Audrey McGraw and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo are still going strong more than a year after they began dating.
The couple – who have an age gap of 21 years – have kept their romance out of the spotlight, but as Manuel’s third season of the Lincoln Lawyer gets under way, fans are eager to know more about his life before Audrey and fame.
While we have insight into 22-year-old Audrey’s background as the daughter of country music duo Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, what do we know about Manuel, 43? The star has an intriguing past and grew up far from Hollywood royalty.
Where was Manuel Garcia-Rulfo raised?
The charming star was born in Mexico and raised on a ranch where he forged a passion for riding horses. Manuel opened up about his upbringing in an interview with The Wall Street Journal and said he has a huge family.
“My family lived on my grandfather’s ranch near Guadalajara, Mexico. We had some cattle and horses, and our large extended family virtually lived on top of each other in his 10-room house. All the boys slept in one room and the girls in another.”
He inherited his love of movies from his grandfather
Manuel’s granddad was a local dentist but had a talent for movie-making which involved the entire family.
“There was no shortage of cast,” Manuel recalled to the WSJ. “He had a huge family of eight girls and my father. Decades later, when I was growing up, he’d screen the short films for me and his 31 other grandkids. They were wonderful action dramas, usually about cowboys or robberies.”
He added: “My grandfather’s home movies were like Hollywood productions. Instead of shooting 16mm footage of his kids at the table or playing outside, he created stories and scripts and used a professional editing deck.”
Manuel battles dyslexia
The star has been candid about his struggles with dyslexia and how he overcame them. He would create an alternate reality for himself by daydreaming and this led to his passion for acting. Learning his lines was tricky because of his dyslexia so he resorted to a method his grandmother used.
“I bought a blackboard and put it in my apartment,” he said. “It was crazy I made mental maps with images, drawings. I did it for every scene. If there was a gun, I drew a gun. It’s easier for me to learn that way.”
Manuel moved to America to learn English
English was his second language and to help him learn, his parents sent him to Vermont in the US on an exchange program at the age of 12. “My parents had purposefully chosen a remote town in a small state where there wouldn’t be any Spanish-speaking kids,” he explained. “The goal was to put me in a situation where I had to learn English.
“The family was warm and loving, and their son, Mark, treated me like a brother. We’re still in touch today. In addition to becoming fluent in English, I learned to ski.”
His family were against him acting
Despite the joy that creating the family movies brought, Manuel said his family weren’t keen for him to break into the entertainment industry and would have preferred he become a dentist.
“The more serious about acting I became, the more my family asked me to be realistic,” Manuel revealed in the article. “My uncle urged me to study dentistry since the practice was already in place. My parents said, ‘Manuel, we don’t know anybody in this industry. How are we going to help you?'”
He therefore said he had no choice but to succeed and eventually attended the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles. He pursued acting classes for years in both Mexico and America until he got his break.
Where else would we have seen him?In 2016, he starred in Magnificent Seven and he said at that point “doors started opening” for him. Years before helanded his role as Mickey Haller in Lincoln Lawyer, he also starred in A Man Called Otto, and the TV series Goliath.
Has he ever been married?
Not much is known about Manuel’s previous dating life before meeting Audrey, but there’s nothing to suggest he’s been married or has any children.
He keeps his private life out of the limelight which is why he and Audrey have managed to maintain a low profile as their romance blossoms.
His life in LA
Manuel’s extended family still lives on the land where the ranch was when he grew up, although it’s been divided up so that everyone has their own home.
He visits regularly but now resides in Los Angeles where his show is filmed. “I have an apartment in L.A. where I’ve lived for the past eight years while shooting Lincoln Lawyer. The house is near the studio and my gym, so I can get 50 additional minutes of sleep.”
