Antonio Banderas Quotes

I drink a bucket of white tea in the morning. I read about this tea of the Emperor of China, which is supposedly the tea of eternal youth. It's called Silver Needle. It's unbelievably expensive, but I get it on the Web.

I long to get back into theater.

I wake up every morning, look in the mirror and ask, 'Am I a sex symbol?' Then I go back to bed again. It's stupid to think that way.

If you call a cat, he may not come. Which doesn't happen with dogs. They're different types of animals. Cats are very sexy I think too in the way they move.

First of all, we have exactly the opposite type of audiences, for obvious reasons. So the competition is not going to be between the movies. I wish Dakota the best, not only because of this movie. I know the expectations of these movies are enormous but we know-every member of the family, brother, sister, real father-that she's a good actress.”

I divide my time badly.

Always when you go to a new country and they teach you bad words, you just say them without knowing the value and people look at you because you didn't know that value of them.

People are not patient anymore.

When I do a political movie, I do a political movie.

I'm in my 60s now, and just running almost 50 meters with explosives going on, it was kind of like, "Oh, my god! What am I doing here?"

There were many generations of Latino people coming to this country, coming from difficult political or social situations in their own countries, and they worked very hard to have their kids go to universities. Well, those kids came out and they are now doctors and architects, or they are on the Supreme Court. That has a reflection in Hollywood. So, we are actually very proud that our characters are Latinos, and I think it's good for diversity and cultural interaction.

My Spanish is getting a little bit loose. Sometimes I go to Spain and after I've been talking with my folks for a while... you start changing the verb for the adjective, for example, which is a common thing between Spanish and English. I change that sometimes but after a couple days there, boom, I'm back.

I remember in "Law of Desire," where I played a homosexual, that people were more upset that I kissed a man on the mouth than I killed a man. It's interesting to see how people can pardon you for murdering a man, but they can't pardon you for kissing one.

As an actor, when you encounter a psychopathic personality, you naturally want to make him 'bigger than life,' as the Americans say.

No, obviously, the time goes by, the English gets better. Ever since I met Melanie, that was almost nine years ago now, you have to just speak the language continuously, hone every word. So, and the proof for me of that, was actually in theater. It has to be two hours and 45 minutes on the stage speaking a language that is not your language, and singing.

Im now projecting my career in a totally different direction. I am going to work less-way less. And I want to work better. I want to direct again, I want to do more theatre, and I want to do exactly those movies that I want to do.

It's about paying attention to the little things, the details... Constantly rediscovering your partner, knowing there's a way out of any crisis.

There are some movies that I would like to forget, for the rest of my life. But even those movies teach me things.

We are now integrated into American society and I don't like the word fashionable, because fashionable means that it's going to pass. It's not like that anymore.

You have to work with people you really love.

I've never worried about what audiences would accept or had a game plan regarding the career. I never had an idea of how I should look to my fans or anybody else.

In my personal life, I am very contemplative.

Cinema has opened a world of possibilities up for me.

When you work in a different language you are not so attached to the words.

I wouldn't want my daughters to date a guy like me. I was dangerous around women in my twenties. I'm terrified that they might end up with someone like me.

Characters don't belong to anyone, not even the person who plays them.

I don't believe in any kind of fundamentalism.

I have a fantastic studio in my home, and it's my biggest toy. I have about a half a million dollars worth of musical equipment in my house.

You can change a person in their exterior aspects, but the soul remains, it still is there, and especially if that person has been changed involuntarily.

I think Shrek makes an effect in older people. And there are many things in the movie that you saw that are not for kids. Kids would not understand certain things.

Expectation is the mother of all frustration.

I think the problems with being older come when your body cannot do what your mind wants. Then, Houston, we have a problem.

I suppose that I am ambitious.

I did my first movie, "The Mambo Kings," in America without speaking the language. I learned the lines phonetically. I had an interpreter actually just to understand directions from my director.

If you become very self-conscious about what you are doing, you kill. You kill the character. Then it doesn't work. You have to come from a sincere place. And you don't think too much. I don't go to the hotel and I start thinking what am I going to say tomorrow and start writing things down.

Listen, I think movies serve many different purposes, from those movies that are frivolous and just an entertainment, to movies that just go to exploring the complexities of the human soul. Everything is valid if it's done with honesty and dignity, and I actually do both of those types of movies in my career.

Movies serve many purposes, and I've visited many of those genres, from the most light, frivolous comedy that is just trying to make you laugh, to movies that explore the most complicated side of the human soul. As an actor, I play all of those things, and I still like it.

As much as you know it, and you know the method, you can pretty much do what you want. No idea is going to be shot down. You just put it in the garbage later. You have to say the lines in many different ways. So they have a lot of material to work.

Every time, I reaffirm in myself that the more comfortable you are, the less you are creating. You have to feel a little bit of pain in the creation.

I think I am good in the department of body language and fighting, and stuff like that. It's just natural to me, maybe because I love sports.

You see a woman, 22 years old, going out with a guy over 60 - and it's kind of natural. But if it happens in the opposite direction everyone says, 'What is going on there?

Everything changes as you get older - your mind, your body, the way you view the world.

I love the diversity of America. I love the plain, normal sense of humor Americans have. It is not wicked, like in some countries. And I also love how new America is.

You have to be in good shape, basically. And then, you have to have a certain craziness, if you're going to do some of the action things.

I've never liked watching real-life couples play couples onscreen or onstage. It takes me out of the story.

I think I'm a romantic person, yeah.

I mean, the Constitution of this country was written 200 years ago. The house I was living in in Madrid is 350 years old! America is still a project, and you guys are working on it and bringing new things to it every day. That is beautiful to watch.

I had an idea and I wanted just to make it work. And I am never, ever secure on the set that what I am doing is going to translate to the screen. It never changes.