Javier Bardem

**Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem** (born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in blockbusters and foreign films, Bardem starred in Woody Allen's romantic drama *Vicky Cristina Barcelona* (2008), Sam Mendes's James Bond spy film *Skyfall* (2012), Terrence Malick's drama *To the Wonder* (2013), Darren Aronofsky's psychological horror film *mother!* (2017), Asghar Farhadi's mystery drama *Everybody Knows* (2018) and Denis Villeneuve's science fiction drama *Dune* (2021). In 2023, he will portray King Triton in the 2023 live-action Disney film *The Little Mermaid*, which is based on the 1989 animated film of the same name.

## Early life and education

Bardem was born on 1 March 1969 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, Spain. His mother, Pilar Bardem (1939–2021), was an actress, and his father, José Carlos Encinas Doussinague (1931–1995), was the son of a cattle rancher. According to Pilar's memoirs, José had a "capricious and violent will," and shot up the front door. He changed jobs more than 10 times, leading to evictions and the children going hungry. The two separated shortly after Javier's birth. His mother raised him and his elder siblings, Carlos and Mónica, alone (another sibling died shortly after birth), both of whom have also pursued an acting career. His father died of leukemia in 1995.

Bardem comes from a long line of filmmakers and actors dating back to the earliest days of Spanish cinema. He is a grandson of actors Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro (sister of actresses Mercedes and Guadalupe), and a nephew of screenwriter and director Juan Antonio Bardem. On the latter's side, he is a cousin of filmmaker Miguel Bardem. He comes from a political background, as his uncle Juan Antonio was imprisoned by Franco for his anti-fascist films. Bardem was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith by his grandmother.

As a child, he spent time at theatres and on film sets. At age six, he made his first film appearance, in Fernando Fernán Gómez's *El Pícaro* (*The Scoundrel*). He also played rugby for the junior Spanish National Team. Though he grew up in a family full of actors, Bardem did not see himself going into the family business, and painting was his preferred medium. He went on to study painting for four years at Madrid's Escuela de Artes y oficios. In need of money he took acting jobs to support his painting, but felt he was a bad painter and eventually abandoned it as a career.

In 1989, for the Spanish comedy show *El Día Por Delante* (*The Day Ahead*), he had to wear a Superman costume for a comedic sketch, a job that made him question whether he wanted to be an actor at all. Bardem also worked as a stripper (for one day) during his struggling acting career.

## Personal life

Bardem's native language is Spanish, and he is also fluent in English. He is a fan of heavy metal music, and credits the band AC/DC for helping him learn to speak English, in some respects. He is also a fan of Pearl Jam. Bardem does not drive, only getting behind the wheel for film roles, and he refers to himself as a "worker" or "entertainer," not an actor.

Although Bardem was raised as a Catholic, he is now agnostic. Following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Spain in 2005, Bardem stated that if he were gay, he would get married "right away tomorrow, just to fuck with the Church" (*mañana mismo, sólo para joder a la Iglesia*). He has later said that while he does not believe strongly in the supernatural, he does not deny it. "We are just this little tiny spot in the whole universe, so of course there must be other things, other people, other creatures, other lives and other dimensions. Sure, I believe in it". In the same interview, Bardem stated that he thinks science and belief "should go together".

Despite the villainous characters he has played throughout his acting career, Bardem has a self-confessed “hatred” of violence which stems from a fight in a nightclub in his early twenties which left him with a broken nose.

In May 2011 Bardem teamed up with The Enough Project's co-founder John Prendergast to raise awareness about conflict minerals in eastern Congo.

In 2007, Bardem began dating Penélope Cruz, his co-star in *Vicky Cristina Barcelona*. Bardem and Cruz have maintained a low public profile, refusing to discuss their personal lives. The couple married in July 2010 in The Bahamas. They have two children: a son, named Leo Encinas Cruz, born on 23 January 2011, in Los Angeles; and a daughter, named Luna Encinas Cruz, born on 22 July 2013, in Madrid.

During the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Bardem and Cruz signed an open letter denouncing Israel's actions as a genocide.

In September 2018, at the Toronto Film Festival premiere of *Everybody Knows* {named after the song Everybody Knows done by John legend}, Bardem told *Ikon London Magazine* about acting together with his spouse: "I find it very easy. In a sense that we play what we are supposed to play and then we go back to our daily life which is way more interesting than any fiction. And it is real."

In July 2019, Bardem signed a manifesto urging PSOE and Podemos parties to reach an agreement to form government after the April 2019 elections in Spain.

In Madrid, in November 2019 during March for Climate, Bardem gave a speech on stage where he called both the mayor of Madrid José Luis Martínez-Almeida and the US president "stupid". He later apologized, declaring that "the insult illegitimates any speech and conversation."

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