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The Spanish actor is in demahd svMrcHAELGrurz
an an actor who's already been noniinated for
an Oscar have a breakout year? Sure, ifyou're
JavierBardem.
Bardem - who was nominated for an Oscar
for 2000's "Before Night Falls" - has just started
filming aWoodyAllen comedy in Spain. At the
Cannes Film Festival in May, he enjoyed more
Oscarbtrzzfor his turn as a frighteningly detached kill-
er in the Coen brothers drama "No Countrv for Old Men"
(due out in November).
And he's currently in director Milos For-
man's ("One FlewOverthe Cuckoo's Nest,"
"Amadeus") drama about the Spanish Inqui-
sition, "Goya's Ghosts."
Despite his filmography, and coming
from an acting family that's akin to the
Spanish Barrymores, the 38-year-old still
professes delighted surprise when top direc-
tors want to workwith him."That [voice] was a risk.that we took," says Bar-
dem. "We wanted to make him a snalqy fi.gure. I
"I think it's what keeps me alive," says Bar-
dem, who has also triumphed in 2004's Oscar win-
ner "The Sea Inside." "I never forget I'm a Spanish actor
that was at one time working as an extra.
"And because of the background of my family, I've
seen the dark side and the bright side. In a way, I don't
buy either of them. The only thing I can relate to is re-
spect. And when people I truly admire and respect re-
spect me enough to say, 'I think we could work together,'
that lights something in me."
Bardem seems to delight in physical and external waysof getting into character. In "No Country for Old Men,"
his hair is styled in an Andy Warhol droop that is so ab-
surd it's scary, made even mofe creepy since Bardem's
character is a killer without remorse.
In "Goya's Ghosts," Bardem adopts awhispery
meandering voice as Brother Lorenzo, a true believer at
the heart of the Inquisition who conveniently becomes
a true believer in revolution when Napoleon takes over
Spain.
wasn't there in ancient times but I was raised
bythe Catholic Church and sometimes I saw
right in front of my eyes that the tone was
one way but the action was another."
Like Forman, who left his native Czecho-
slovakiajust prior to the Soviet crackdown
of 1968, Bardem has seen fanaticism up
close: His uncle won a major directing award
at Cannes onlyto bejailed by General Francisco
Franco's forces as soon as he returned home.
"I was raised [Catholic] by my grandmothe4" says Bar-
dem. "Then, little by little, I started to make some ques-
tions about it. I realized I respect people's beliefs but I
started to really freak out about the manipulation of peo-
ple's beliefs in order to gather fear. ... we have different
[beliefs] but in the end it's the same, no?"
Originally, Bardem was to play Goya, a figure who
looms over Spain. But as Forman and Jean-Claude Carri-
ere wrote the script, and Brother Lorenzo became the cen-tral characte4, Bardem was asked to switch parts. Besides,
he has already spent a lot of time with Goya, thanks to
winning four Goyas, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscar.
Obviously, it hasn't gone to his head.
"The Goya is a beautiful award," says Bardem. "It's
Goya's head done in bronze. It has a look, a furious look.
It's a head, but it has fury in it." I
="0,
2
koz3o
The Spanish actor is in demahd svMrcHAELGrurz
an an actor who's already been noniinated for
an Oscar have a breakout year? Sure, ifyou're
JavierBardem.
Bardem - who was nominated for an Oscar
for 2000's "Before Night Falls" - has just started
filming aWoodyAllen comedy in Spain. At the
Cannes Film Festival in May, he enjoyed more
Oscarbtrzzfor his turn as a frighteningly detached kill-
er in the Coen brothers drama "No Countrv for Old Men"
(due out in November).
And he's currently in director Milos For-
man's ("One FlewOverthe Cuckoo's Nest,"
"Amadeus") drama about the Spanish Inqui-
sition, "Goya's Ghosts."
Despite his filmography, and coming
from an acting family that's akin to the
Spanish Barrymores, the 38-year-old still
professes delighted surprise when top direc-
tors want to workwith him."That [voice] was a risk.that we took," says Bar-
dem. "We wanted to make him a snalqy fi.gure. I
"I think it's what keeps me alive," says Bar-
dem, who has also triumphed in 2004's Oscar win-
ner "The Sea Inside." "I never forget I'm a Spanish actor
that was at one time working as an extra.
"And because of the background of my family, I've
seen the dark side and the bright side. In a way, I don't
buy either of them. The only thing I can relate to is re-
spect. And when people I truly admire and respect re-
spect me enough to say, 'I think we could work together,'
that lights something in me."
Bardem seems to delight in physical and external waysof getting into character. In "No Country for Old Men,"
his hair is styled in an Andy Warhol droop that is so ab-
surd it's scary, made even mofe creepy since Bardem's
character is a killer without remorse.
In "Goya's Ghosts," Bardem adopts awhispery
meandering voice as Brother Lorenzo, a true believer at
the heart of the Inquisition who conveniently becomes
a true believer in revolution when Napoleon takes over
Spain.
wasn't there in ancient times but I was raised
bythe Catholic Church and sometimes I saw
right in front of my eyes that the tone was
one way but the action was another."
Like Forman, who left his native Czecho-
slovakiajust prior to the Soviet crackdown
of 1968, Bardem has seen fanaticism up
close: His uncle won a major directing award
at Cannes onlyto bejailed by General Francisco
Franco's forces as soon as he returned home.
"I was raised [Catholic] by my grandmothe4" says Bar-
dem. "Then, little by little, I started to make some ques-
tions about it. I realized I respect people's beliefs but I
started to really freak out about the manipulation of peo-
ple's beliefs in order to gather fear. ... we have different
[beliefs] but in the end it's the same, no?"
Originally, Bardem was to play Goya, a figure who
looms over Spain. But as Forman and Jean-Claude Carri-
ere wrote the script, and Brother Lorenzo became the cen-tral characte4, Bardem was asked to switch parts. Besides,
he has already spent a lot of time with Goya, thanks to
winning four Goyas, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscar.
Obviously, it hasn't gone to his head.
"The Goya is a beautiful award," says Bardem. "It's
Goya's head done in bronze. It has a look, a furious look.
It's a head, but it has fury in it." I