The Spanish actor is one of the most distinguished actors in European film. His breakthrough came in 1992 with “Jamon Jamon”. As a character actor, he was a master of transformation. His courage to experiment, to find beauty in ugliness, became an elementary part of his acting greatness. Javier Ángel Encina’s Bardem has received a prestigious award for almost every film he has made; including the Oscar, the Golden Globe, the Goya and the European Film Awards. In 2012 he played the antagonist of James Bond in the 23rd James Bond film “Skyfall”. His most successful films include “Before Night Falls” (2000), “The Sea Inside Me” (2004), “Love in the Time of Cholera” (2007), “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (2008) and “Open Secret ” (2018)…
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem was born on March 1st, 1969 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Bardem comes from a successful family of actors. His grandparents Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro, his mother Pilar Bardem, his siblings Mónica and Carlos were also actors. His nephew Juan Antonio Bardem became a film director. In his youth he was an active sportsman and a member of the Spanish national junior rugby team. As a regular player, he was active at the Madrid club CR Liceo Francés. After graduating from college, Bardem first studied painting at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios. He made his film debut in 1990 in Lulu: A Woman’s Story. Bardem made his breakthrough in 1992 alongside Penélope Cruz in the drama “Jamon Jamon”. The film was nominated in six categories for the most important Spanish film award, the Goya.
For his roles in “Your time is running out, Killer” and “El detective y la muerte” (both 1994) he received an award at the Festival de San Sebastián. In 1996 he was honored with the Goya for “He who loves lives dangerously” (El amor perjudica seriamente la salud). After becoming a star in Spain, he soon found international recognition; In 1997 Bardem received the Audience Award from the European Film Academy. He received an award at the 2000 Venice Film Festival for his portrayal of the gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls. In 2001, he became the first Spanish artist to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. In 2003 he received his second Goya for “Mondays in the Sun”. Together with his colleagues, he designed his thanksgiving as a protest speech against the Iraq war.
With the drama “The Sea in Me” (2004) he rose to become a character actor. Bardem told the story of a paraplegic man who asks for active euthanasia. For this role he was awarded the prize of the Venice Film Festival 2004 and the European Film Prize. Next, the stiff was awarded the Oscar for best foreign film. In 2008, he starred opposite Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall in the romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona, directed by Woody Allen. In the same year, 2008, Bardem received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for “No Country for Old Men”. In 2010, Bardem received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Alejandro González Inárritu’s drama “Biutiful” together with the Italian Elio Germano (La nostra vita).
In July 2010 he married his film partner Penélope Cruz in the Bahamas. In January 2011, their first child was born in Los Angeles. In November 2011, director Sam Mendes cast Barden as Bond’s antagonist in the 23rd James Bond film titled Skyfall. In 2015, he starred opposite Sean Penn in the French-American action thriller The Gunman, directed by Pierre Morel. In 2017, he played Captain Sparrow’s antagonist, Captain Armando Salazar, in the fifth film in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. The psychological thriller ‘Open Secret’, starring him and Penélope Cruz, became the opening film of the 71st Cannes Film Festival on May 8, 2018.
Filmography
1990: Lulu – Die Geschichte einer Frau (The Ages of Lulu)
1991: I love your rich bed
1991: High Heels (High Heels)
1992: Jamon Jamon (Ham, Ham)
1993: Golden Eggs
1993: Runaways
1993: The Bilingual Lover
1994: Deine Zeit läuft ab, Killer (Numbered Days)
1994: The Detective and Death
1995: The Mother
1995: Eine ganz heiße Nummer (Mouth of Mouth)
1996: Ecstasy
1996: Wer liebt, lebt gefährlich
1996: More than love, frenzy
1997: Airbag
1997: Live Flesh – Mit Haut und Haar (Trembling Flesh)
1997: Perdita Durango
1999: Die Last mit der Lust (Between the legs)
1999: The Wolves of Washington
1999: Second Skin
2000: Before Night Falls
2002: Der Obrist und die Tänzerin (Dance Steps)
2002: Montags in der Sonne (Mondays in the Sun)
2004: Collateral
2004: Das Meer in mir (Sea inside)
2006: Goyas Geister (Goya”s Ghosts / Los Fantasmas de Goya)
2007: No Country for Old Men
2007: Die Liebe in den Zeiten der Cholera
2008: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
2010: Biutiful
2010: Eat Pray Love
What is Javier Bardem most famous for?
Bardem is the first Spanish actor to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Actor for Before Night Falls in 2001) as well as the first, and to date, only Spanish actor to win one (Best Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men in 2008).
Is Javier Bardem still married to Penélope Cruz?
Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz have been together since 2007 and married since 2010. Bardem and Cruz share two children and largely keep their relationship out of the spotlight. This year, they were both nominated in acting categories at the Oscars.
How did Penelope and Javier meet?
Penelope and Javier were friendly for years before they started dating. The two first met in 1992 while filming the Spanish comedy-drama Jamón Jamón.
Where was Javier Bardem born?
Javier Bardem, in full Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem, (born March 1, 1969, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain), charismatic and versatile Spanish actor who first came to prominence in the 1990s.