Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem is one of the most famous actors in Spanish film history. Born into a family with many film writers, directors and actors, this Spanish actor has become a world-class movie star. Bardem has also won several awards: five "Best Actor" awards and an Oscar nomination for "Best Actor.

• Javier Bardem is one of the most famous Spanish actors and very important in Spanish film history. He has won numerous awards including an Academic Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and five GOYA awards.
• Actually, Bardem's dream was to become an artist, so he did a four-year course in painting at the "Escuela de Artes y Oficios" in Madrid. To pay for this, Bardem took any acting job he was asked for.
• Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz starred together in the 1992 film "Jamón, Jamón. Now they are married and have two children.

Javier Bardem was born on the island of Gran Canaria in 1969. Because his parents divorced shortly after his birth, Bardem was raised by his mother who worked as an actress. His grandparents, Matilde Sampredo and Rafael Bardem were also both actors and his uncle Juan Antonio Bardem worked as a screenwriter and director. With such a family, it is no surprise that Bardem rolled into the film industry. Yet a career as an actor was not his dream, and despite his success, he did not give up on his dream of becoming an artist. He trained at art school in Madrid before still focusing on acting.

Bardem began acting at age six, with a role he had in the film 'El Picaro' in 1974. After his role in Bigas Luna's film "The Ages of Lulu," the director made the decision to cast Bardem for the film "Jamón Jamón" in 1992. This proved to be a good decision, as the film became a great international success after which Bardem also got a role in Luna's next film, "Golden Balls. In 2004 he starred in the moving film Mar Adentro "The Sea Inside," in which he played a man paralyzed from the neck down who had to live with it for 29 years, while wishing for euthanasia himself. For this film, Bardem was honored with the Award for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. Of all the films Javier Bardem has played in, two stand out; 'No Country for Old Men,' for which he won the Oscar for 'Best Supporting Actor' in 2007 by playing a psychopathic killer, and secondly one of the greatest film productions in history 'Skyfall.' His 2012 portrayal of the "badass" Raoul Silva in the James Bond film "Skyfall," earned Bardem a BAFTA, an award from the British Academy of Film and Television. Skyfall is considered by many to be the best film in the Bond series.

The Spanish actor has received almost every possible award and continues to be involved in highly successful film projects. He even received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012. In his private life, he is known to be a big fan of heavy metal music and is fluent in English. In 2007, Bardem began dating Penelope Cruz during the filming of the movie "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," in which they both starred. The couple married in 2010 and have a son and a daughter.