During the filming of '' Sin Nombre '' , Hernández met filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo , who years later offered him the lead role in '' Miss Bala '' . Written by Naranjo and Mauricio Katz , the film , about a beauty pageant contestant Stephanie Sigman , who witnesses a murder and after that is kidnapped by a gang leader named Lino Valdez ( Hernández ) who uses her for criminal purposes . From their first meeting , even during the casting process , Sigman and Hernández had great chemistry on camera , as stated by the actor to '' Gatopardo '' magazine : " between us there was something ... Stephanie was always cast along handsome guys and then I came with this face . I think that immediately we got into the role each of us had to play " . Naranjo wanted the actors to react to the situation , instead of learning the screenplay word-by-word . The process was hard for Hernández , since he wanted to analyse the psychology of his character and get away from the '' narco '' stereotypes creating Valdez with " no crucifixes , or gold chains , or guns " . The film was selected to represent Mexico in the category for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards and received three nominations for the 54th Ariel Awards , for Best Picture , Best Director ( Naranjo ) , and Best Actor for Hernández
84th Academy Awards
84th Academy Awards
Noé Hernández (actor)