Javier Bardem: Mum’s the word

Actor prefers not to talk about his private life.

LONDON:

Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who will play the villain in the next instalment of the James Bond series, prefers not to talk about his private life and his relationship with actor Penelope Cruz to avoid the “pressure” it would put on his work.

In an interview with the British daily The Independent, Bardem, 43, said he didn’t like questions about his life with the Spanish actor he married in 2010 because they would shift attention away from his work. “It brings some other pressure and expectation that maybe the movie doesn’t deserve. It can help in some ways, but not in others. There is nothing perfect,” Bardem said about the influence details of his private life could have on his work.

For Bardem, the flip side of a glamorous movie career is trying to balance work with its impact on the rest of his life. “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,” the actor said. “Sometimes you have to go through very strong emotional journeys and then come back to yourself. And that can be difficult to control,” he said.

Meanwhile, about his work in the James Bond film Skyfall that premieres in October, Bardem said he was enthusiastic because as a kid he loved going to movies about agent 007. “I was born watching James Bond movies and there are many reasons to do this — the cast, the script, the story, the role and of course, (director) Sam Mendes,” he said.

Next year Bardem will work with director Terrence Malick in a film whose name has not yet been announced. However, The Independent has reported that the film will have Bardem working with actors Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams in a story about a man who gets in touch with a woman from his past after his marriage fails.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2012.