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For Javier Bardem, it’s about the story
Javier Bardem got his start in cinema as an extra, initially working on films only to support his painting career. The Spanish actor, now 48, studied art for several years before getting his big break in 1992’s “Jamon, Jamon,” in which Bardem played a bullfighter. He transitioned to English-language films with “Before Night Falls,” a project that landed him an Oscar nomination, and since then the actor has been an integral part of Hollywood. He’s embodied a Bond villain, a dying father and a love interest for Julia Roberts.
His latest role is that of Captain Salazar, a man bent on revenge in Disney’s fifth “Pirates” film, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.”
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years now, and in the end it’s always the same reason why I do it,” Bardem says. “It’s about the story. What story are you going to tell? What is the echo that story’s bringing with it? At the end of the day, it’s about telling something that’s worthwhile.”
Bardem, who is married to fellow Spanish actor Penelope Cruz, was particularly interested in the villainous aspect of Salazar because it felt like a new opportunity for him. “It’s not about being a villain; it’s about trying to see what’s behind the monster. What made him become a monster? In ‘Pirates,’ it’s all about pain, and it’s all about revenge. Although, of course, you know you’re doing a Disney movie, so you have to lighten it up.”
Here Bardem discusses some of his most important films.
“I grew up watching James Bond movies, and I was lost in them — what a world! When Barbara Broccoli and Sam Mendes approached me, they were bringing a very open mind to create a character with me. We all thought that it could be fun to bring more than a dangerous or threatening character. We wanted somebody who would create uncomfortable situations for Bond and everybody around him. You cannot read him. You do not know what he’s going to do next. That was the fun part of it.”
“I think I talked to Woody Allen like three times during the whole shoot. One day he was on set, and he said to me, ‘Oh, Javier, how are you?’ He said ‘hi’ to me like he was surprised I was on set. He doesn’t really talk much to actors. It was a huge challenge because I was doing all these long scenes in a foreign language with fast dialogue in one take. It took me a while to get used to that, but once I got used to that, I loved it because it’s like theater. ... And, of course, it’s a very important movie of mine because I met my wife there.”
“The challenge was to really create a character with no background, a character that is not human. He’s a symbol of the horrible, violent fate that will come to you if you cross his path. That was a real challenge, to create someone who is so removed from empathy or even personal desire that he’s unstoppable.”
“(Director) Julian Schnabel and I met at a party when I was visiting New York for the first time. ... He said he had this project. I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ But months after, he called me and he gave me the script. ... I said, ‘I don’t speak English.’ I spoke very, very poor English. But you can’t say no to Julian. He followed me to the end of the earth until I said I’d do it. And, thank God, he was that persistent, because it was a game changer for me.”
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