ANTONIO BANDERAS
Name: José Antonio Domínguez Banderas
Born: 10 August 1960 Málaga, Andalucia, Spain
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born August 19, 1960), better known as Antonio
Banderas, is a Spanish film actor and singer who has starred in high-profile
Hollywood films including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire,
Philadelphia, The Mask of Zorro, the Mariachi sequels, and the Shrek sequels.
Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucia, southern Spain, the son of doña Ana
Bandera, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a policeman in the Guardia Civil.
He also has a brother, Francisco. Banderas was raised as a Roman Catholic, but
no longer follows the religion. He took his mother's surname as his stage
name. He initially wanted to play football (soccer) professionally, but his
dream ended when he broke his foot at age 14. As a young man, he traveled to
Madrid, in order to make a career in the Spanish film industry.
His acting career began at the age of 19, when he worked in small theaters
during the Movida period. He first gained wide attention through a series of
films by director Pedro Almodóvar, between 1982 and 1990. These included
Laberinto de pasiones (1982), Matador (1986), La ley del deseo (1987), Mujeres
al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988), and ¡Átame! (1989). His breakthrough
role was as the character "Ricky" in ¡Átame! (English-language title: Tie Me Up!
Tie Me Down!), which was a minor success in the United States.
He subsequently moved to the U.S. and began appearing in American films; some of
his earlier roles there included the 1992 film, The Mambo Kings, as well as a
supporting role in the Oscar-winning 1993 film, Philadelphia. He appeared in
several major Hollywood releases in 1995, including a starring role in the
Robert Rodriguez-directed film, Desperado. In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna
in Evita, an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in
which he played the narrator, Che, a role originally played on Broadway by Mandy
Patinkin. He also received critical praise for his role as the fictional Mexican
masked swordsman, Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, for which he was the
first Spanish actor to portray the character after over 80 years since Zorro's
creation.
He has also frequently collaborated with his Once upon a time in Mexica director,
Rodriguez, who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy and the final installment
in the "Mariachi" trilogy (which he appeared in with Johnny Depp), Once Upon A
Time In Mexico. Banderas' sole credit as a director was the poorly-received
Crazy in Maine (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.
In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the
Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing
the prime role originated by the late Raul Julia. Banderas won both the Outer
Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, 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.
His voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third made the
character popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as
Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as critically successful as
the original. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high school-set movie in
which he played a real-life ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he also
received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime
Achievement Award, on October 14. He hosted Saturday Night Live's 600th
episode (in season 31). The musical guest was Mary J. Blige. He performed a
voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in
television commercials for Nasonex, an allergy medication, and was seen in
the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.
He is being considered for the part of Hadrian in the in-production (as of
February 2008) film Memoirs of Hadrian.
Name: José Antonio Domínguez Banderas
Born: 10 August 1960 Málaga, Andalucia, Spain
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born August 19, 1960), better known as Antonio
Banderas, is a Spanish film actor and singer who has starred in high-profile
Hollywood films including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire,
Philadelphia, The Mask of Zorro, the Mariachi sequels, and the Shrek sequels.
Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucia, southern Spain, the son of doña Ana
Bandera, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a policeman in the Guardia Civil.
He also has a brother, Francisco. Banderas was raised as a Roman Catholic, but
no longer follows the religion. He took his mother's surname as his stage
name. He initially wanted to play football (soccer) professionally, but his
dream ended when he broke his foot at age 14. As a young man, he traveled to
Madrid, in order to make a career in the Spanish film industry.
His acting career began at the age of 19, when he worked in small theaters
during the Movida period. He first gained wide attention through a series of
films by director Pedro Almodóvar, between 1982 and 1990. These included
Laberinto de pasiones (1982), Matador (1986), La ley del deseo (1987), Mujeres
al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988), and ¡Átame! (1989). His breakthrough
role was as the character "Ricky" in ¡Átame! (English-language title: Tie Me Up!
Tie Me Down!), which was a minor success in the United States.
He subsequently moved to the U.S. and began appearing in American films; some of
his earlier roles there included the 1992 film, The Mambo Kings, as well as a
supporting role in the Oscar-winning 1993 film, Philadelphia. He appeared in
several major Hollywood releases in 1995, including a starring role in the
Robert Rodriguez-directed film, Desperado. In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna
in Evita, an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in
which he played the narrator, Che, a role originally played on Broadway by Mandy
Patinkin. He also received critical praise for his role as the fictional Mexican
masked swordsman, Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, for which he was the
first Spanish actor to portray the character after over 80 years since Zorro's
creation.
He has also frequently collaborated with his Once upon a time in Mexica director,
Rodriguez, who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy and the final installment
in the "Mariachi" trilogy (which he appeared in with Johnny Depp), Once Upon A
Time In Mexico. Banderas' sole credit as a director was the poorly-received
Crazy in Maine (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.
In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the
Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing
the prime role originated by the late Raul Julia. Banderas won both the Outer
Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, 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.
His voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third made the
character popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as
Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as critically successful as
the original. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high school-set movie in
which he played a real-life ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he also
received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime
Achievement Award, on October 14. He hosted Saturday Night Live's 600th
episode (in season 31). The musical guest was Mary J. Blige. He performed a
voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in
television commercials for Nasonex, an allergy medication, and was seen in
the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.
He is being considered for the part of Hadrian in the in-production (as of
February 2008) film Memoirs of Hadrian.