Javier Bardem (Biutiful)

As a critically acclaimed actor, Javier Bardem has captivated audiences worldwide with his diverse performances over the years.

In 2008, Bardem received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his chilling portrayal of sociopath killer Anton Chigurh in Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for old Men."

The role also won him a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor, and countless film critic awards and nominations.

Bardem was also nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor for his portrayal of the Cuban poet and dissident Reinaldo Arenas, in Julian Schnabel's "Before Night Falls." He was named Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for this role, and received Best Actor honors from the National Society of Film Critics, the Independent Spirit Awards and the National Board of Review, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.

Bardem has won Spain's equivalent of the oscar, The Goya Award, four times and has received a total of seven nominations.

As only the second actor to win Best Actor twice at the Venice Film Festival, Bardem received the award for his performance in Alejandro Amenabar's "The Sea Inside." For this role, he also won a Goya Award and received a Golden Globe nomination.

other notable film credits include Sony's "Eat, Pray, Love," opposite Julia Roberts; Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" where he was once again nominated for a Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award; John Malkovich's directorial debut "The Dancer Upstairs;" Fernando Leon de Aranoa's "Mondays In The Sun," which was named best film at the San Sebastian film festival; Michael Mann's "Collateral;" Mike Newell's "Love In The Time of Cholera," and opposite Natalie Portman in "Goya's Ghosts."

As Spain's most internationally acclaimed filmmaker, Pedro Almodovar gave Bardem a small role in his film "High Heels," which sparked future collaborations including a starring role in "Jamon Jamon," and "Live Flesh."

Bardem's other film credits include "Luna's Golden Balls," "Dias Contados" where he won Best Actor at the San Sebastian Film Festival, "Mouth to Mouth," "Ecstasy," "Dance with the Devil," "Washington Wolves," and "Second Skin."

At the age of four, his mother secured him a minor role in the Spanish mini-series "El Picasso." As a youth, Bardem studied painting in the Escuela de Arte Y officios Art School while playing small roles on TV. It was in the early 1990s when the Spanish director Bigas Luna offered him a role in "The Ages of Lulu" that his acting career got seriously underway.

Bardem was born in Las Palmas Gran Canarias (Canary Islands, Spain).

His mother, Pilar Bardem, is a respected actress who has worked continuously from the mid-60s to the present da. His uncle was Juan Antonio Bardem, one of Spain's most celebrated directors, jailed by the Franco regime when his Death of a Cyclist won the critics prize in Cannes. Many other members of the Bardem family are also well-known actors, including his grandfather Rafael Bardem and grandmother Matilde Munoz Sampedro.

 

Biutiful Movie Review

Javier Bardem stars in Biutiful as a desperate yet soulful Barcelona fixer scrambling through his last weeks on Earth. Bardem brings everything a fine, searching actor can bring to 'Biutiful.' For many, this central performance will be more than enough. For others, the film will simply be too much

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83rd Academy Awards: Javier Bardem - Best Lead Actor Oscar Nominee