planet Terror' in 2007. His other recent credits include the drama 'Jazzed up Hoodlums', directed by new up and coming talent, Stephen Marsh, action horror 'Dead Hooker in a Trunk', and the short futuristic western 'The Price.' In 2012, 'El Mariachi' was given the prestigious honor of being named by the US Library of Congress as one of only 25 films to be preserved as part of the National Film Registry, the world's largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings. Chee and Carlos met in late 2009 and they started working together in Bandido 2 and Redcon1. Redcon1 will be released in September 28 2018. Carlos has reunited with Robert Rodriguez for the up coming movie "Redeleven" 2019
