Antonio Banderas on how his father helped him become an actor: “It was very satisfying”
In the latter part of the 20th century, a group of genuinely talented Spanish actors emerged to the big screen. But before Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem captivated audiences, it was Antonio Banderas who gained prominence in the 1980s. Catching the eye of director Pedro Almodóvar while making his acting debut in a small play in Málaga, Banderas quickly paved the way for his rise through the ranks.
Almodóvar then cast Banderas in his film debut, the 1982 screwball comedy Labyrinth of Passion, and since then, the pair have collaborated on many brilliant occasions. For instance, Banderas has performed for Almodóvar in Matador, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, The Skin I Live In, and Pain and Glory.
Of course, Banderas is far more than just his efforts for Almodóvar because he also gained notoriety in the United States, too, having given turns in Philadelphia, Interview with the Vampire, Evita and The Mask of Zorro. One cannot forget Banderas’ brilliant voice acting as Puss in Boots in the Shrek movies either, proving his talent and versatility spread far and wide.
From a professional perspective, it might be easy to think that Almodóvar was the man who gave Banderas the career he has enjoyed for the past decades, but while the iconic Spanish director indeed handed the actor his start in the film industry, the truth is that there was a more personal figure in Banderas’ life to whom he feels he owes everything.
During an interview with The Talks, Banderas once spoke of his father’s impact on his career and noted, “My father was probably the person who helped the most to be an actor. When I went to Madrid, and I didn’t have any money, he continually sent me – not much, because he didn’t make much money – but he always sent me a little bit so I could eat and live [on] a pension.”
Two decades after making his film debut in Labyrinth of Passion, Banderas made his first appearance on Broadway, and the actor was grateful that his father was around to catch him on stage and enjoyed the success he had caused. After all, without the support of his father, it’s unlikely that Banderas would have experienced the career he has.
Discussing the moment that his father saw him on stage on Broadway, Banderas said, “It was very nice to see my father, a very old man, sitting there and smiling. It was a very satisfying thing that he saw his son having success on Broadway. It was very beautiful. When my father came to the theater, it was like there was nobody else there. There were 2,500 people in the theater, but I did the performance just for my father.”
In the interview, Banderas had spoken of his wider upbringing and explained that while he didn’t come from a “poor, poor family”, he still had relatives who “worked in the fields as peasants”. The result was that the actor knew what it was like to work with one’s hands all day, which subsequently had a deep impression on his acting.
“That made me understand the characters that I am now trying to perform,” Banderas explained. “If I had been born to a rich family, there would be more distance in the comprehension of somebody else’s reality.”
