Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem
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Name:
Javier Bardem
Real name:
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem
Who is:
Birth date:
(56 y.o.)
Place of birth:
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Height:
6'0 ft ()
Weight:
165 lb (75 kg)
Birth Sign:
(characteristic)
Chinese zodiac:
Links:

Photos: Javier Bardem

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Javier Bardem's biography

Javier Bardem is a Spanish actor who's built a captivating Hollywood career, where he's best known for playing complex villains. These include Anton Chigurh from the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men, the menacing Silva from Skyfall, Lorenzo from the Goya's Ghosts and, of course, the evil Captain Salazar from the fifth film of Pirates of the Caribbean. But he's avoided being typecast as the stereotypical Latino villains that Hollywood loves. Each of his antiheroes is completely different from the last. He's equally comfortable playing machos, gigolos, and tragic heroes.
Javier Bardem ‒ the most popular Spaniard in Hollywood
Javier Bardem ‒ the most popular Spaniard in Hollywood
In 2001, he earned an Oscar nomination for playing the gay Cuban poet in Before Night Falls, and in 2008 he won the coveted award for his chilling portrayal of Chigurh, becoming the first Spaniard ever to win an Oscar. His net worth: $30 million.

Childhood and family

Javier Angel Encinas Bardem was born on the first day of spring 1969 in the Spanish city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands).
Javier Bardem in childhood and now
Javier Bardem in childhood and now
The boy's destiny seemed written in the stars: his mother Pilar Bardem, as well as his maternal grandfather and grandmother, were well-established actors back home. The uncle of the actor is the famous Spanish film director Juan Antonio Barden, who loved Cuba with all his heart. Javier even recalls that his ancestors performed back when actors were considered social outcasts in Spain and weren't allowed to be buried in cemeteries.
With mother and brother at the Oscars Award Ceremony (2008)
With mother and brother at the Oscars Award Ceremony (2008)
After the parents divorced, two-year-old Javier with his mom, elder brother Carlos and sister Monica moved to Madrid. As a kid, he was obsessed with movies. He'd often daydream about being his favorite heroes ‒ Chewbacca and Han Solo from Star Wars, James Bond, or Indiana Jones. At the age of 4, the boy made his film debut with a small role in the film The Scoundrel.

The young Bardem was remarkably well-rounded: he spent tons of time on sports, especially boxing and weightlifting, and even was in Spain rugby team. In addition, he toured with an independent theater troupe and studied painting at an art school.
In his youth, Javier Bardem was keen on boxing.
In his youth, Javier Bardem was keen on boxing.
In 1989, Javier got jumped by some thugs. They could've destroyed his career by breaking his nose. They managed to break his nose, but as you can guess, they couldn't break his spirit. The imperfection only added character to Javier's looks.

Career in homeland

Audiences first witnessed Javier Bardem's breakthrough performance in 1990 when he starred in Bigas Luna's erotic drama The Ages of Lulu, exploring the full spectrum of sexual experimentation through young Lulu's perspective.
Shot from the film The Ages of Lulu
Shot from the film The Ages of Lulu
Two years later, Javier reunited with Luna for the black comedy Jamón, jamón, playing a playboy working at a sausage warehouse who seduces Penelope Cruz's 18-year-old character ‒ his future real-life wife. This role made him a household name in Spain, even among people who weren't particularly interested in movies.
Young Javier Bardem in the movie Jamón, jamón
Young Javier Bardem in the movie Jamón, jamón
His family was struggling financially at the time ‒ his mother was getting fewer acting offers, so he took whatever work he could find. He even worked as a stripper at one point ‒ it paid well for the young actor. His mother, who was working as a cleaner and watching every penny, couldn't have been prouder of her son.

A string of provocatively titled films followed, including Huevos de oro, Boca a boca, Entre las piernas, Éxtasis, La teta y la luna, The Bilingual Lover with Ornella Muti, and Amo tu cama rica.
Javier Bardem in the movie Huevos de oro
Javier Bardem in the movie Huevos de oro
But the talented actor was equally comfortable in serious dramatic roles. In 1994, Javier won the Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a terrorist in Imanol Uribe's Running Out of Time. In 1996, he won Best Actor for Boca a Boca, playing unemployed actor Victor who gets caught up in a plot to kill a famous plastic surgeon.
Bardem received his first Goya Award for the character in the film Running Out of Time
Bardem received his first Goya Award for the character in the film Running Out of Time
In 1997, Javier starred in Pedro Almodovar's Carne trémula, earning his third Goya award. A year later at the Berlin International Film Festival, audiences hailed Bardem as the best European actor after his mesmerizing performance in the surreal thriller Perdita Durango. This marked the first time Javier played a killer on screen. The second one was released 10 years later and brought the actor an Oscar.
Shot from the film Perdita Durango
Shot from the film Perdita Durango
Still, his reputation as a seducer continued to follow the Spanish star. Bardem started reshaping his image, beginning with his role as a gay man who lures a heterosexual away from his family in the drama Second Skin (1998).

Career in Hollywood

This film served as a warm-up before a breakout role that would catapult Javier to international stardom far beyond his native Spain. In 2000, Julian Schnabel's biographical film Before Night Falls was released, with Javier taking on the role of Cuban dissident Reinaldo Arenas, a gay poet who was meant to become a leader in Fidel Castro's revolution but fell from grace due to his sexual orientation, was exiled from the island, and died of AIDS at age 47.
On the left side ‒ Reinaldo Arenas
On the left side ‒ Reinaldo Arenas
The film's director recalled discovering Bardem through Jamón Jamón and thinking that either this guy was a god-sent actor or he really was a ham seller. During filming, Schnabel actually worried about Javier's mental health: "He becomes what he plays..."
Javier Bardem and Julian Schnabel on the set of the movie Before Night Falls
Javier Bardem and Julian Schnabel on the set of the movie Before Night Falls
Javier lost 15 kilograms of weight and dyed his hair to visually fit the Arenas image. He read all the works of the poet, flew to Cuba, and learned to speak English with a Cuban accent. Before that, his English was limited to AC/DC lyrics.
For the role in the movie Before Night Falls Javier Bardem lost 15 kg
For the role in the movie Before Night Falls Javier Bardem lost 15 kg
The effort paid off: Javier won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, a Golden Globe, and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Javier became the first Spaniard nominated for this award. The performance was praised by audiences, critics, and friends of the late poet, one of whom admitted feeling betrayed when he saw Javier at the premiere, having already shed Arenas' persona.
Javier himself becomes the one whose role he plays
Javier himself becomes the one whose role he plays
But what the actor still considers one of the happiest moments in his life was receiving praise from his idol Al Pacino. When he came home one day, he found a message from Pacino on his answering machine, raving about his performance in Before Night Falls. Bardem saved the tape with the great actor's voice and bragged about it to friends, his only regret being that he hadn't answered the phone in time.
Javier Bardem in the movie No Country for Old Men. The scene at the gas station
In 2002, Bardem landed the leading role in The Dancer Upstairs ‒ John Malkovich's directorial debut. In the same year, Bardem played the character of an unemployed dockworker in the Spanish tragicomedy Mondays in the Sun by Fernando León de Aranoa. The actor deliberately gained weight and worked against his natural appeal ‒ convincing viewers they were watching someone living solely on unemployment benefits. As a result, there was another Goya Award in his pocket for the Best Actor.
Shot from the movie Mondays in the Sun
Shot from the movie Mondays in the Sun
Javier Bardem devoted the year 2004 to work on the drama The Sea Inside directed by Alejandro Amenábar. The actor was awarded the prizes of the Venice Festival and the European Film Academy for the role of a paralyzed man who is fighting for the legalization of euthanasia. It was just this work that left a deep mark in the mind of the actor. Javier began to look differently at life in general and some things in particular ‒ he learned to accept the idea of death and love a person unconditionally.
I realized that death can be natural. It is not necessarily full of injury and drama.
He spent most of the filming in bed. Every day he was made up lying down for five hours, followed by a ten-hour working day that ended with sleeping in his own bed at home. Even on the weekend, Javier did not allow himself to leave the house. And all this in order to get used to the role ‒ Bardem's character was bedridden for 30 years.
In The Sea Inside the actor plays a sick bedridden
In The Sea Inside the actor plays a sick bedridden
In 2006, the actor landed the role of a fanatical clergyman in Milos Forman's film Goya's Ghosts, in which Javier, Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgård presented viewers with the tragedy of a girl whose fate was shattered, who was subjected to the torture of the Inquisition due to accusations of apostasy. Bardem performed the role of treacherous inquisitor Lorenzo.
Shot from the movie Goya's Ghosts
Shot from the movie Goya's Ghosts
Next came his work in the movie No Country for Old Men directed by the Coen brothers ‒ a crime drama of 2007. His character Anton Chigurh, the killer with cold empty eyes, a terrible bowl haircut, and a pistol in his hand, brought Javier an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He had to kill people on the screen for the second time in his career. Javier hates violence and agrees to show it only in exceptional cases.
Bardem received an Oscar for Anton Chigurh from the film No Country for Old Men
Bardem received an Oscar for Anton Chigurh from the film No Country for Old Men
For his work in the drama Biutiful, released in the same year, Javier Bardem won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. His character works in illegal activities: drugs and pirate video production. Additionally, he deals with his wife's betrayal while raising his children alone.
I hate violence. I like to talk about love, about important things that unite us, not separate.
A little later, he completed work on the drama Eat Pray Love directed by Ryan Murphy, in which Javier played together with Julia Roberts.
Javier Bardem and Julia Roberts
Javier Bardem and Julia Roberts
Another standout role worth mentioning in Bardem's filmography is Skyfall by Sam Mendes. The 23rd film about the adventures of James Bond with starring Daniel Craig was released in 2012. Viewers again saw Javier in a villainous role ‒ cyber-terrorist Raoul Silva, a charismatic psychopathic narcissist. His extravagant appearance was created by the actor himself, inspired by an image that captured his imagination in early childhood ‒ the villain Jaws from the Roger Moore-era James Bond films.
Javier Bardem in make-up from Skyfall
Javier Bardem in make-up from Skyfall
He also delivered strong performances as the open-hearted Reiner in Ridley Scott's The Counselor and Felix in The Gunman alongside Sean Penn. During filming of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Penelope Cruz convinced him to join the next installment of the franchise. That's how Javier Bardem landed the role of Captain Salazar, a character consumed with revenge against Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).
Javier Bardem as Salazar (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Javier Bardem as Salazar (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Bardem didn't slow down ‒ in 2017, audiences saw him paired with Jennifer Lawrence in Darren Aronofsky's psychological horror "mother!".
The trailer of the movie mother! with Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence
He was also busy filming Loving Pablo, where he took on the role of infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar. Penelope Cruz plays his beloved.
Bardem played the role of Pablo Escobar
Bardem played the role of Pablo Escobar

Javier Bardem's personal life

Javier Bardem is happily married to fellow Spanish actress Penelope Cruz. The couple had known each other for years and worked together on several films, but their relationship never went beyond friendship. Romance finally sparked in 2008 on the set of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, after both had gone through several failed relationships: Penelope's romantic history included Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Matt Damon, and Matthew McConaughey, while Javier had his own string of high-profile romances.
Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in their youth (Jamón, jamón, 1992)
Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in their youth (Jamón, jamón, 1992)
After filming wrapped each day, they'd meet at cozy restaurants, discussing their characters' pivotal moments, offering each other advice, and reminiscing about old times. Gradually, the two grew closer. In 2010, when she was 36 and he was 41, the couple tied the knot. By Hollywood standards, the wedding was quite modest, though the bride's dress was created by John Galliano himself.
Shot from the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Shot from the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Following their wedding, the couple relocated to Madrid, where their son Leo was born on January 25, 2011. Two and a half years later, Penelope welcomed their second child. They named their daughter Luna.
One of the strongest star couples
One of the strongest star couples
The actors lead a fairly private life, and the family rarely appears in paparazzi photos.
In the photo: baby Leo, Javier Bardem's eldest child
In the photo: baby Leo, Javier Bardem's eldest child

Javier Bardem now

2020 saw Bardem appear in the mini-series "Home Movie: The Princess Bride" alongside the film "The Roads Not Taken", where he starred with Elle Fanning and Salma Hayek.

Meanwhile, Bardem was also filming "Dune" – Denis Villeneuve's highly anticipated epic starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Jason Momoa. His character is the brave and cunning Stilgar, the leader of the Fremen tribe from Arrakis.
Javier Bardem as Stilgar (Dune)
Javier Bardem as Stilgar (Dune)
The premiere of "Dune" hit theaters in 2021, the same year Bardem appeared in two more films: "The Good Boss" and "Being the Ricardos". Javier played the main roles in both. 2023 brings the highly anticipated "Dune" sequel, plus Disney's live-action "The Little Mermaid", where Bardem takes on the role of King Triton, ruler of the underwater realm.

Javier Bardem: latest news and articles

  • A good actor is good in any film. Especially such a characteristic and memorable type!
    2021-04-01 21:51:29
  • what a talented Spanish guy Javier Bardem :) I looked at the list of films in which he starred, I didn`t even think that there were so many
    2021-03-12 08:36:08
  • I remember this actor precisely because of the role of the villain in the film No Country for Old Men. Then he seemed to be filming in Awake. But his appearance, of course, is textured... Such a giant with a heavy look
    2021-03-07 23:08:02
  • This is the tough guy from No Country for Old Men! I remember this film and this actor, he gave me goosebumps.
    2021-03-07 15:12:55
  • An unusual actor, I like his style. Film Biutiful is a very great work.
    2021-03-03 19:15:11
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