I do a job and am lucky enough to do a job that I love, but it is a hard one. I'm not saying it is as hard as working in a coal mine, but it is still difficult in a different way. Sometimes you have to go through very strong emotional journeys and then come back to yourself. And that can be difficult to control.
Javier BardemMany people out there don't have a choice, in choosing their friends and the people they're being manipulated by.
Javier BardemNow, there are so many movies, so many festivals, and so many awards going on, each judged with each other, like your work is worse than others and that's not fair. How can you tell what's best and what's worst from these awards? We're talking about art.
Javier BardemMy concern is to continue respecting my work as I've done since I began as an actor and I could only do that if I'm strong enough to keep on doing what I think best in an artistic way.
Javier BardemI think we are living in selfish times. I'm the first one to say that I'm the most selfish. We live in the so-called 'first world,' and we may be first in a lot of things like technology, but we are behind in empathy.
Javier BardemWhen you know people are really at peace with who they are and what they do, they collaborate and want to help you to improve.
Javier BardemI can't imagine what it would be like being James Bond 24 hours. That must be exhausting.
Javier BardemThis great imperialistic world called the United States has made us believe that an Oscar is the most important thing in the world for an actor. But if you think about it for five minutes you realise it cant be.
Javier BardemI'm a huge fan of the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and his work, and I knew he was going to be an amazing actor's director, based on the performances that I saw in his movies.
Javier BardemI don't know how to drive a car. The only thing I can do is act, but it's not something I even feel comfortable doing.
Javier BardemI'm not the kind of actor that gets crazy with [directors'] names, what draws me toward a project is the material itself.
Javier BardemI have a man and a woman in the same body; I have the male and female values in the same body.
Javier BardemSome quality performances and movies have a chance to be rewarded, but it's not like it's a bible.
Javier BardemAll of the good movies are based on how that story was told. And you cannot do it with a bad script, that's for sure, no matter who.
Javier BardemThere is no middle ground in Hollywood; you're a failure or you're a success. That mentality is wild.
Javier BardemThe good thing about being an actor, and the gift of being an actor, is that you are beautifully forced to see the world with different eyes.
Javier BardemSometimes I say to myself, what are you doing in this absurd job? Why don't you go to Africa and help people? But I cannot help people, because I am a hypochondriac.
Javier BardemAge has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time.
Javier BardemI look at myself, and I see a Spanish person who's trying to be understood by an English-speaking audience and is putting a lot of energy into that, instead of into expressing himself freely and feeling comfortable.
Javier BardemAwards were made in Hollywood, in whatever the time it was created. They're to promote each other's movies. You give me an award, I give you an award and people will believe that we are great movies and they'll go to see them. It's still the same.
Javier BardemBut I remember the moment when my father died. I wasn't a very committed Catholic beforehand, but when that happened it suddenly all felt so obvious: I now believe religion is our attempt to find an explanation, for us to feel more protected.
Javier BardemI will work with a director who has good material because at the end of the day, that's what counts.
Javier Bardem