Audience: What does being Latin mean to you?
Antonio Banderas: To be Latin is to love to make love, to eat, to drink, to fall asleep in the shade of an olive tree. But I consider myself more of an Andalusian, which means that I do everything I just told you, but in a much more refined way! (Laughs.)
Of all the actresses you’ve kissed – aside from the ones you’ve married – which one has tickled your senses the most?
The actress who kisses the best is Victoria Abril. Although my favorite kiss, it’s probably the one – not trivial – that I exchanged with Brad (Brad Pitt, editor’s note) in Interview with a vampire. (Laughs.)
“Melanie Griffith gave me a Picasso after our divorce”
You have the reputation of being a very humble person …
I owe it to my parents and to my bad years. I started out in the anonymity of Madrid theaters, I didn’t even have enough to put chorizo in my salad! And I also shot a few turnips that taught me to keep my feet on the ground.
Today you are rich. How do you slam your money?
I’m not the type to squander half a million dollars to get my membership at a country golf club. I have simple and popular tastes.
Yet you own Picassos!
Imagine that I had two! But after my divorce from Melanie (Melanie Griffith, editor’s note), I had to leave her one! I regret. I should have negotiated something else.
“I was thrown in prison under Franco”
What annoys you the most in life?
The frustrated politicians that there are on this planet! Men who have some power in their hands and who – assuming they don’t spark any more in bed – either lay stupid laws on us or just screw up our lives because they have nothing to do with it. another to do!
You have a rebellious side …
The first cause I defended was freedom of speech. Under Franco’s regime, I was thrown in prison and then beaten up by militias for daring to play at the Bertolt Brecht theater – a banned German author. At that time, the press in my country, as well as all cultural organizations, were muzzled by official committees.
Do you remember your first film in English?
And how do I remember it! For the audition of The Mambo Kings, my first American film, I had to memorize my lines in phonetic language and memorize a text without knowing the slightest meaning of the words I spoke. I let you imagine the tragicomic side of the interviews I gave at the time to Anglo-Saxon journalists. Today I think I can play almost any nationality except Texan cowboys, New York traders, Scottish kilted farmers, or Nordic fishermen. Question of credibility! (Laughs.) But strangely, when I act in an American film that is doing well at the box office, the English speakers tell me that my English is perfect and when the film flops, I read in the press that I have an accent of ‘immigrant.
What are the disadvantages of being a celebrity?
On the set of Evita, Melanie, my wife at the time, was pregnant with our daughter and was about to go to the hospital to give birth. The photographers were on the lookout, ready to shoot. It was all the more crucial for them as a slew of tabloids had announced that she would not go to the clinic to give birth to Stella, but to have an abortion in the greatest secrecy! As we left our house, we found ourselves faced with an army of objectives. Melanie was really in labor, giving birth was just a matter of hours! So that she could give birth in peace, I placed her with a blanket on her head, in the back seat of a rental car and rushed towards the hospital!
What happens to your daughter Stella?
He is someone who is very interested in what is going on in the world. It is a universal spirit! I am very proud of her. His mother, just like me, I think raised him well!
Does she plan to follow in her parents’ footsteps?
No ! She has already made it clear to us that she wants to do a job far removed from ours! She’s a smart girl! Being on a film set or on a red carpet, that was never his thing! Just like my partner elsewhere! She is a financial advisor specializing in investment. At home, we only talk about normal things, in a normal context. His friends are architects, engineers, doctors etc. When I’m with them, I never talk about my business. It is refreshing. Especially since I have been married twice to actresses!
Of all the characters you’ve played, which one did you enjoy playing the most?
Puss in Boots in Shrek! I started from the following observation. Since he wasn’t a very big tomcat, I had to give him a thin voice. But it didn’t fit. He looked more like a neutered cat! So I did just the opposite and it produced an irresistible comic effect …
Key dates
August 10, 1960
Birth of José Antonio Domínguez Banderas in Malaga, Spain. Her mom is a teacher and her dad is a policeman.
September 2, 1982
First film appearance in The Labyrinth of Passions by director Pedro Almodóvar. This is the start of a long and fruitful collaboration.
May 3, 1996
He married American actress Melanie Griffith for whom he left his first wife, Spanish actress Ana Leza. They will divorce in December 2015.
4. 2021
Antonio is filming Indiana Jones 5, which is slated for release in 2023. His next film Uncharted is slated to hit screens in early 2022.
See also: Antonio Banderas: A look back at his cult films!
Interview by Frank Rousseau, in Los Angeles.