Javier Bardem stars as the frightening, bent on revenge, Captain Salazar in the upcoming Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. With an impressive body of work including Vicky Christina Barcelona, Skyfall and No Country For Old Men, he has to be used to press junkets. But could he handle walking into a room full of 25 female bloggers? Let’s see. 🙂
Javier Bardem Interview: He Talks Johnny Depp, Rugby And Pirates
Javier Bardem: Oh my God! I’m so scared right now! I thought it was just a woman or two. You are all moms? I’m a daddy so don’t be too tough on me.
[Javier has a small child with his wife, Penelope Cruz, from Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. We all had a good laugh and then we got into the questions. We talk about how long it took him to get into the Captain Salazar makeup every morning – 3 hours! – and about the black goo that comes out of his mouth during the movie.]
Javier Bardem: They told me it was supposed to be like chocolate, chocolate my *ss… [I] was supposed to put it on [my] teeth. I said give me that, so I drunk it and then I went to play the first scene, I think it was with Geoffrey Rush and it starts to pour out of my mouth and he was very disgusted. And I thought it was like a rage pouring out, like something more physical, like a bull.
"I thought of the character like a raging, wounded bull." – Javier Bardem #PiratesLifeEvent
— Eat Play Rock (@eatplayrock) May 20, 2017
[One of the coolest parts of the movie is the special effects involving Captain Salazar’s hair. It floats around him in a really eerie, Medusa style, throughout the movie. Then we asked him what got him involved in the Pirates franchise.]
Javier Bardem: Penelope was shooting “Pirates 4” so I went to the set in Hawaii, Los Angeles and London. I was seeing all this amazing production taking place, the water, the special effects, the boat, the sword fighting. I wanted to be one of those. I said to Jerry [Bruckheimer], “Jerry please, give me a job.” …then he called me five years after and I was so surprised and honored because as a movie goer, I love the franchise.
[Most of the movie was shot in a studio, so the actors really had to use their skill to portray their parts believably. So, when the actors saw the finished product, they kind of really “saw” it first in the movie, like we did. However, one of the on-location shots was on Whitehaven Beach in Australia – a place that most of the actors raved about in our interviews. Javier also shared with us about his other creative outlet, art.]
Javier Bardem: I bring my own sketches…I studied painting and I wasn’t very good at brushes. I was more into the pencil and the ink. And I’ve always been drawn into faces and bodies and expressions so I guess that’s why I’m an actor. Rather than landscapes or motorcycles, I draw people’s faces, so I’m good at that and I like to bring that part into my process.
[Then Javier shared with us about what it’s like working with Johnny Depp.]
Javier Bardem: I met him in 1999 in Mexico in Vera Cruz doing a movie called “Before Night Falls” by Julian Schnabel…a beautiful movie about a gay, Cuban poet that was imprisoned by the Castro regime and then he came to the states and [was] a very important figure in the Cuban culture, also in the gay community. In one, he’s playing this very strong Cuban general, and another one, he plays a drag queen…very [well] known in prison [for smuggling manuscripts out of prison for publication]…he was a gentleman then. He was super nice, very caring, very funny, and don’t give himself too much importance at all.
"Johnny Depp will do and say anything and he will be brilliant." – Javier Bardem #PiratesLifeEvent
— Eat Play Rock (@eatplayrock) May 20, 2017
I remember that it was so hot, we were sitting on a roof and it was summertime. It was 3 p.m. We were all — people were like fainting out of the heat, and there was only one umbrella and of course the production went running to watch him with the umbrella and he was like “No. The umbrella is not for me. The umbrella is for Javier because that’s the guy who has to keep shooting when I leave. You need to protect him.” That talks a lot about him.
In 2015, he [is] the same guy except that he’s playing Jack Sparrow which is an iconic character. And he’s so funny to watch and he will do and say anything and he will be brilliant. He’s a great colleague and a beautiful guy.
[Did you know that Javier Bardem played rugby? He played for almost 20 years and And he was quite good, too!]
Javier Bardem: I play European rugby. I play #3…being a rugby player in Spain is like being a bull fighter in Japan, it doesn’t make any sense…in the sense that we don’t have a very strong rugby culture. We love it, more and more now, because it’s become professional so people are now getting to know it better, but back in my day, there were not so many. I was captain of the national team. But I loved it…it’s a great philosophy on the field. I mean, there are rules to follow, and also there is no room for stars.
*Thanks to Louise at MomStart.com for the epic pictures. 😉
What an awesome interview. I am super excited for this movie to come out 🙂
I adore Javier Bardem. He was money in No Country for Old Man, and I cannot wait to see him being totally awesome in Pirates.
For my money, there’s no better modern day male actor than Javier Bardem. He really gets deep into his roles.
What an awesome interview! I’m much more interested in the “actor’s stories” and the “story behind the movie” than I am in the actual Pirates of the Caribbean Movies. I love posts like this one, because I love the idea of the movie series, just not the movies themselves.
What a great interview! He sounds like he was very personable guy. I’m always interested in the backstory on people for some reason it just makes the movie more interesting to me.
He is incredibly sexy when not in that make up! lol Great interview with a personal tale from behind the scenes. Love it!
Huge Pirates of the Caribbean fans in our household. This interview is amazing. I always love hearing the behind the scenes and deeper stories of what you don’t see on the screen.
Oooh – what an experience to get to hear first-hand from this beautiful man! haha! Love Pirate of the Caribbean and would have been tongue-tied if I had to ask him any questions…but love how he started out with being a daddy in the room of mommy bloggers!
3 hours of makeup!?! That would take so much patience! So thrilled that you got this amazing experience!
Javier seems like such a cool person. I think his character is going to be amazing. It’s awesome that both he and his wife are part of the “Pirates” series now.
I am so excited that you got to go to this because it sounds like fun being in the hoopla and also hanging out with bloggers! I did notice how cool his hair looks in the trailers. I can not wait to see this movie.
So much fun! I can’t wait for the movie to come out.
What a great interview. When he first came on scene, I would always confuse him with Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He sounds like a great person to interview, and really good with the answers! Now I can’t wait to see the movie!
He played such a great character, frightening but fascinating. Ugh I can imagine the yuck of the black mouth goo!
I am so excited to go see this movie. I was so excited when I heard they were making it. We are planning on going for girls night.
Great interview! I have always liked him as an actor. He is pretty cool!
This is so cool! I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Can’t wait to see this one!
What a great interview. I’m excited for the movie to come out.
Woah you got to actually interview Javier Bardem? That is so cool! I can;t wait to see this tomorrow night 🙂
Great write-up, Javier Bardem sounds like a very interesting and really nice guy. I deeply respect how he stands up for his friend, too.
I was planning to watch this movie! Can’t wait. I think interviews always help to see the movie from a different point of view. http://www.clairebearblogs.com
What a great interview. He seems like quite the character. I look forward to seeing this movie.
It’s always so cool to get the story behind the scenes like this. It adds more fun to watching the movie!
Such a great movie – can’t wait to see it!
Wow! What an amazing opportunity to interview this man! He is such a great actor! I love how he portrayed his role in the movie!
Oh I absolutely love him he’s such a sweetheart and such a talented actor! What a brilliant interview with him too! X
That’s so cool that a bunch of bloggers were able to go and speak to Javier, I can’t wait to see the movie x
how fun that must have been! He is such a good looking guy but seems so down to earth as well. I am stoked to see the movie!
I cannot wait to watch POC!! Everyone in my family is a fan and great to have this interview recorded. 🙂
I am dying to see this! It would be so amazing to go with my hubby on a date night and enjoy this movie. I still remember watching the first one when it came out!
I almost forgot that his wife was in a Pirates movie as well. I’m excited to see Javier in this new film. He is such an amazing actor and plays a villain so well.
He sounds like a lovely person. I like the way he plays his roles, even if he’s a villain most of the time. He definitely knows how to act and how to act well.
I cannot wait to see the movie and I think they couldn’t have picked a better actor to play his role. I’m sure he did an amazing job bringing his character to life! What an awesome interview!
I am a huge fan of Javier Bardem. such a great actor and talent. How fun, what a really great interview!
This looks like such an amazing and fun interview! I can’t wait to see this movie.
I can’t wait to see him in Pirates. I loved your interview.
So very cool! I had enjoyed the fact that Javier Bardem was in this Pirates of the Carribean movie – and what fun that you were there in person with him for an interview – He’s like a very nice person 🙂
He’s got the friendliest smile! Out of makeup, of course. lol That’s too funny how he reacted to all of you!!
Omg I can’t wait to see the new pirates movie!!!! I just love them all. This must have been one epic interview to sit on!!!! So jealous
Wow so cool to have an opportunity to interview a well-known actor like Javier Bardem. I cannot wait to see the movie with my son.
I love him! He’s one of my favorite actors. We can’t wait to see this movie, the previews look so good! What an awesome opportunity, you must have enjoyed getting to know the cast 🙂
I love Pirates of the Carribean and can’t wait to see the next film. Javier seems like a really nice bloke and handled you all well!
Oh I love Javier Bardem and this interview sounds awesome! The movie looks fantastic!!