The good looking villain
Actor Javier Barden finds it easier to connect to villainous roles
He makes bad look really good in films. Javier Bardem, the Oscarwinning Spanish superstar, says given his limitations with the English language, he finds it easier to portray villainous roles in Hollywood as they are ‘more connected to the impulse’.
“I won’t do anything which I don’t enjoy. When I do anything in English, then the language is a barrier for me. I struggle with it. Performing and acting is about freedom and letting yourself go. When you are working in a language which you don’t control, there is always reigns holding you back. That is why playing a villain is easier because I am more connected to the impulse, to the fury and to the emotions to express myself,” Bardem said.
Bardem has already played two iconic Hollywood villains — the ruthless killer, Anton Chigurh, in No Country for
Old Men and a cyberterrorist Raoul Silva opposite Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Skyfall. The 48year-old star returns to the space with Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s
Revenge where he is in the role of the main antagonist, Captain Armando Salazar. The Disney film, led by Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow, releases on May 26. Apart from Pirates, the actor has two more films lined up for release — Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! and a Pablo Escobar biopic. Bardem, whose wife, actress Penelope Cruz, was in the last Pirates film On Stranger Tides, says he was surprised when producer Jerry Bruckheimer offered him a role in the film.“I felt honoured but very surprised. It is a franchise that I have seen years ago and I really enjoyed it. It is huge at every level - artistically, creatively and also as a movie. When I read the script, I thought that it was a character I could have fun with,” Barden said. The actor says he would often visit his wife on the sets of Pirates 4 and had even jokingly asked why he was not cast in the film, not knowing that his turn will come soon.“I used to visit Pirates sets and I would joke and ask ‘why haven’t you cast me in the film?’ I wanted to be a part of the series. I found the atmosphere to be very nice. Jerry really takes care of the people he works with” the 48-year-old actor said. Directed by Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, the Disney film also stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Kevin McNally and Orlando Bloom. —PTI