Antonio Banderas has become a popular international star on three continents with important roles in many Hollywood films.

His strong and charming personality, along with his special look, has captivated everybody. He starred with Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, his first major Hollywood film. Hanks told about him that he is an easy person to love. Later on, in The House of the Spirits he met Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were his co-stars in Interview with a Vampire. Even Madonna felt his attraction when they met in Evita.

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas was born in Málaga in 1960. He was raised in a middle class family. As a child he was a natural leader, he was funny, extroverted and mischievous. He loved sports and he was interested in the arts. He played the guitar and the piano,  took photographs,  painted, and when he finished elementary school, he went to Málaga's School of Dramatic Art. At fifteen he stepped onto the stage for the first time in Jesus Christ Superstar. He studied and performed the classics. A new theatre group called Dintel was formed and he joined them. They travelled all around Spain. As they had little financial support they had to pay for the costumes, scenery, props etc. It was a good time for learning.

When he took part in the Greco -Latino theatre Festival at 18, his teachers and directors began to encourage him to go to Madrid to look for a serious acting career. The first years in Madrid were very hard. He did some TV work and he asked for an audition with the National Theatre of Spain. Pedro Almodóvar saw Antonio playing La Hija del Aire (The Daughter of the Air) in 1981 and offered him a role in his movie Laberinto de Pasiones. Almodóvar gave him the stage name Antonio Banderas. They collaborated for nine very creative years in films like: Matador(1986), Law of Desire (1987), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 1988) etc. But he also worked with other important directors. He married Ana Leza, an actress herself, and they didn't live like famous actors do. They even planned to raise a family.

He eventually went to Hollywood to make The Mambo Kings (1992). He then knew little English and therefore he had to spend eight hours a day learning it. After his Hollywood success, he has to live in the United States for his career. He prefers New York to Los Angeles but he misses Spain. Perhaps that is why he says: "I want to build a bridge between the United States and Spain".

This page has been created by Sivia Tomé and Montse Carbonell

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