1982–1989: Early collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar (photo) Banderas began his acting studies at the School of Dramatic Art in
Málaga and made his acting debut at a small theater in Málaga. He began working in small shops during Spain's post-dictatorial cultural movement known as
La Movida Madrileña. While performing with the theater, Banderas caught the attention of Spanish director
Pedro Almodóvar, who gave the young actor his film debut in the
screwball sex comedy Labyrinth of Passion (1982). Five years later, he went on to appear in the director's comedic thriller
Law of Desire (1987), making headlines with his performance as a gay man, which required him to engage in his first male-to-male onscreen kiss. Banderas appeared in Almodóvar's
surrealist sex comedy Matador, with
Vincent Canby of
The New York Times writing, "The movie looks terrific and is acted with absolute, straight-faced conviction by the excellent cast headed by Miss Serna, Mr. Martinez and Mr. Banderas." The director cast him in his internationally acclaimed 1988 film,
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Rita Kemply of
The Washington Post described Banderas' performance as "warm" and described the film as a "glossy delight." The recognition Banderas gained for his role increased years later, when he starred in Almodóvar's controversial
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989) as a
mental patient who kidnaps a porn star (
Victoria Abril) and keeps her tied up until she returns his love. The following year, still speaking minimal English, he began acting in American films. Despite having to learn all his lines phonetically, Banderas still managed to turn in a critically praised performance as a struggling musician in his first American drama film,
The Mambo Kings (1992).
Kenneth Turan of
The Los Angeles Times described Banderas as giving a "quietly effective job". David Nansen of
Newsweek declared, "Banderas had to learn English to play this role, but you wouldn't know it: he plumbs all the nuances of charm and self-pity in Nestor's melancholic soul". Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly also praised Banderas' performance writing, "he gives a surprisingly confident and subtle performance as the implosive Nestor". Banderas then broke through to mainstream American audiences in the 1993
Jonathan Demme film
Philadelphia as the life partner of lawyer
Tom Hanks. Also in 1993, he acted in the
Bille August-directed
The House of the Spirits, an adaptation of the
Isabel Allende novel of the same name. Banderas acted alongside
Meryl Streep,
Jeremy Irons,
Glenn Close, and
Winona Ryder. The film's success earned Banderas wide recognition, and the following year, he was given a role in
Neil Jordan's high-profile
adaptation of
Anne Rice's
Interview with the Vampire (1994), sharing the screen with
Brad Pitt,
Tom Cruise, and
Kirsten Dunst. Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The movie's greatest visual coup... is Banderas himself. The camera loves this velvet stud as much as it did the young
Clint Eastwood." That same year, Banderas portrayed the antagonist in the
Richard Donner-directed action film
Assassins, co-starring opposite
Sylvester Stallone and
Julianne Moore. In 1996, he starred alongside
Madonna in the musical film
Evita, an adaptation of the stage musical by
Andrew Lloyd Webber and
Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role played by
David Essex in the original 1978 West End production.
Janet Maslin of
The New York Times wrote that "Banderas... does an unexpectedly splendid job as the film's conspiratorial singing narrator." For his performance, he was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. He also had success with his role as the masked swordsman
Zorro in the 1998 film
The Mask of Zorro, starring
Anthony Hopkins and
Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Roger Ebert praised the onscreen chemistry between the two leads, writing, "The best scenes in the movie are between Banderas and Zeta-Jones, who share chemistry and, it turns out, a sense of justice." His performance earned him another
Golden Globe Award nomination. In 1999, he starred in the historical action film
The 13th Warrior, a movie about a
Muslim caught up in a war between the
Northman and human-eating beasts.
2000–2009: Broadway debut and franchise films In 2001, Banderas collaborated with
Robert Rodriguez, who cast him in the first three movies of the
Spy Kids franchise (2001–2003). He portrayed Gregorio Cortez, a retired OSS agent, alongside
Carla Gugino, who played his wife, Ingrid Cortez.
Roger Ebert praised the first film, describing it as "giddy with the joy of its invention. It's an exuberant, colorful extravaganza, wall-to-wall with wildly original sets and visual gimmicks, and smart enough to escape the kids film category and play in the mainstream." He also starred in
Michael Cristofer's
Original Sin alongside
Angelina Jolie the same year. In 2002, he portrayed
social realist painter
David Alfaro Siqueiros in
Julie Taymor's biographical drama
Frida, with
Salma Hayek playing
Frida Kahlo. That same year, he starred in
Brian De Palma's
erotic thriller Femme Fatale opposite
Rebecca Romijn, and in 2003, he starred in the last installment of the trilogy
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (in which he appeared with
Johnny Depp and Hayek). Banderas' debut as a director was the poorly received
Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his then wife
Melanie Griffith. He starred in the
Christopher Hampton-directed historical drama
Imagining Argentina (2003) alongside
Emma Thompson. Banderas made his
Broadway debut playing Guido Contini in the 2003 revival of
Maury Yeston's musical
Nine, based on the film
8½, playing the prime role originated by
Raul Julia.
Ben Brantley, the chief theater critic of
The New York Times, wrote that Banderas was "a bona fide matinee idol for the 21st century -- a pocket Adonis who suggests a more sensitive, less menacing variation on the Latin lovers of yore," adding that "he has an appealingly easy stage presence and an agreeable singing voice that shifts, a bit abruptly, between pop whisperiness and Broadway belting." He won both the
Outer Critics Circle Award and the
Drama Desk Award for Best Actor in a Musical and was nominated for the
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by
PS Classics. Later that year, he received the
Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the
Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. Also in 2003, he starred as Mexican revolutionary
Pancho Villa in the
HBO television film
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself. Banderas acted alongside
Alan Arkin,
Jim Broadbent, and
Michael McKean. The film was directed by
Bruce Beresford and written by
Larry Gelbart. Phil Gallo of
Variety wrote, "Villa was larger than life, and Banderas vibrantly captures his bravado. Everything in the telepic, though, is designed to make Villa a likable force, which pushes and pulls Banderas in a number of directions, only some of which play well. Eventually, 'Villa' exposes a dark side in the man, and Banderas forsakes crafting the image of a hero to allow the man's ambiguity to shine." Banderas was nominated for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for his performance. The following year, Banderas portrayed
Puss in Boots in the
DreamWorks animated film
Shrek 2 (2004). Todd McCarthy of
Variety praised his performance, writing that he is "deliciously sending up his
Zorro persona." The film was an immense box office and critical hit. It went on to receive a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Banderas reprised his role in
Shrek the Third (2007) and the last film in the
Shrek franchise,
Shrek Forever After (2010), which helped make the character popular on the family film circuit. In all of his mainline appearances as Puss in Boots, he has also voiced him in Spanish; this is also true for the film Assassins. In 2005, he reprised his role as
Zorro in
The Legend of Zorro. In 2006, he starred in
Take the Lead, a high-set movie in which he played a
ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film,
El camino de los ingleses, based on the novel by
Antonio Soler, and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 October. Banderas received 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.
2010–present: Reunion with Almodóvar Banderas acted in the
Woody Allen-directed comedy-drama
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010), starring
Anthony Hopkins,
Josh Brolin, and
Naomi Watts. The film premiered at the
Cannes Film Festival and received mixed reviews. The following year, he starred in the horror thriller
The Skin I Live In (2011), which marked the return of Banderas to
Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish director who launched his international career. The two had not worked together since 1990 (
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!). In
The Skin I Live In, he breaks out of the "
Latin lover" mold from his Hollywood work and stars as a calculating revenge-seeking plastic surgeon following the rape of his daughter. According to the
Associated Press, Banderas' performance is among his strongest in recent memory. That same year, he reprised his voice role as Puss in Boots, this time as the
protagonist of the
Shrek spin-off prequel,
Puss in Boots. This film reunited Banderas with
Salma Hayek for the sixth time. The film received critical acclaim and was a box-office hit. Banderas took a small role in Almodóvar's comedy ''
I'm So Excited!'' (2013) and also acted in
Steven Soderbergh's action thriller
Haywire (2011),
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' romance fantasy
Ruby Sparks (2012), and
Terrence Malick's experimental drama
Knight of Cups (2015). Banderas starred in
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water as Burger Beard, the film's main antagonist. In 2018, Banderas starred in the
National Geographic limited series
Genius: Picasso as the noted sculptor and painter
Pablo Picasso. For his performance, he received a
Primetime Emmy Award, a
Screen Actors Guild Award, and a
Golden Globe Award nomination. He also acted in
Life Itself (2018), which premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival. In 2019, Banderas starred in the Spanish film
Pain and Glory (
Dolor y gloria), directed by
Pedro Almodóvar. The film centers around an aging film director played by Banderas who has a chronic illness and writer's block as he reflects on his life in flashbacks to his childhood. On 25 May 2019, Banderas won the
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his role in the film. Manohla Dargis of
The New York Times praised his performance, writing that "Banderas's melancholic presence and subtle, intricate performance add depth and intensities of feeling... because he draws so flawlessly from Almodóvar." He was later nominated for his first ever
Academy Award for
Best Actor in a Leading Role for
Pain and Glory and lost to
Joaquin Phoenix for his role in
Joker (2019). That same year, Banderas starred in
Steven Soderbergh's
Netflix film
The Laundromat alongside
Meryl Streep and
Gary Oldman. During this time, he starred in Spanish-language adaptations of the musicals
A Chorus Line (2019) and
Company (2021) at the Teatro del Soho CaixaBank in
Spain. In 2020, he co-starred with
Robert Downey Jr. in the fantasy adventure film
Dolittle. The following year, he starred in the
black comedy Official Competition alongside
Penélope Cruz, which had its world premiere at the
78th Venice International Film Festival. The film is a meta-comedy and satire on the film industry.
A.O. Scott of
The New York Times wrote, "Banderas... can be marvelously subtle and affecting as well as magnetic. It's almost indecent for someone so beautiful to possess such skill, and you might have to go back to the old daysto
Gary Cooperto find a matinee idol with equivalent gifts." In 2022, Banderas appeared as Santiago Moncada, the antagonist of the film
Uncharted with
Tom Holland and
Mark Wahlberg. He also returned to work for
DreamWorks Animation, reprising his voice as Puss in Boots in the sequel
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with Hayek again and a new cast with
Florence Pugh,
Olivia Colman,
Ray Winstone, and
Wagner Moura. In 2023, he appeared in
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with
Harrison Ford,
Mads Mikkelsen,
Phoebe Waller-Bridge and
Toby Jones . He also portrayed
Herod in the Christmas musical film
Journey to Bethlehem. In June 2023, it was announced that Banderas was cast in
Paddington in Peru in the role of Hunter Cabot. Other co-stars include
Hugh Bonneville,
Emily Mortimer,
Olivia Colman, and
Jim Broadbent. He starred opposite
Nicole Kidman in the
A24 erotic thriller Babygirl, directed by
Halina Reijn.
New stage as theater producer Antonio Banderas has always declared that what makes him happiest is theater. On 15 November 2019, his theater project, the Teatro del Soho CaixaBank, opened its doors in Malaga. It is a creation center dedicated to the production, exhibition and distribution of shows, and training in the different areas of the performing arts. Beginning in 2024, Banderas has also sponsored a new performing arts school in Malaga, the Sohrlin Andalucía School of Arts. The school is located on an old metallurgical factory and it's objective is to become a centre in which to design, create and export Andalusian talent to the world. == Acting credits and awards ==