Antonio Banderas: The Real Don Juan

Doesn't this go with the territory for a guy who wants to be a major star, especially one whose very presence whispers--now more than ever--Latin lover? "For me, it's not about being a star," Banderas says. "I am lucky, that is all. Lucky because there are a lot of people--producers, directors, people who buy tickets-- who put confidence in me." Still, if he does become a big star, will he whine about his loss of privacy? He shakes his head no, with resignation, "If I were to become a star, I will accept everything that comes with it. I mean, I can enjoy arriving to the Oscars with a limo. But it's only a part of my profession."

Tossing back cascades of wavy hair from his forehead, he explains, "I admire people who are fantastic actors and because of that became stars. I think you can play this poker match in a different way--by finding a balance between being an actor and giving the star system what it needs. You can play safe without getting yourself involved in parties, big smiles and being brilliant all the time. I told you this last time and I mean it: I am not that brilliant. You see, I'm not a star because I am not someone who is playing myself in front of the world. I am not criticizing being a movie star, but I think that to be a star requires you to be brilliant 24 hours a day. That is something that is not in me."

Oh, isn't it? Check out his Interview With the Vampire scenes in which, even in a Lily Munster fright wig, he comes off as malevolent, absurd, flamboyant, sly--a Charles Boyeresque, come-wizmee-to-de-Cas-bah Continental seducer. Not even Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise could block his light. "Tom Cruise is the star," Banderas protests. "He and Brad did a very good job, I watched the movie here at the hotel on cable last night and it's classic, not your typical horror movie, more subtle, more human, more British than a Hollywood movie, not like--" He leaps out of the chair, essays a hilariously campy vampire turn out of a grade-Z Mexican horror movie, then slithers back into his chair. "The movie is more a reflection about immortality." Did he think well, in retrospect, of the character Armand that he created? "When I do a movie, I sometimes feel impotent. I think, "Oh man, I would like to change this character, to push this button and that button."

"Knowledge arrives late," he continues, laughing. "The best thing to do is to play the role from here to here," he says, moving his hands from the waist up. "In the range of possibilities that you can really manage. If you try to go too high, too low, too east, too west, the audience detects that immediately. If we do the sequel, I will have more space to develop Armand the way I want."

Which, I've heard, may happen, perhaps as soon as director Neil Jordan completes his current movie project. "I don't think they have a script yet, but Neil told me a couple of nights after the premiere that in the second part we are going to go back in time, to see Armand in the position that Louis was in Interview With the Vampire, a person who must overcome all the problems that go with being a vampire, a person who has had a terrible confrontation with Lestat. It's not going to be a continuation, but a chance to go back and show him as insecure, confused and also confident that he will soon have control over his situation."

The prospect of landing a franchise character in a series of movies, which not only the Vampire chronicles, but Desperado offers, delights Banderas. Robert Rodriguez's sequel to his tiny-budget, critically-acclaimed slambanger El Mariachi is little more than driving, shooting, avenging and cool camera angles, but it enjoys a loud, raucous buzz among industry insiders.

"I would like to have a continuing character, just for having that experience," Banderas admits. "'It would not scare me. It would not become a trap, because it isn't the first thing I have done in my career, you know? Desperado is going to be great because the movie is a cross fire from beginning to end, very stylish, but like a cartoon, a Sam Peckinpah kind of thing. It looks like a Western, until somebody sticks an automatic weapon into the frame. Playing it was completely different for me because the character is obsessed, he knows that he is wrong but he cannot stop. He has to kill the bad guys who killed the woman he loved."

The woman he loved. OK, so I admit I keep wanting to reintroduce the topic of Melanie Griffith. I decide to test the waters by asking him who, among such on-screen partners as Winona Ryder and Sarah Jessica Parker, has been his best screen sex partner? "Victoria Abril is the best kisser." he asserts, referring to his co-star in Almodóvar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and three other movies.

So, no mention of Griffith. But what about the near-kiss with fellow vampire Brad Pitt in Interview? "With Brad, it was, in a way, a kiss, a sad good-bye kiss. It was not in the script. Brad and I planned it. It's just that we wanted to push a little bit the sexuality of these characters. Sex between vampires is not the same as with normal people. The act of killing is probably the point, sexually, between them and we were playing with that idea in that scene. We wanted to push a little more the feeling of the strange sexual relationship between these strange humans. I always feet that art in general and acting in particular should make the audience a little uncomfortable, to slap them and wake them up.

Pages: 1 2 3 4