november-2011

ANTONIO BANDERAS
dared to do that and fulfil our dreams.” When Banderas
was 19 he moved to Madrid. His parents sent him on
his way with 15,000 pesetas, though they were
anything but happy at his departure. “I remember
when I said I wanted to be an actor, that was quite
something. My father wanted to kill me!”
He was just 22 when he got his big-screen break
thanks to Almodóvar, who cast him as an Arab terrorist
in 1982’s Labyrinth Of Passion. They made a further
four films together – including the Oscar-nominated
Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown – before
Banderas made a bid for Hollywood stardom. Unable
to speak a word of English, he learnt his lines
phonetically to play a trumpet player in 1992’s The
Mambo Kings. Perhaps even more impressively, he
also learnt the exact hand positions on the trumpet
valves for every note his character performs on screen.
The film helped cultivate his image as a Latin lover
– something he’s never quite managed to shake off.
“I never had a problem with it,” he shrugs. “But you
cannot play the Latin lover at 60 years old. I don’t see
myself this way. For example, I don’t have anything
against firemen. But if I play a fireman five times in
my life, I don’t like them anymore. It’s that simple.”
Next up are roles in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1930s-set
Arabic oil drama Black Gold and Steven Soderbergh’s
CIA thriller Haywire, which sees him rocking a bushy
white beard (a further step away from the Latin lover
image). But he still seems bursting with pride at his
status as a Hollywood trailblazer, leading the way for
Spanish stars such as Javier Bardem and Penélope
Cruz. “I never pretended to be a guy from anywhere
else when I first went to Hollywood,” he says. “I am
what I am.”
Banderas remains deeply attached to Spain, with
business interests including a vineyard, a Granada-based
animation firm and Green Moon, the production
ALLSTAR
REX,
Top left: fairytale swordsman Puss in
a contribution,” he smiles. Catch him while you can. Boots. Above: Banderas with his wife
company behind Summer Rain. This 2006 coming- Melanie Griffith at Cannes 2011
PHOTOS
28JetAway
of-age drama, his second film as director (following
1999’s Crazy In Alabama, made with Griffith), took
him – gladly – back to Málaga, and he hopes to shoot
his third effort, the sci-fi thriller Solo, there next year.
“I am Andalusian!” he cries. “I have been raised in
between flamenco players and bullfighters, and in my
land they carry virgins that look like puppets on
thrones of gold baroque! That is my story.”
He’s referring to the fact that every Easter during
Holy Week he returns to Málaga to lead the Virgen de
Lágrimas y Favores (“Virgin of Tears and Favours”)
procession. In 2008, while he was filming The Other
Man in London, he even had it written into his
contract that he must be allowed to leave the set to
take part in the ceremony. “It’s important to make
Puss In Boots is released on 9 December