Antonio Banderas

At 63 years old, Antonio Banderas has this physical status:

José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor, producer, director, and singer. Banderas began his acting career with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar in the 1980s and then appeared in several Hollywood films, such as Philadelphia (1993), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Desperado (1995), Assassins (1995), Evita, (1996), and The Mask of Zorro (1998).

He also appeared in the Spy Kids series and provided the voice of Puss in Boots in the Shrek franchise as well as its spin-off film Puss in Boots. In 2003, Banderas made his theatre debut as Guido Contini in Nine, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award and won a Drama Desk Award.

In 2018, he starred as Pablo Picasso in the second season of Genius, for which he garnered critical praise.

For the 2019 film Pain and Glory, he received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.

Early life

José Antonio Domínguez Bandera was born on 10 August 1960 in Málaga, to Civil Guard gendarme officer José Domínguez Prieto (1920–2008) and schoolteacher Ana Bandera Gallego (1933–2017). He has a younger brother named Francisco. As a little boy, Banderas wanted to become a professional football player until a broken foot sidelined his dreams at the age of 15. He showed a strong interest in the performing arts and formed part of the ARA Theatre-School run by Ángeles Rubio-Argüelles y Alessandri (wife of diplomat and filmmaker Edgar Neville) and the College of Dramatic Art, both in Málaga. His work in the theater and his performances on the streets eventually landed him a spot with the Spanish National Theatre.

Personal life

A longtime supporter of Málaga CF, Banderas is also an officer (mayordomo de tronom) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in his hometown of Málaga and travels during Holy Week to take part in the processions, although he once described himself as an agnostic in an interview with People magazine.

In May 2010, Banderas received an honorary doctorate from the University of Málaga. He received an honorary degree from Dickinson College in 2000.

Banderas has always struggled with the pronunciation of certain English words, as he mentioned in a 2011 article with GQ magazine: "The word that really gets me is 'animals', I just can never say it properly, whenever it is in a film I have to get it changed for a synonym. In Zorro, I had a line changed from 'you look like a bunch of animals' to 'you look like a collection of beasts'. It worked much better, so I don't care."

In August 2015, Banderas enrolled in a fashion-design course at Central Saint Martins. As of 2016, Banderas resides in the United Kingdom in Cobham, Surrey.

Banderas married Ana Leza in 1986 or 1988 (sources differ) and divorced in 1996. He met and began a relationship with American actress Melanie Griffith in 1995 while shooting Two Much. They married on 14 May 1996 in London. They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas (born 24 September 1996), who appeared onscreen with Griffith in Banderas' directorial debut Crazy in Alabama (1999). In 2002, the couple received the Stella Adler Angel Award for their extensive philanthropy. Griffith has a tattoo of Banderas' name on her right arm.

In June 2014, Banderas and Griffith released a statement announcing their intention to divorce "in a loving and friendly manner". According to the petition filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, the couple had "irreconcilable differences" that led to their separation. The divorce became official in December 2015. Despite being divorced Banderas and Griffith remain close friends. His former stepdaughter Dakota Johnson has stated she considers Banderas part of the family calling him a "bonus dad"..

In 2009, Banderas underwent surgery for a benign tumor in his back.

Speaking at the Málaga Film Festival in March 2017, Banderas revealed he had had a heart attack on 26 January 2017, but said it "wasn't serious and hasn't caused any damages". Following that incident, he had heart surgery to put in three stents in his arteries. In a Fresh Air interview in September 2019, he recalled it as being life changing. He said, "It just gave me a perspective of who I was, and it just made the important things [go to] the surface. When I say this, people may just think that I'm crazy, but it's one of the best things that ever happened in my life."

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Career

Banderas began his acting studies at the School of Dramatic Art in Málaga and made his acting debut at a small theatre in Málaga. He was arrested by the Spanish police for his role in a Bertolt Brecht play due to political censorship under General Francisco Franco's reign. Banderas spent a whole night at the police station; he had three or four arrests while he was on tour around Spain and was performing in small town theatres and on the streets. During Spain's post-dictatorial cultural revolution known as the La Movida Madrilea, banderas began working in tiny shops.

When appearing in the theatre, Banderas piqued the interest of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, who starred the young actor in his 1982 film debut Labyrinth of Passion. He went on to appear in the director's Law of Desire (1987), making him the first male-to-male onscreen romance. The director starred Bob Banderas in Almodóvar's 1986 film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. As he appeared in Almodóvar's turbulent Tie Me Up, Banderas' deserved praise for his role.

Tie Me Down!

(1989) as a psychological patient who kidnaps a porn star (Victoria Abril) and holds her tied until she returns his love.

His breakthrough role in Tie Me Up!

Tie Me Down!

He was pushed to Hollywood by a woman named Bob Dylan. Almodóvar is credited with helping to start Banderas' international success as he became a regular guest star in his films in the 1980s.

Madonna introduced Banderas to Hollywood in 1991. (In her pseudodocumentary film Madonna: Truth or Dare, she was an object of her imagination). He began acting in American films the following year, although he was still speaking minimal English. Despite having to memorize all his lines phonetically, Banderas went on to do an excellent job as a struggling actor in his first American drama film, The Mambo Kings (1992).

In the Jonathan Demme film Philadelphia (1993), as the life-long partner of lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks), who has AIDS, the banderas then broke through to mainstream American audiences. The film's success earned Banderas widespread praise, and the following year, he was invited to appear in Anne Rice's High-Encounter (1994), sharing the screen with Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Kirsten Dunst. In 1995, he appeared in several major Hollywood films, including a starring role in Robert Rodriguez-directed film Desperado and the villain in the action film Assassins, co-starring Sylvester Stallone. He appeared in Evita, an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical in which he played Che, a role played by David Essex in the original 1978 West End production. In addition, he had success in his role as the renowned masked swordsman Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro starring Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones. He appeared in The 13th Warrior, a film about a Muslim, which culminates in a conflict between the Northman and human eating animals in 1999.

In 2001, he collaborated with Robert Rodriguez who starred him in the Spy Kids film trilogy. He appeared in Michael Cristofer's Original Sin with Angelina Jolie the same year. He appeared in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale opposite Rebecca Romijn and in Julie Taymor's Frida with Salma Hayek in 2002. He appeared in the last edition of the trilogy Once Upon a Time in Mexico in 2003 (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Hayek). Banderas' first film as a director was the poorly received Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his then wife Melanie Griffith.

He returned to the musical style in 2003, appearing in Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 812, playing the prime role originated by Raul Julia. Banderas received both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, as well as the Tony Award for best actor in a musical. His appearance on the Broadway cast recording that was released by PS Classics has been preserved. Later this year, he was given the Rita Moreno Award for Achievement from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

Puss in Boots, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and the last film in the Shrek franchise, Shrek Forever After, helped make the character well-known on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, but it wasn't as popular as The Mask of Zorro. He appeared in Taking the Lead, a high-set film in which he played a ballroom dancing instructor. "El camino de los ingleses," Antonio Soler's book, directed in that year, he received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on October 14th.

He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005, the 2,294th person to do so; his star is located on the north side of the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard.

The Skin I Live In 2011, the horror film that began in 2011, marked Banderas' return to Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish director who began his international career. They hadn't collaborated together since 1990 (Tie Me Up). Tie Me Down! He breaks out of the "Latin Lover" mold from his Hollywood debut and roles as a calculating revenge-seeking plastic surgeon after his daughter's rape. According to the Associated Press, Banderas' appearance is one of his best in recent memory. Puss in Boots, his second appearance as the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off prequel Puss in Boots, Puss in Boots, once more. For the sixth time, this film brought Banderas together with Salma Hayek.

In 2018, Banderas appeared in Genius: Picasso as the renowned sculptor and painter Pablo Picasso. He was nominated for his appearance, Screen Actors Guild Award, and the Golden Globe Award for his efforts. He also appeared in Life Itself (2018), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Banderas appeared in the Spanish film Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria), directed by Pedro Almodóvar in 2019. As he recalls his childhood in flashbacks to his childhood, the film revolves around an elderly film director, played by Banderas who suffers from a persistent illness and writer's block. According to Almodóvar, the film has been described as semi-autobiographical. The film premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim. On May 25, 2019, Banderas received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his role in the film. He was later named for his first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Pain and Glory. In 2019, Banderas appeared in Steven Soderbergh's film The Laundromat, alongside Meryl Sterep and Gary Oldman.

He appeared alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the fantasy adventure film Dolittle in 2020. In 2022, Banderas appeared as Santiago Moncada, the Uncharted film's antagonist. Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen, and Toby Jones appear in the forthcoming fifth Indiana Jones film in 2023. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is him, and he is likely to return to work for DreamWorks Animation reprising his role as Puss in Boots. In 2022, he appeared in The Enforcer, which is also shot in Greece.

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