Antonio Banderas Biography

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A gifted actor with old-fashioned matinee-idol looks, Antonio Banderas smoldered his way to an international following
with his sly send-ups of Latin machismo in the films of fellow Spaniard Pedro Almodovar. Born on August 10, 1960 in
Malaga, Spain, Banderas actor set out to be a professional soccer player. But when a foot injury sidetracked his plans,
Banderas turned his attention to the stage, completing his studies at Malaga's School of Dramatic Art before embarking
upon a five-year stint with the prestigious National Theater of Spain, where he quickly caught the eye of Almodovar.
He made a fine feature debut as a dim-witted terrorist with an uncanny sense of smell in the director's "Labyrinth of
Passion" (1982), a sometimes crude and always outlandish sex farce peopled with transvestites, punk rockers and
nymphomaniacs. Even more effective was their second collaboration, "Matador" (1986), which saw Banderas play an
emotionally-repressed student of the bullfight who confesses to the police not only his attempted rape of his teacher's
girlfriend, but also to a series of murders he did not commit.
Banderas' fortunes rose with Almodovar's, and the self-deprecating actor showed little concern for his image when he
courageously portrayed his first gay character in the director's "Law of Desire" (1987), accepting the passionate kiss of
another man as just another day at the office. As a heterosexual who discovers homosexual love for the first time, he
was a madman whose maniacal possessiveness leads first to murder, then suicide. Almodovar's next two pictures
introduced the charming, heartthrob to American audiences. His Clark Kentish nerd took a back seat to star Carmen
Maura in the director's breakthrough "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (1988), but Banderas was front
and center in "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" (1990) as Ricky, the charismatic mental patient who kidnaps, binds and woos a
drug-addicted porn star. Though it still possessed Almodovar's unpredictable black humor, this change-of-pace film
replaced the director's campy, boisterous hilarity with an anguished—albeit offbeat—romantic heterosexual
yearning and provided a stunning showcase for the actors' vulnerable masculinity.
Despite knowing only a handful of English words, Banderas pulled out of Almodovar's "High Heels" (1991) to make his
Hollywood debut in "The Mambo Kings" (1992), portraying a soulful Cuban trumpeter who comes to America in the
1950s. When an intensive, crash Berlitz course proved insufficient, the actor had to learn his dialogue phonetically, and
audiences came away sensing he had no idea what he was saying. Still, his screen presence was undeniable, and the
commercial failure served as a springboard to supporting roles in major productions. In "Philadelphia" (1993), he was
cast him Tom Hanks' understanding boyfriend, but in obvious contrast to the highly-charged gay love scenes he'd shot
with Almodovar, scenes of non-sexual intimacy did not make the final cut, prompting Hanks to explain weakly: "These
guys have been together nine years. They're probably just once-a-weekers." (Neon, January 1999) That year's "The
House of the Spirits,” directed by Billie August, featured him as a revolutionary romancing both Glenn Close and
Winona Ryder, but "Interview with the Vampire" (1994) gave him better scene-stealing opportunities opposite Tom Cruise
and Brad Pitt as Old World vampire Armand, a former flame of Cruise and the sexiest vampire of the highly publicized
production.
Banderas compromised his rising star by making six movies in 1995, including his first starring turn in an American
feature, Robert Rodriguez's "Desperado.” Though he came off well as the shimmering gunslinger in the director's
reworking of the low budget success, "El Mariachi" (1992), the physical attraction between the actor and femme lead
Selma Hayek could not provide enough juice to make up for the lack of story. He also appeared Rodriguez's segment of
the embarrassing "Four Rooms,” played Mia Farrow's lover in "Miami Rhapsody,” busied himself alongside
Sylvester Stallone as one of the titular "Assassins,” portrayed the mysterious stranger who sweeps into Rebecca
De Mornay's life in "Never Talk to Strangers" and starred opposite future wife Melanie Griffith in "Two Much.”
Ridiculously overexposed, Banderas realized he could ill afford to take every role offered, and his relationship with Griffith
gave him his first experience of the paparazzi, while the media painted him as a home wrecker (who had left his first wife
broken-hearted) and his new amour as a bubblehead.
Banderas got his career back on track as the ubiquitous narrator Che in Alan Parker's long-awaited film version of the
stage musical "Evita" (1996). Teamed with Madonna (as Eva Peron), whose public panting after him in "Truth or Dare"
(1991) had proved a boon to the then-unknown Spanish actor's career, he displayed an easy charm and a surprisingly
supple singing voice, catapulting to the front of the ranks considered for "The Phantom of the Opera" (still in development
at Warner Bros.). Opting for quality over quantity, he returned to the multiplexes after a two-year absence as a thief handpicked
to succeed Anthony Hopkins as the masked avenger in "The Mask of Zorro" (1998), joining the august likes of
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Tyrone Power as the first Latino to ever play the 19th-century Mexican swashbuckler.
Banderas acquitted himself admirably in his producing and directorial debut, "Crazy in Alabama" (starring Griffith), though
its darkly comedic subject matter appealed more to art-house tastes and he cut a fine figure as the Arab lead amidst
Vikings in John McTiernan's "The Thirteenth Warrior" (both 1999), which, though appropriately gory, fell short of true epic
stature. He then starred with Woody Harrelson as rival boxers in Ron Shelton's "Play It to the Bone" (2000). He was on
surer ground as a retired secret agent who must rely on his children to rescue him when he is caught by villains in the
appealing "Spy Kids" (2001), directed by old pal Robert Rodriguez. On the other hand, his prodigious talent was virtually
wasted in "Original Sin" (also 2001), a would-be steamy adaptation of the novel "Waltz into Darkness" about a man whoorders a mail-order bride and then becomes erotically obsessed with her.
In 2002, Banderas reunited with the cast and crew of "Spy Kids" to film "Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams". In "Spy
Kids 2,” the Cortez children (Vega and Sabara) set out to save the world from a genetic scientist and rival spy kid,
and as expected it was a strong performer at the box office. He was then seen in director Brian de Palma visually
arresting noir thriller "Femme Fatale" (2002), which also co-starred Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, a film that drew more than
its fair share of negative reviews but was also touted as brilliant cinema in some circles. After a well-received stint on
Broadway in "Nine," a musical inspired by Fellini's film "8 1/2" Banderas as a film director in the Fellini mold, the actor
next returned to familiar territory for "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" (2003) and reprised his role as El Maiachi for
Rodriguez's successful threequel "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (2003). Tweaking his image as a sexy, macho
swashbuckler, Banderas next provided the pitch-perfect voice of the rapier-wielding Puss-in-Boots for the CGI sequel
"Shrek 2" (2004). More serious was his turn in "Imagining Argentina" (2004), as an Argentine playwright in Peron-era
Buenos Aires who has a preternatural ability to see what will happen to people's loved ones—many of whom are
missing, or soon will be—when he looks into their faces and must turn this power inward when his activist
journalist wife (Emma Thompson) disappears.
Banderas reprised his role as the titular masked avenger in "The Legend of Zorro" (2005), who becomes pressed to give
up his swashbuckling ways and lead a responsible life or lose his wife and child. The long-delayed
sequel—released seven years after the original—was a mere shadow of its predecessor, both in terms of
thrills and box office dollars. In “Take the Lead” (2006), Banderas tackled the true-life story of ballroom
dancer Pierre Dulaine, who volunteered his time to teach a group of inner-city hard cases how to dance. Ridiculed at first,
Dulaine eventually wins them over with unwavering commitment and dedication, inspiring the class to fuse classic
ballroom dancing with hip-hop and participate in a prestigious city dance competition. Meanwhile, Banderas revived Pussin-
Boots for the continuing adventures of the massive green ogre (Mike Myers) and his motley band of friends in
“Shrek the Third” (2007).