Javier Bardem From Spain with Love

Here in North America we think of Javier Bardem as an actor from Spain who recently emerged on the scene with some exciting performances. In fact, Bardem comes from a theatrical family that dates back to the earliest days of Spanish cinema, and he won his first screen role at the age of six. The culmination was at the Academy Awards, where he was awarded a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his chilling portrayal of a killer in No Country for Old Men.

Javier Angel Encinas Bardem was born on March 1, 1969 in a place called – get ready! – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. His entire family has been involved in theatre and cinema since the inception of cinema in Spain, so Javier grew up knowing nothing else as a way of life. He stepped away from his theatrical interests when he was in his late teens to test his skill at rugby and was good enough to play on the Spanish national rugby team for a few seasons. But by the time he was in his early twenties, Bardem found himself back before the cameras in a film called Jamon, Jamon (Ham, Ham), a sexy Spanish comedy that became a huge hit and made him look like he would be typecast in sexy stud roles. “I was very worried about that,” said Bardem. “Once you are told you can only play one kind of part, you are more or less a model or a mannequin. You are not an actor anymore.”

With that in mind, Bardem refused a lot of lucrative work to keep his audience second-guessing. His breakthrough role with North American audiences came when he was cast in the extraordinary Before Night Falls in 2000 – a role that would not only win him an Oscar nomination as Best Actor, but would inspire the top directors in the world to marvel at his ability to disappear into a character. In that film, Bardem played Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, a persecuted homosexual who died of AIDS. For the role, the bulky six-foot tall Bardem lost over 30 pounds.

At one time, when he was trying to decide whether or not he wanted to continue as an actor or become a painter, he tried his hand at a range of occupations. “Strangely, all those things that I did when I was questioning acting as a profession ended up making me a better actor, as they gave me looks into many different kinds of lives.” Those things included working as a construction worker, a bouncer, a writer, and yes, even a stripper! “That I wasn’t very good at,” says Bardem, chuckling. “I tried to play a character, but I always ended up feeling terribly self-conscious about it. I didn’t last long at that.”

Even after 25 movie roles and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his terrifying role as Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, Bardem speaks about acting as something he has yet to understand fully. “Acting is really the only thing I know how to do,” said Bardem. “But it doesn’t come easy to me, and it costs me a lot. I am basically a very shy person, so to give of myself like that is very hard.”

Javier Bardem has played more than his share of artists, including Arenas and Spanish painter Francesco de Goya, and Florentino Ariza in Love in the Time of Cholera. “I find the artistic endeavour very interesting,” said Bardem. “I am drawn to people who wish to create something out of nothing; to leave behind something after they are gone.”

Currently, Bardem has another film ready for release: the latest Woody Allen film, Vicky Christina Barcelona.

Has Javier Bardem adjusted to life as a Hollywood star? Bardem laughs and says, “It is still all very odd to me. I live in Spain, so to me the Academy Awards were something we all gathered to watch. The idea that I would be there, nominated, and then actually win an Academy Award is still something that doesn’t feel like it happened to me. I know it did, but it feels like it has happened to a guy I play sometimes named Javier Bardem.”

Does he now consider himself strictly a Hollywood movie actor? “Well, I am sure that because of the Academy Award, a certain kind of material will come my way,” said Bardem. “But being a European actor means I am used to working on little films and huge films; in big-budget films and no-budget films. The opportunity to work with filmmakers like the Coen brothers is fantastic, a dream come true. So yes, I will continue to do that kind of work, but it is not something I am married to.”

Is there one actor or filmmaker he would love to work with but with whom he has not worked with to date? “That’s easy,” said Bardem. “Al Pacino.”

And what about the off-camera Javier Bardem? What does he do to live la dolce vita? “Well, we [Bardem’s family] all own a restaurant together called La Bardemcilla in Spain that is run mostly by my sister, Monica. Just getting together with all my sisters and relaxing – doing anything but acting and talking about anything but movies – has always been my way of taking myself out of the craziness that the movie business can be if you let it. And since we all love good Spanish food, our family get-togethers are always wonderful times.”