ANTONIO BANDERAS
“I DON’T WANT TO CONTINUE PLAYING CHARACTERS LIKE I’M 30… I’M NOT AFRAID OF SHOWING MYSELF OLDER.”
Maybe he’s in Zorro mode. Or his gunslinger from Desperado. But Antonio Banderas is moving at speed. It’s the middle Saturday at the Venice Film Festival, and the Spanish star is dressed casually, but marching towards Total Film with intent. First, interviews at the Excelsior Hotel followed by a press conference and premiere. “We’re gonna use English?” he questions, his Andalucian lilt still in evidence despite all his time in LA.
Soon turning 62, he’s sporting a clipped beard and auburn-dyed cropped hair – although if that’s for his closely-guarded role in the upcoming Indiana Jones 5 he won’t say. Instead, he’s on a mission to talk about new movie Official Competition, a gutsy satire of the Spanish film industry that would give The Player a run for its money. He plays Félix Rivero, a superstar actor about to undertake a new project with fearless director Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz, wearing a wig of flame-red curls that match Félix’s Lamborghini).
As the egocentric Félix begins a torrid rehearsal process, it’s a masterful turn from Banderas. “It’s a treat to be reminded of his comic adroitness,” praised The New Yorker. “With a litany of shrugs, pouts, and sidelong glances, he demonstrates how eager Félix is to have his feelings either massaged or hurt.” You might also say it’s drawn from 40 years of experience in the industry, beginning when Pedro Almodóvar hired Banderas, barely in his twenties, to play a gay terrorist in his 1982 film, Labyrinth Of Passion.
Until that point, the Málaga native had plied his trade on stage, after studying at the School of Dramatic Art and later joining the Spanish National Theatre. But the Almodóvar relationship was an enduring – and deliciously outrageous – one. Over the next eight years, they reunited for Matador, Law Of Desire, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Although the latter marked the start of a 22-year hiatus in their working relationship, Banderas was ready for a new Hollywood-gilded chapter of his career.
After landing roles in and – the latter by Robert Rodriguez, another director he’d forge a long association with – Banderas ascended the A-list when 1998 swashbuckler unexpectedly took $250m worldwide. films, a role he’s reprising in sequel later this year. He also went behind the camera twice, initially with 1999’s , directing his then-wife Melanie Griffith.
