Rendez-vous with Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem

Friday 27 May at 4 pm

Born into a family of artists, son of actress Pilar Bardem and nephew of director Juan Antonio Bardem, Javier Bardem is one of the most well-known international actors of his generation. After studying painting at the Escuela de Arte y Oficios and making several appearances on the silver screen, he landed his first major role in 1992 in Jamón, Jamón, a comedy by Bigas Luna that earned him honors and awards. Recognized by the Spanish public in the 1990s, he began an international career in the 2000s with Before Night Falls by Julian Schnabel. He was a member of the Jury of the Festival de Cannes in 2005. He then acted in many successful films, some of which have made a lasting impression on La Croisette: No Country for Old Men (2007, in Competition), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, Out of Competition) and Biutiful, which offered him a Best Actor Award in 2010. He returns this year to share his film experiences with the Cannes audience, after opening the 2018 Festival with Everybody Knows by Asghar Farhadi, in Competition.

Beginnings   
When I started out, making a film was something sacred. At the time, films stayed in theatres longer. And now, everything is so quick. It's a different space-time. When I look now at these films from the 90s, I realise that there was real risk taking. For my first film, I had accompanied my sister to a casting call. They asked me to take off my t-shirt and then gave me a role. I started out as a piece of meat and little by little I became an actor.
 

Artistic family
I saw my mother doing theatre, my uncle making movies. That gave me a respect for the team. I knew this world, but at the same time I told myself, "If you want to do something in that world, you've got to earn it."
 

Taking on a role
I try to understand who the character is, his psychology. In real life, I also like drawing. And I always draw faces, the expression of bodies. I'm addicted to observing people. The problem is that I'm well known and I like to do this on the street. I also always think of the message my character relays. For example, I know the extent to which the role of Ramón Sampredo, in Alejandro Amenabar's Mar adentro in 2004, affected the vote on the law on euthanasia in Spain. It's extraordinary.

As part of a couple with Penélope Cruz
I had to sleep on the couch one day. She could no longer tolerate my Pablo Escobar moustache in Loving Pablo (2018)!
For Asghar Fahradi's Everybody Knows, everything in the film takes place over a few days, but in reality it was several months of very emotionally intense filming. Sometimes I forgot that she's my ex-wife in the film, and I behaved as though I were her husband who felt bad for her.

Blockbusters or independent films

It's the same stress when they say "Action!" or "Cut!" But with blockbusters, you can be waiting around for ten hours, and then suddenly they'll tell you, "let's go, your turn!" The challenge is to remain concentrated. When shooting Pirates of the Caribbean, with the props everywhere, I said to myself, "this isn't a bad office."

Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Among the technicians, everyone was jealous of me. Imagine being the man that Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall and Penélope Cruz desire. I talked to Penélope only at the very end of shooting, a little like when you like someone in your class but you don't dare say anything. I remember having kissed Penélope in the film and the kiss lasted so long that the technicians had disappeared by the end. Woody Allen gave us the rushes of this kiss as a wedding gift.