WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1295 - Javier Bardem

Episode Date: January 10, 2022

Javier Bardem finds lots of inspiration in his native Spain: the art, the creativity, the history, the ham. Marc talks with Javier about the importance of being raised in a creative family, including his uncle who fought the fascists through his films and his mother who was his greatest teacher. They also talk about some of Javier's most memorable performances in films like No Country for Old Men, Before Night Falls and his recent portrayal of Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series streaming February 27th, exclusively on Disney Plus. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing with cannabis legalization. It's a brand new challenging marketing category.

legalization. It's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Lock the gates! and ACAS Creative. Fuckers, what the fuck buddies, what the fuck nicks, what the fucksters, how's it going? What's happening?

Are you okay? Everything all right? How's the new year going for you? Have you got the COVID? Did you get over the COVID? Did you get through the COVID? Do you think you have the COVID? Do you have any fucking tests?

Where can I get a test? What do I got to do to get some tests? Is your store closed? Is your business closed? Are you not allowed to do something? Man, it's been crazy. It's crazy out here. I got a few tests. I try to stay on top of it.

But I mean, I'm doing comedy shows at the comedy store. For why? Because I like to do comedy. I'm trying to work out new stuff. It's what I do. I drive 25 minutes to do a 15 minute set for a few hundred people in a room, some masked, some not eating and drinking, what have you. If I do my job, I'm probably in a mild COVID mist. Got to figure at least three,

four, five, seven people have it in there. Just kind of sludging along, feeling doughy, too much sugar, trying to self-medicate with what I have available to me. I quit the meditating. My buddy Dan, we're hiking. He heard that I was cranky. He asked if I quit meditating. I did. I just stopped because maybe I don't notice the benefits, but I was doing it every day. I was really locked in for a few months and I don't know what the hell I expect to be a new person, but maybe I got to get back into it. I don't know. I'm drinking about, to be honest with you, I'm now once again, making a full Stanley thermos of coffee, 34 ounces of coffee, which I drank within the first couple hours of the day to the point where i'm nauseous

and at night i seem to be going out i seem to be compulsively eating the large wintergreen lifesavers they're so satisfying and chocolate and whatever the fuck else is around just like a garbage mouth it's like any cookies what What difference does it make, right? Live it up. Live it up. I got to reel it back in. I think it's just been stressful the last two and a half fucking years. But no, I've been stressed because I told you about the cats.

I told you about Buster being sick sick not eating for five or six days and the other morning i woke up and he was there on the bed on the you know sitting i'm putting my socks on and he's just sitting there in front of me and i'm just like you know come on dude i'm tearing up are you gonna get better what's going on i can't take this shit man and then i don't know out of nowhere he just you know he started eating he can't stop fucking eating now and he's eating a food that he never used to eat he's just eating constantly this cat and he's acting like himself and i'm so relieved to see the the guy get back like just be himself this is a fucking cat man and i just can't believe how how disrupted and how sad and how it really shook my life up i gotta reel that shit in but it's my life it's my life i think it was a cleaning product because either that or sammy

just started throwing up out of you you know, in a sympathetic. Like you saw Buster get sick, so he threw up too. I don't know what you call that. Sympathetic or I don't know what you call it. I know there's a phrase for it. Maybe it's called codependency, a relationship. When your buddy or your partner gets sick, you get sick, but it's not contagious sick. It's just you feel their

feels i think it's a cleaning product i think i gotta you know i gotta start having the floors cleaned with uh some sort of edible product something plant-based i don't fucking know all i know is i know they're back buster is back because the other morning i woke up and the cabinet where i keep the snacks and the food is at my eye level. You know, you got to open this long cabinet and it's about two shelves up, big shelves where the snacks are. And sometimes if it's cracked, if the cabinet is open a little bit, if Buster works at it, he can get it open, but he's still got to figure out how to get on a shelf. It's not easy.

And I woke up the other morning and there was like the high end snacks, freeze dried chicken, freeze dried other things that they enjoy. Just the bags ripped open all over the floor, just all over the floor. Like they couldn't eat anymore. The only thing that was missing was the two of them just laying there all fat,

unable to move from the massive fucking snack party they had it's just waking up to that you want to get angry but i'm like all right this is this is who we are now you just rip this shit up don't give a fuck it's just cats but i was happy it was uh it showed incentive so on the show today javier bardem uh is here he's uh an actor you most of you know him from no country for old men skyfall before night falls dune he's also a very big star in spain before he ever even uh started working in america he's married to penelope cruz you know him? You know him. His new movie is Being the Ricardos where he plays Desi Arnaz and Nicole Kidman plays Lucille Ball.

It's written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. And I had him over, but it's a bit of a story to it. You know, people... I'm asked to have people on the show. Right? That's how it works. Get pitched people who are out doing things.

He's out promoting the being the Ricardo's movie. But anyways, most people know the show or at least get hip to it, you know, before they come over. So anyways, you know, Javier is supposed to come over at a certain time. The car shows up. I walk out to the gate. He's he already seems aggravated. I mean, he gets out of the car and he's like, I didn't get the results of my PCR. And I'm like, okay, I'm waiting for the results.

And I'm like, all right. I said, I tested negative this morning, antigen test. And I said, when was your last antigen test? He said, yesterday. Negative. And I'm like, okay, so let's go. We can do it, right? He's wearing the mask and it's just like, it's tense. And then we walk into my house. It's just me in the house. And I shut the door behind me and he's walking into the house. He's like, where are we doing this? Where are we doing

it? We're going out back into the garage. And I'm like, in my mind, I'm like, what is happening? into the garage you know and i'm like in my mind i'm like what is happening why is this you know i i've done like what almost 1300 of these things i've dealt with all sorts of tones introductions you know ways of being upon arrival but i just couldn't understand what was up he looked tired i didn't know when he flew he came in from you know spain so i open all the windows and we sit down and uh yeah i turn it i turn it on and he's like what is this show and i'm like okay he doesn't know the show at all and you'll hear that ultimately it was a great talk we had a great conversation and to be honest with you i've sort of got to uh give myself a little credit you know because he was out he's out on a junket he doesn't know the show and we got to sit here for an hour and he didn't seem to know

anything about it he's like do you just like actors and it was like it was i i don't take it as an insult but it does in that moment make my job difficult so how am i going to ease into this so we can have you know a comfortable conversation for an hour? Free form. Like, I know stuff about the guy. I do a little bit of homework. But how am I going to trick him into easing up, into relaxing, into engaging? And I do it.

I do it because I know instinctively in my mind now how to sort of manage this, but there is a thinking to it. There is a, it's just, it's sort of a testament to the nature of interview or the nature of podcasting, the nature of personalities that sort of come through in this medium. I can't explain it, but there's definitely a skillset in place at this point. And it's definitely a hyper engaged skill set. It's not a skill set that enables me to sleep through anything or to get through anything or to make it necessarily easier to get through it. I need to engage. So I got to figure out a way around this guy's not knowing of the show uh mild aggravation uh the fact that he's probably used to giving these short interviews all the time and and kind of relax into something organic and i was uh

pretty proud of myself to be honest with you because it was one of those moments where i realized like who the fuck does this? Who just talks for an hour? Who talks for an hour? Because for me, it's fun. This is my social life. And this is engaging with somebody else who has an interesting life. I enjoy it. But it's not something that happens in life much. And I just start to think about that.

Like, why would anybody want to sit and talk for an hour? This is the gig. This is my life how do i get this guy into my life and i think we did all right i really do all right so you know what what led up to this conversation with javier and i like We had a nice, I think after all was said and done, he had a nice time. He reported back that he did. So this is me talking to Javier Bardem. The movie that's out right now

being the Ricardos is streaming on Prime Video. And it's pretty good. If the actors get the hang of that Sorkinese, it can be pretty good. Okay, here we go. It's hockey season and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats.

Well, almost, almost anything. So, no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goaltenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those too. Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Be honest. When was the last time you thought about your current business insurance policy?

If your existing business insurance policy is renewing on autopilot each year without checking out Zensurance, you're probably spending more than you need. We'll be right back. So if your policy is renewing soon, go to Zensurance and fill out a quote. Zensurance. Mind your business. We go. I'm not familiar with the show. Oh, with the show? Well, let's see. Because I live in Spain. I understand. And you can't get the internet in Spain. Is there an internet?

Yeah, you can get it right. It's a twice a week podcast. I've had many of your contemporaries on. Like last week, I had Clooney on. I had Ridley Scott on last week, or two weeks ago. I had

Guillermo del Toro last week, or two weeks ago. I had Guillermo del Toro last week. It was great. So, you know, I interview people in the business. Started as a show primarily interviewing comedians, which I am, and kind of evolved into this thing. I had Obama on the show when he was president.

So, it's that. How all of them came here? Obama came to my old house. He sat in that chair, but it was at the old house, a smaller, shittier house that he came to. It was kind of a big deal when the president comes to a small, shitty house. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Yeah, it was good. So that's sort of what this is. It's a show that's on twice a week. And how come are you so interested in movies? I don't know. It's all in movies or also music? Sure, I do music.

I've interviewed Keith Richards, Roger Waters, rock guys. It's basically, I started the podcast before it really got popular, podcasts. Okay.

And it just branched out. I'll interview anybody who's creative or in one of the creative businesses. Directors are a little tricky to get because they're busy. Musicians are odd because they don't have to talk. Yeah, right.

You know what I mean? Some of them like to talk. Are you a Pink Floyd fan? Yeah. I had Roger on not too long ago. He's definitely got things to say. Yeah, absolutely. you're on not too long ago and that he's he's definitely got things to say yeah yeah absolutely the funny thing is about guys who who are uh guys who've been around that long you know like he he

kind of says like you know i want to talk about david gilmore now i want to talk you know that you know that going in but within five minutes he's fucking talking about it yeah yeah but you know that's sort of it that's what that's what And I act, and I do stand-up, and I do this. I was in Spain, actually, the first time. I won an award in Spain. Oh, yeah? Yeah. In Gijón, is that how you say it?

Gijón. Gijón, yeah. The film festival there in 2019. Yeah. I was there with my girlfriend, Lynn Shelton, who's no longer with us, who had directed a film. And I won Best Actor. Oh, wow.

Yeah. And that was the first time I'd really been to Spain in a way where I could hang out. Okay. It was great. Do you know that film festival? Yeah, of course. Yeah, you must have been there a lot, right? A lot.

And also, it is after by a book. Which one? A literature festival. Oh, they do? They come together one after the other. Oh, really? Yeah. It seems like a nice town.

Yeah, I love it. I love it. I love it there. And the people there is very friendly. Yeah. I mean, what part of Spain is that? The north, that's Asturias. Yeah.

What separates them? Because I was in Madrid for one day when we came back, and the only plan we had was to go to the Prado Museum to visit a couple of things. There's a good museum for that, where if you get in your head, like, I'm going to visit this. Yes. You can go visit it. Absolutely. Yeah.

It's not as big as the Louvre. Yeah. So you don't need to, I mean, you don't get crazy going around it. You don't get exhausted. Yeah, but it's amazing. Are we recording already? Oh, yeah. Oh, okay.

Now, the thing about the, but that museum, though, they do a thing that I've never seen before. They like, you know, like, these are the things you might want to see. Like, they'll lay it out because they know. Of course. You have Goya. You have Velazquez. You have, I don't know if you have also. Yeah, Bosch. The the bosh which is crazy and um yeah and and velasquez right yeah yeah tishin

like all those places you do the one of the the goya of saturn eating his kid that that's the best one it's very dark and it's very good that whole room, man. And I had the chance to go and visit after the COVID, and they put all the, what would be the most famous, not famous, but celebrated paintings all together in three, four spaces. Oh, really? And that was something really extraordinary to watch. So somebody curated it? They just took the three, like how many,

like from the entire museum? Well, the Holgojas, the Velazquez, the Walsh, as you said, and there were many others. There is one painting of, I don't recall the name now. Jesus. Italian painter. It happens. It happens.

Especially when you are in front of a mic, right? It happens to me when I wake up. I don't... Okay, Rafael. Jesus. Rafael.

Okay, yeah, yeah. Good. You got it. It's a portrait that is not too big, but it's extraordinary to watch at, to look at.

And that was there. And that experience of being alone yeah because there was not many people yeah in front of those paintings are it was extraordinary it was absolutely amazing i i would say it was the first place i went to visit after once i came out of the house after the first Yeah. Yeah, it really kind of is amazing how paintings over your life change with you, you know? That you can have a different experience with them every time. Yeah, I guess they're alive. Right?

Yeah. Everything that it's created with genius is always life, you know? That's right. I think that's a good way to put it because like I always say in a similar way that when you approach something, if something is genius

and you keep going back to it at different points in your life, it'll grow with you, right? Yes. Yeah. I feel that all the time with literature and with paintings.

Yeah, paintings. Yes. Music. I mean, how come a song written in the 30s can be so live today because it lasts because it really was made from a different place not a logical place not a place that belonged to an era yeah but a place that belongs to us as nature and yeah that applies for any creative form, I think. Yeah, I mean, music's magic.

I don't understand, you know, like how music works. But, you know, it stays with you forever. You just hear that song and you're like, oh, shit, there it is. Yeah. For me, it's the same. For me, the music is the most complex and profound and complete art form. Yeah.

For sure. All of it. Like, all music. Like, what do you listen to? Well, I'm 52 years old, so I've been very much into rock and roll. Sure. I'm 57. Yeah.

Of the 80s and the 90s. Oh, yeah? That's the time where I shape my musical instinct. Your brain? Yeah. And likes. What are the building blocks? Well, I would go very much into

Led Zeppelin and The Purple. Yeah. And, of course, ACDC. ACDC, the first six. The first six. Yeah. The Bond records. Yeah, of course.

Those are the ones. And Black and Black. After that, okay. Yeah, I know. But still, you see them live and it's crazy. Have you seen them live? I haven't. You haven't? I haven't. You know what? I did. When I was. But still, you see them live on these graces. Have you seen them live? I haven't.

You haven't? I haven't. You know what? I did. When I was in high school, I saw them open. I swear to God, they opened for Journey. I swear to God. Oh, wow.

In 1970, it must have been six. I was in sophomore. And I was there to see Journey. That's the fucked up thing. That's the sad thing. I don't like admitting that. But I did see Von Scott's ACDC. Wow. What year was that? Well, it must have been the first tour, like 76, 77. that's a sad thing I don't like admitting that but I did see Bon Scott's ACDC wow

what year was that well it must have been the first tour like 76 77 high voltage yeah yeah that was the time

the best I listen to them still every like weekly I listened to them yesterday when I was hiking alright I listened to the live one

the bad boy boogie yeah on the live if you want blood you've got it that album that's the best one of the best Boy Boogie on the live. If you want blood, you've got it. Yes. That album, that's one of the best live albums ever. Oh, man.

When they come back in on Bad Boy Boogie after the... And the opening of that album, Riff Raff. Oh, yeah. That is rock and roll. It's the best. Do you have that live at the Atlantic Studios? Do you know that live one that they did? Yes.

Of course. Oh, my God. Of course. That's crazy. It's crazy it's crazy and i had the chance to uh meet them personally in 2015 yeah in a in a concert that they did in spain yeah and i put myself in my on my knees just to embrace the little guy yes so yeah he was scared because i'm so big compared to him. Like, who is this Spaniard that is?

Because he meant a lot to me since all my childhood. Yeah. And I started to listen to them when I was nine years old. Nine? Yeah. Nobody plays guitar like that guy. No. Nobody plays guitar like that guy with that amount of energy one after the other.

Those licks, man. I mean, he's relentless. Yeah, those licks. I mean, it's not complicated shit, man. No. It's just it. Yeah. So did he talk to you?

Did you talk to him? Yeah, I talked to him, and I talked to Brian Johnson. He was there as well. And they were very happy because I brought some friends of mine, and we brought him a good hum and a couple of bottles of wine and they kind of seemed very happy with that. Spanish ham. Yes, of course.

Yeah, it's hanging in all the windows there. Well, I don't know about the windows. Yeah, well, some of them. Yeah, the bone is hanging there. Yeah, yeah. Some have hair on it. In the kitchen, yes. And you get the knife and you visit that.

Well, I think in the butcher shops, you know, I just saw the hams. I guess the hairy ones are the boars, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, the best quality of them comes from Salamanca, from Jabugo. Yeah. Jabugo it's called. It's very easy to find

great ham in Spain. That's for sure. That's the thing? Ham? It's not a brainer. Ham is the thing. Ham is the thing. You want ham? Go to Spain. Exactly. Is that obvious? Is that realistic? So you started

listening to ACDC when you're nine. Who turns you on to that? My brother. You got the older brother? Yeah. He's six? So you started listening to ACDC when you're nine. Like, who turns you on to that? My brother. You got the older brother? Yeah, he was six years older than me. Yeah, yeah. He was 16. That'll do it.

Of course. The elder brother. I was chasing him. I was following his steps. And of course, but then he kind of gave up on that, and I followed it. I became more of a big follower. You went deeper? Yeah, I went deeper.

I bought all the records. Deeper into the hard rock. Exactly. Into the metal. Into the metal, yeah. Where do you draw the line at metal, though? I mean, how metal do you get? Like, what are we talking?

Like Judas Priest? Oh, yeah. Like Megadeth? Yeah, I can do Megadeth. Oh, yeah? Metallica? Of course, I love Metallica. Metallica is like a symphony of metal yeah um

i don't know i will draw the line with the slip knot okay yeah yeah yeah that's not my yeah i i tend to like i don't i like hard rock more than metal like i don't consider acdc metal no you know what i mean that's that's that's heavy yeah heavy rock yeah and i i went i came into black sabbath later you know not as a kid and I can appreciate Sabbath I can appreciate Megadeth but I mean

ACDC I listen to yeah so what happened your brother just got out of the music thing you just went a different direction he went pop

do you remember the day was it a fight no he went he went more pop and I follow him as well and I have to say that because the musical taste that we that he had yeah we start to learn together we welcome every kind of shape of form and of of music we love it musicians in the family uh my my uncle yeah no sorry one of my cousins

Juan it's a it's a musician he he's a professional musician that makes scores yeah

for movies for movies he's great he's an amazing musician has he done some big work yeah yeah in Spain oh yeah

yeah yeah that's like that's the interesting thing about like so much your early career was in Spain and I it's weird because like I was trying to remember.

I was talking to my producer where I first saw you, and I can't even... I saw you in a movie playing basketball in a wheelchair. It was like an Almodovar movie. Is that possible? Yeah, that's called Life Flesh. That's 96. So was that one of the first ones or no?

No. My first one really was around the 89, 88. Right. But the one that kind of made the thing broader yeah uh it was 91 called jamon jamon right yeah ham ham and that one that you were saying like flesh yeah like five years later and did but that was the only time you work with that guy huh i worked with him before in a movie called High Heels, just saying a couple of lines. Yeah. Like a little extra with two lines. So you were kind of in and around the show business all the time from when you were a kid.

Yeah. Yeah, because my mom was an actress. Big? Big actress? Yeah. TV? Movies? Especially theater.

Oh, theater. And then also, I mean, she would do whatever to earn her money. In Spain? Yeah, in Spain. And my grandparents were actors. Really? Yeah. And the family of my mother, they were coming from a long destiny of actors and actresses.

My uncle was a director. Film? Yeah. Film director called Juan Antonio Barden, which he was one of the rock bases of the Spanish film history. Really? Yeah.

He won Cannes Film Festival and he was imprisoned by Franco regime. Did you know him? Yeah, I knew him a little bit, of course, because my uncle was like, I think he was 12 or 14 years older than my mother. Yeah. So there was a gap of age that will make the relation a little bit difficult. Sure. So we didn't hang out too much with them.

Yeah. Yeah, we had a relationship, of course, and he was a great man, and I know my cousins, and I love them. All of them work in the film industry. So you brought up around movies, and you could go see the movies, and you'd be like, that's my uncle's movie.

The first time I went to see a movie of his that it was very political about one politician in Russia. Yeah. It was kind of a documentary in the communist Russia. Yeah. It was a story. It was kind of a documentary. In the communist era, I fall asleep into his shoulder,

and he didn't wake me up. He kind of understood. It was a little bit too heavy for me to watch at the time. How old were you? I think I was like 11 or 12. How are you going to understand that? Yeah, of course. But yes, I'm very proud of him.

And funny enough, he was the first Spanish director ever to be nominated for an Oscar in the year 58. Really? Yeah, which is something that I realized in the year I won the Oscar, which was 2008, because it was 50 years later. Exactly 50 years. And my mom told me, like, wow. For Best Foreign Film? Yeah. No kidding.

I wonder, and he didn't win it. No. My Uncle Jack. That was the French movie that won. I can't imagine what it feels like to be part of this sort of like a legacy of cinema people and actors. I mean, what did your dad do? My dad was a businessman. He was trying to make a living out of this or that.

Oh, yeah? Password? Yeah. I mean, he was a man who was not very much into the arts at all. And he didn't really approve much that we became actors because he knew. He knew. He knew the upsides and downs, the ups and downs of this. Your brother's an actor too?

My brother's an actor and a writer. Yeah. My sister is an actress. Oh, my God. She has been running two restaurants lately, and she's been in the business, which is a very hard business. In Madrid? Yeah. So you go to her restaurants?

Yeah, I used to. Now the restaurants are closed, and she's back into what I know, and I feel it was her real passion, which is act. Yeah? Yeah. Now, did all of you guys, did you all train,

or did you just sort of come into it? I don't know. i i start to work little by little and then was it always what you wanted to do no no i wanted to be a painter and i study uh bell arts and i what kind of painting it was more into drawing drawing yeah yeah sure yeah uh it was it was always very realistic painting. Oh, really? Like faces, bodies, things like that, I guess. Yeah, yeah.

The expression of the face would be the thing that I was more interested in. You don't like abstract? I do like. I mean, I'm a very good friend of Julian Schnabel. Oh, yeah, right, because of the movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a great painter. I don't know if that's abstract or not.

It's certainly abstract, yeah. What I mean is when something is done and it's beautifully done and there's a real artist behind, you feel something about what you're watching, whether it's abstract or realistically. Yeah. It doesn't matter. And so I'm fine with that. But it's true that I am more drawn into kind of the drawings rather than the paintings. Yeah, yeah.

kind of the drawings rather than the paintings. Yeah, yeah. That's why, like, watching, I don't know, like, Goya, he was a great, I mean, he's an amazing, he was a genius and everything, but you can see the traces

of the drawing into the painting and how he put the paint on top of that and in a very loose way and at the same time being so precise in what has to be shown put the paint on top of that and in a very loose way. Yeah. And at the same time, being so precise in what has to be shown and what has to be darkened. Yeah. And that all is in the hand of a genius. Do you still paint?

I don't. I don't. And that's sad. I should go back to it. But I guess I kind of let it go. And then little by little, I understood that those things, unless you practiced, it goes away. And also it's hard, I think, too, when you have a dream to do something well. And you, for whatever reason, get away from it. That going back to it is kind of difficult.

It's kind of difficult to go back to it as a hobby without being haunted by it somehow absolutely and not be too hard on yourself right like right like trying to really make something good out of it rather than just express yourself or have fun with it exactly like no i got all these guitars i never ever tried to be in a band right right but you play guitar yeah i love it but if i think if i was trying to be in a band. Right, right. But you play guitar. Yeah, I love it. But I think if I was trying to be in a band when I was younger, it would be different. Right. It would have a different meaning. I play with people, but I never believed that I was going to be a musician. Right.

So I still enjoy it. These aren't like haunted vessels of failure here. But do you play in concerts? Do you get on stage with people? I have been lately for the first time. I mean, a couple of times when I was younger, but I never played with a band. But now I play with some guys, and we do covers, and I'm like, fuck it. It's like bucket list shit.

I've always wanted to do this, and now I'm not afraid. And I got nothing to lose. And I don't want anything. How fun is that? It's great. It's great. I don't know. It's great. Do you ever play? Do't know. You know, it's great.

Do you ever play? Do you play? No, I like drums. Yeah. I play drums. Yeah. I've never been in a band. Yeah.

But I'm sure that the little times where I play with my friends. Yeah. Not in front of anybody, just for us. Right, right. It's a different experience. It's something that's communal, that it's about belonging to something. Yeah. It's so, I mean, you must that it's about belonging to something. Yeah, it's so,

I mean, you must feel it too in acting as well, because like, because I noticed that when you watch that Beatles thing, you know, the Get Back, the documentary. I don't know if you've watched any of it. No, I haven't.

You should. Well, you don't have to. Whatever you want to do. But the point is, is that, you know, those songs are so simple. Yeah. But the magic is them together you know those songs are so simple yeah but but but

the magic is them together right that something happens right and it's the same with any collaborative art that like you know you you bring whatever you're going to bring to it either you're going to be insecure you're going to be confident you're going to be in how what it doesn't matter but as soon as other people are involved it's bigger than you and something magic can happen yeah especially that yeah absolutely and also the the magical of belonging to something bigger than you and something magic can happen. Yeah, especially that. Yeah, absolutely. And also the magical of belonging to something bigger than you, as you said, and being part of something that it's not about yourself, but about something else. Right. That is a message that you want to get across to someone in case that means anything to someone.

Isn't that interesting? Yeah, that is what it should be in your art expression at all, because most of the time it's about ourselves. It's a little bit too much about ourselves trying to make a point about ourselves, rather than trying to really explain or trespass ourselves to tell a story. Do you think about that, though, when you look at a script? I mean, I can talk about that intellectually, think when you when you work with other people collaboratively you feel that you know i mean but i still think i'm kind of selfish but when you look at like a script do you feel like you know how can i get lost in this yeah you want to get lost in that at the same time to have some control over it uh For me, it's basic.

I guess for a musician to be lost is, I don't know, I'm saying, I don't know. Sure. I don't have any idea, but I guess it would be more about how much you can rehearse in order to get lost. Yeah, right. And for me, it's about the same. It's like, how really can I have a hold on into this and have some thing to say about it as an actor in order for me to really try to do what i think i can do best which is get lost in it yeah but it's not something that you can jump in you just jump in and you say okay let's try this let's try that

no that doesn't work for me some other actors can do that and I really envy them but for me I have to have everything covered in order to jump to make that jump and try to get lost in it do you

do you remember like can you identify the first time you felt that yeah I feel it was the movie a movie called

The Ages of Lulu 1989 yeah and it was a tough role because I was playing a bisexual prostitute. Yeah. You took the role, though. Yeah, and funny enough, it was based on an amazing book of a great writer called Almudena Grandes,

who passed away recently, sadly. Yeah. And the movie will end up on a whorehouse where these sadomasochist practices were taking place, run by my mother at the time. I mean, my mother, not the time, by my mother, who was the boss of the whorehouse. So my first role was this bisexual prostitute. And your mom was in the movie? Yeah.

Your real mother. In front of my mom, where she was asking me to not be too violent with one of the clients. So that was, so of course I have to get lost in it because it was way too hard to deal with. And now I think about it and I go, well, I was 20 years old and I was so much into it. I wanted to really give it all because it was a great opportunity. And I went far, not far, not far in terms of making harm to myself or to any other, but to really imagine that man and I follow people like that over the streets, I didn't get myself into any kind of trouble. But it was the first time that I immersed myself into some kind of atmosphere to understand what I was talking about.

And I love that. Wow. And your mom was there the whole time. and she said it was one of the most difficult roles she ever played after 50 years of working as an actress because she was in one way playing the harsh, tough woman running the whorehouse. And on the other hand, it was my mom trying to understand or help me to do it better or to be comfortable within that situation. So it was a tough one for her.

God bless her. She passed away last July. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, thank you. And I miss her so much. She was 82 years old. And she, the good thing is that I have a brother and a sister, and we were with her.

And she felt loved. Yeah. Oh, that's nice. She felt loved. She felt accompanied. And she was awake? Yes. Oh. She felt loved. Yeah. Oh, that's nice. She felt loved. She felt accompanied. And she was awake? Yes. Yes.

She felt loved. She felt the gratitude. That's amazing. Yeah. To be there for that. Yeah. That's the thing that keeps me, I don't know, like relieved. Yeah.

She felt the love. Right. You were all there. Yeah. Beautiful. And like the whole family probably, right? Your kids too? No, just us because it was a time where people were out of Spain.

Oh, oh. Thank God the three of us were in the same city at the same time. Oh, good. Yeah, that's sweet. So do you think that she was your primary teacher as an actor? Yeah, she was a primary teacher on everything. Yeah. Yeah, because my parents split when I was four years old.

That's young. That's young. Yeah. So I was raised by her mostly. My father was there present, but not as present as he should have. Right. Did you get resentment against your father? No, no.

I mean, of course now, being older as I am, I'm being a father myself and more of a man than a child, I can understand certain things, and I understand that people try to do their best, and sometimes you hurt someone without wanting to do so. He could have done better. He could have done more. Sure.

But also, he did what he could, and I forgive him for that. That's interesting, because I always wrestle with that. I think people say that, like, we did the best we could. But there's a part of you that's like, did you, though? Yeah. No, of course, we can always do better and more and better. I don't know if it's the word more or better, to be more aware of what's going to happen.

Oh, the consequences. The consequences, yeah. Of our own acts. Yeah. Of course, we have to be aware of that. As a father, I'm way more aware of that. But at the same time, we have to also frame them in the moment they were educated as children. Yeah.

My father was educated in a moment where manhood was very, very thick and solid. There had to be a certain type of strength. Yes. Was there a macho element? Yeah. Yeah, you can call that as well. And the women in Spain and today, but thank God today has changed so dramatically. Still more changes to come, we wish.

Yeah. But women in the time were, I mean, my mother couldn't have a bank account by herself or couldn't travel alone. I mean, so those things, of course, shape the way you see the world as well. He was educated into that. That being said, he could have been more present. And when you say to a kid,

I'll be there, and you don't show up, that's bad. That's bad. That's the bad part. No matter what the intentions were. Because you hear that story all the time. Yeah. You know, I'll be there this weekend to take you to the game or whatever. Yeah.

They don't come. It's always the saddest fucking story. Yeah. But it's not unusual. It's not unusual. And that's the thing that you can do better, for sure. Wait, could you even imagine, though? Like, I don't know who these people are.

I mean, I don't even have kids. But could you imagine telling your kid, like, I'll pick you up at five and then like two days later go like, I'm sorry, I forgot. No. How the fuck does that happen? No, no, no. No, no, no. Absolutely. And I can think of that. I can imagine that. Yeah. I'm not that guy. I mean, I flew sometimes mostly all the world around just to be with them for a couple of days. For me, when I'm working outside, out of my home, I'm always saying that I have two weeks in my genetics.

I can't stay away from two weeks. More than two weeks, I can't. And then you've got to carve out the time to go back. Yes, I have to go back. Because sometimes you shoot forever. I mean, sometimes you're shooting for months. Yeah, absolutely. But I have to, if they kind of travel with me, then I have to go back and whatever I am.

Yeah, I'm the same way with my cats. Of course. My sister is having a problem with her cat now, and she's devastated. I know how important it is. I'm just getting through one now. Yeah. You don't know what the hell is wrong with them. I mean, it's a weird thing.

It makes you feel silly. But if your life, like I don't have kids, if you have these things, these animals, and they're part of your life and they're part of your pattern and you put some of your self, your not self, they ground you. You love these dumb things. Absolutely. And if one of them is fucked up, you're like, everything gets thrown off. Is your companion?

Yeah, kind of. They don't do much, but you know, they're there. They're consistent. How long have you been with them? These ones? Yeah.

I got a new guy. He's less than a year old. And then the other guy is like five or six years old. And then there was two that were old and they're dead now. But I mean,

kids is different, obviously. You know, they're never going to talk. You mean the kids? No, my cats.'re never going to talk. You mean the kids? No, my cats. That would be scary. Hope not.

Very exciting, though. Then I know what the fuck was wrong with it for the last two days. That's true. So were you brought up with, you were talking about the Catholic guilt in Spain. That's heavy Catholic, isn't it? Yeah, it's been nice, better. Now the new generations, I think they are dealing with it way better than what I had to

deal with when I was younger. Yeah, I guess in historically, Spain has been as violently Catholic as you can be, really. Well, Inquisition was made up in Spain, right? Yeah, sure. We have Torquemada. And yeah, and we've burned some witches? Yeah, sure. We have Torquemada. Yeah. And we've burned some witches.

Yeah. Yeah, and we've burned some witches and some books as well. Yeah, yeah. And we've chased those who were not indoctrinated by the Holy Church, and we've made them feel guilty and punish them. If they got rid of the Jews, get rid of the Jews of the, of the Moroccans as well.

Yeah. Uh, yeah, it's a country that has been very powerful in many ways in, by shaping itself with, uh, lots of, um,

invasion. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Meaning, meaning, I mean, with lots of invasion or conquering as well. Yeah, yeah. Meaning, I mean, there's no big empire in the world that has not done so. Sure. I mean, and we always have to be historically accurate in order to make a thing about it.

Yeah. And understand that when these people were living in the 14th century, they had some issues to deal with that we don't have today. Yeah, thank God. But yes, the Catholic Church. It's funny you say we don't have those today. But like, you know, when you talk about, you know, Franco, we're kind of coming back around to that, sadly. Well, globally. Yeah, exactly.

The stream right wing, as you call it whatever, we call fascists. Yes, fascists. Let's call them what they are. Yeah, is raising up in Europe a big way. In Spain, we have some of them actually having a room in the Congress. I know, yeah. And it's, yeah, it's, it is, it is. Scary.

It's scary. And also, but we have to pay attention to that because they are not there for free. I mean, there is people behind them. Yeah. That are voting for them. Right. And there are some other democratic political parties that are supporting them in order to get their support.

Yeah. So they can get more things moving forward, like the right wing in Spain is really being supported now by the extreme right wing, and they are going hand by hand in many things that are kind of scary and going backwards to what it was in the 60s or in the 50s sometimes. For example, with the rights of the lesbian, gay, transvestite community, bisexual community. I mean, they are, as we speak now, dealing with things that have been approved and have been moved forward successfully. Yeah. Now they are trying to get it back and-

Push it back. Push it back. And that's one of the examples. The environment will be another one. Not that different than the Inquisition, in a way. Not that different than the Inquisition, I don't know, but not that different of the time where Franco was living. And you would be scared if you were homosexual or if you had some political views that were against the regime. Of course, we have democracy and we can speak loud and but the problem with this is that when you are whitening

when you are washing yeah that uh speech on tv on the congress some people out there feel the power feel empowered to do the actions and it's very alarm to see how much the violence has increased towards gay people, lesbian people, lesbian community. All around the world. All around the world and in Spain. Yeah. Because that's what I'm more familiar with. I mean, like, brutal. Yeah.

Because they know these people, they think they are represented. Sure. Because they know these people, they think they are represented. Sure. And you got this guy here called Trump that kind of did the same. Yeah, they emboldened people to be intolerant. Absolutely, because they feel represented by people that are really one way to go. Yeah, well, that's what they want, that one way.

Well, I mean, what was your uncle Putin? Was he got in trouble? Yeah, he was in prison because he had to do with the Communist Party in Spain. Yeah. And he was in prison and he was chased and he was persecuted, as he was my mom as well. Yeah. My uncle was, it was worse for him because he was politically outspoken and very well, he was obvious. He was also public personality. And also through his movies, you can tell he was doing a very thorough critic against the regime.

And, I mean, but that's something exciting to have grown up knowing. That must have been something you, at some point in your life, grew to respect. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, in my house, we haven't had much when we were growing up. Yeah. But one thing that I've seen firsthand is that wherever we had, we share it.

Yeah. We really didn't give our back to the people that are most needed around us. Whether or not we had more or less, that's not the point. The point is show us what you get and share it. And be around and surround yourself with people that are going to create a community, a unity with you towards what is the right thing to do, which is not, of course, my right thing to do is not the same as the extreme right thing to do. But there is one thought that my brother the other day

shared on a TV or in a radio program, which is like some of the street right wing people say, you think you are morally higher than me? And that's not true. And I say, well, it is true. In the moment you are chasing or trying to get, for example, the collective rights from lesbian and gay people and kind of not condemning the violence against them on the streets, I am morally higher than you. So yes, that's a wrong thing to do. So of course there are right things to do.

And that's, I guess, where I learned with my mom and my family, like, okay, also we were living in an area where, as I said before, my mother was having lots of trouble by just being a woman, being an actress, and being a single mother. That alone will create a lot of danger for her on the streets. Yeah. So I saw that as well. So that by itself empowers the women, in my view. Right. Knowing the strength. Absolutely.

Yeah, yeah. The admiration I have towards women in general. Sure. The strength of a woman, a mother, trying to cope with so many elements and at the same time being able to feed us all, to feed the three kids. When you were growing up, were you like a fighter kid? Yeah, I was. I was.

I was because the man in the house was not there to say, stop it. My mom, her hands were full of things. And also she was trying to do theater and TV and she has to tour around Spain. Doing theater. Exactly, for months. Right.

Back in the day. So you're just at home kicking ass? Exactly. And we didn't have much money to hire someone to take care of us. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We did, but then my mother, my sister took care of us, but she was very young. She was a kid herself. Right. So that's the ambience where you grow up, and, of course, you are watching your older brother as the example, as the man in the house. But he was 12 or 13.

You know what I'm saying? So, of course course you follow him and then you're in trouble yeah so you're troublemaker yeah i used to be also because in the day maybe it's different today i know we live in a neighborhood we live in a place where you go on the street and you yeah you shape your and form yourself on the street yeah yeah now i think it's a little bit more different. It's all online now. Exactly.

Now it's through Twitter. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So really, so you had to go out there and get scrappy just to show the neighborhood what was up? Yeah, but I would always call my brother. He was bigger and older. But yeah, I'll be behind. But the Catholic thing, that didn't get into your brain? No, my grandmother, my father's mother yeah uh she was very catholic and she will take me on the to the church

many many sundays yeah yeah and i will be there and i will it will be a place where i will feel kind of safe sure i was little and i felt like to be in a church, actually, it's a beautiful thing. Yeah, the pageantry of it. Absolutely. All the wizards. Absolutely. It's a sacred place. Sure.

You feel that weight. Yeah, yeah, you do. Especially when you're a kid. But I didn't follow it up. No. But you don't have anything? You're not just a spiritual guy or nothing? No, really.

That's good. Not really. It's okay. I wish I had. I mean, I believe, for example, when I do, let's say I play this Yarnas in Vinda Ricardo. He's a real person. Yeah. Well, I talk to him. Yeah. And I kind of talked to him.

On a mystical plane. Yes. And I communicated with him on what I think it could be him. Well, the good thing about Ricky Ricardo is that, like, there's plenty to see. Absolutely. I mean, you know, I watched that movie the other night, and I thought it was a great story. And, you know, I certainly didn't know much of that. And, you know, and I thought you guys handled the Sorkin ease very well, because that's the trick of that guy.

I mean, you know, it really all hinges on the actor's ability to perform his writing. Right. And I thought you guys did a great job with that. I mean, it's demanding when you're working with Theron Sorkin's words is demanding because it's they are so rich and powerful and and there's a rhythm to it that's a rhythm into it it's almost like the 30s you know there's like a thing that happens with him when it's done well but it's funny because you will think of Aaron as a director asking you to speak faster yeah it is the opposite he wants wants you to breathe and to be in silence and taking what you've been said and be aware and be, yeah, that what you're saying has to create an effect on the other.

You know why? I bet it's because, like, you know, he loads up those sentences. Like, if you don't do it right, it's not going to sound natural. Absolutely. So in order to make Sorkinese sound natural, you've really got to, I guess, think it. Yes, think it and also making it organic. Right. He's a great actor's friend because he knows how to put the lines with such a continuity

that when you jump into the lines, you don't need to add or take out anything. Yeah. It's exactly what you need to say, no more, no less. That's in the hands of many, few of them. Yeah. It's not easy to find. He's precise.

Yeah, he's precise, but also he knows what the actor needs to say. Yes. And that's great. But at the same time, you have to be very, very truthful with what you're saying. Otherwise, it's going to sound like a script. Right. That's exactly. It's hard, you know, because I've seen his stuff done well and I've seen it done badly.

Right. But you guys did a good job of it. And now, so when you took this role, I mean, you knew Ricky. We all know Ricky. What was it that made you go like, okay? I don't know. First of all, working with Aaron. Second, I was very drawn into the story.

Yeah. Him being a foreigner, a Cuban, the States, the 50s in the United States, the communism. But most of all, of all the love story between them I think he for what I read for what I saw from what I heard

from Lucy their kid their child you talked to her? yeah oh yeah? yeah and she's been

very helpful and she's a great lady uh huh is Desi Jr. still alive? yeah yeah I think yeah yeah

you talked to Lucille Ball's the daughter yeah daughter okay and he was madly Is Desi Jr. still alive? Yeah, yeah, I think. Yeah, yeah. But you talked to Lucille Ball's daughter. Yeah, daughter. Okay. And he was madly, Desi was madly in love with Lucille Ball. Yeah. And he will do everything in order to protect her and take care of her.

And there was also something going parallel to that, which is, speaking of which, we talked about before, his education as a man in Cuba. Yeah. That will bring some issues with it. Sure. But he won't feel that as an issue itself. He will feel like that's the way I am. Right. And it doesn't mean anything.

Well, that's interesting. Her decision, you know, when it happens finally not to deal with it, you know, the timing of it. And it's also like a, it's a pretty, you know when it it happens finally not to deal with it you know the timing of it and it's also like a it's a pretty you know feminist movie or really you know in terms of how he and how i think she really was but in relation to the give and take of what happened you know him being protective and ultimately doing what he did on that set that day but her also saying like uh no i don't know if i can live like this. Yeah, absolutely. And also, yeah, it was the last drop in the glass. Yeah.

And I think it is feminist in the same, I don't know if the word is feminist, but I think it's very obvious that it's empowering a woman that it was very powerful. Yeah, I think that's probably. And she empowered herself. Right.

And in the moment where being a woman and a foreigner, it was kind of a weak point to be somewhere and make something out of it. And they both had one of the most amazing and prolific studios companies. I mean, production companies ever. Desilu, yeah. Run by a woman and a foreigner. So that speaks volumes about who they were. Yeah.

So like working with Sorkin, though, the precision of it. I mean, like going back, I mean, what are the different, like, because it seems like somebody like Schnabel is going to be a little more fluid. Like there must be a completely different game. Yes. Yes, it's different. Yeah. Julian will paint the scenes with you. and Aaron will be more precise, and he wants the things to be contained and framed into what it is, no more or less than that. or Nightfalls, that was the first Oscar nomination, right?

And how much of that was your role in that was, in terms of character, was collaborative? How much did you sort of pull together yourself? It was very collaborative. I mean, Julian is a great guy, the actor, and he was so helpful, and he is so helpful and so loving. We worked together, and we tried different things. And it's funny because I always thought that movie was kind of an experiment for me, like a try for me to see if I was capable of performing in a foreign language.

Oh, okay, yeah. I never thought that movie was going to be received or seen by so many people. For you, it was just sort of like, I'm going to try it. Exactly. This is a nice low-key project. That's what I thought. And then out of the sudden, the movie turns out to be a great movie that still really resonates.

Yeah. And I got a nomination for an Oscar, which is like crazy. So you did it. Yeah, I did it. And I guess if I knew that before shooting, I would have done it worse. You would have been self-conscious. Exactly. So that was really the first full English movie you did?

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was the first. I did one before that in Spain called Perdita Durango in Spanish, where I was playing Mexican. But it was not an American it was an American production so so like now you work with what's his name Enirutu yeah yeah Alejandro González-Añarito yeah yeah yeah I talked to Del Toro about that guy you know there's the

three of them the Mexican directors that the the trinity of Mexican directors yeah so like in terms of culturally I mean it's it's very different, right? I mean, it's still a Latin world, but, I mean, Mexico and Spain is different. It's like being, I don't know, British and American or Australian. I think it's more or less the same. Right. We share some things in common. Some others, we're, I mean, if I watch a movie in Mexican,

I can, and if they go into the slam or the way they speak on the streets, I won't get a word out of it. Right, right. Oh, okay. And the same for them. We do it in Spanish, in Castilian Spanish. Right, right, right.

But we share some impulse and some, I don't know. Yeah. We share the blood as well. Sure. I mean, we, I was doing this. Thanks to the, yeah,

the Inquisition. Exactly. And the Conquerors. Yeah. I was doing this great project about Cortes and the conquest of Mexico that unfortunately was canceled

after the COVID because many things. A movie? It was a four-episode series. Oh, a miniseries, yeah. Yeah, and it was a great project. And I was very much into telling that story because for Spain and for Mexico, it's a big thing, especially for Mexico, right? But again, we have to revisit that world with the eyes of the time.

Today, it will be very brutal, what we did, and it was brutal. But at the same time, we... It's Cortez. Yeah, it's Cortez. It's the time that it was. Yeah. And also, they were encountering the unknown and the Aztecs, which were not also kind of soft. Right, right.

So I'm not justifying or excusing anything. I'm saying that the clash of these two wild worlds together made— The conquerors and the indigenous people. Exactly. Made what happened being a possible outcome. Right. A possible outcome. So, oh, it's too bad that they're not going to make it.

Yeah, it's sad. But that being said, I have, yeah, I work with Iñárritu, and I think he's one of the greatest directors. I mean, it's fantastic, of course. Yeah, it's funny. Yeah, it was funny when talking to del Toro about him, because del Toro will have those, he'll have them come over and look at his edits. And he said that Anirutu will say like, you know, I think this seems a little long. And I'm like, that guy? He's going to tell you what's long?

It's funny because the three of them are great in what they do, Alfonso, Guillermo, and Alejandro, but they are different. Oh, totally. It's great. They have their own thing. Yeah, it's incredible. Okay, so in terms of precision, it seems like the Schnabel movie puts you on the map here, right?

And then the Coen brothers got you, that movie got you an oscar but that's a but those guys are precise too right the coins yeah they were precise they were yeah they were so precise that they will give you a storyboard script oh really where everything was already drawn and right and uh but they will be very open to also change it if they need it. But they knew the movie way before they said action. Yeah. They knew the whole movie. Right.

And Roger Dickens, their amazing DP, was there, and he did a spectacular job. And yes, that was precise, but also it was precise, but that precision was on my side because my character is very precise as well yeah he's not somebody loose he's not totally controlled he's not exactly he's in total control of what he does best even his haircut exactly yeah there's no one hair coming out of the place yeah and you and who made those decisions for the character? You? I mean, I know it was on the page. The Coens decided the haircut based on a book with photographs of a brothel in the borderline with Mexico in the 50s. Interesting.

Yeah. There was a guy there with that haircut, and they said, we want this. And I said, okay. You know, it's one of the most amazing scenes in that movie that only because, you know, speaking of painting and the way that they, you know, you visually see something. And I'm curious as to how many times you shot it. Is that, you know, when you strangled that guy on the floor and the boots were marking the floor. Like that shot, you know, after he dies with those boot markings is like an abstract painting. Absolutely.

How many times you get to do that? The strangulation happened like in, it was complicated because I have to have the guy who was playing the sheriff, the guard, the police guy, the officer. He had an harness and my handcuffs were attached to that harness right so i could pull without strangling him right but it was so painful for for both of us yeah and but still in order to make it look realistic you have we have to spend basically the whole day doing that scene so those marks marks were after many takes. Oh, right.

Yeah. So did they have to wash and get new marks many times? No, no, no. The marks were one take. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. That was an amazing visual thing and it's something I always remember because it almost, the marks almost sort of transcend

the event. Yeah. The violence, it tells you how violent the situation was yeah yeah but also on their own I don't know it I just remember it it's a great shot yeah the inspiration the the agony yeah of the of the of the prey sure right being hunted yeah and how do you like working with

Brolin I love I love Josh I've worked with him before too, right? Did you do Dune together or no? Yeah, yeah, but we haven't worked, actually we haven't worked in scenes together. Wow. We only want phone conversation in No Country for All Men and in Dune we haven't worked together but I would love to work with him

in Dune too. Yeah. Well he's like, you know, I think both of you guys, you know, it's like there's certain people that just hold the know that hold the screen without doing anything and you guys are those kind of guys you know i talked to him oh yeah and i never met him before and you know he drove up like you did and he got out of that car and i'm like oh shit this guy is a real deal he's great he's great right and he's the one of the funniest person ever very funny did you laugh that day oh yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm sure you laughed your ass off.

Well, there's certain guys that are like, you know, there's a certain quality. Like, he's a movie star, you know? And there are certain movie stars that are just well-rounded, you know, funny guys. And then you start to, you kind of talk to them. You're like, I understand why you're a movie star. You know what I mean? Right. Right.

But also, beyond being a movie star, he's a great actor. Great actor. And very, very intelligent dude. Yeah. A great guy. So is Clooney. Great, great actor and funny guy. And so are you.

I mean, but do you carry, do you see yourself as a movie star? No, no. No. No, I guess the idea of a movie star is more about something that excels, the fact that he plays a role. Right. Oh, right. Interesting. It's something that is overwhelmed by many other elements

that makes him or her something unique. That's interesting. And not only a good actor or good actresses or well-known, less known, well-known. It's like, wow, I don't know. If you tell me. It's something transcendent. No matter what role they're playing, even if they're doing the role well,

you're like, that's fucking Clooney or whatever. It's interesting. That's a true thing. But I don't know if that's a liability in your life. I mean, they all seem okay. I've talked to a lot of them. But there's something probably good about just, you know, being, focusing on the acting as opposed to worrying about being a movie star. Yeah, especially when you are not supposed to be a movie star.

You have never planned to be a movie star and you are never going to be one. So you just do your job decently and try to do it as decent as you can yeah and uh listen i'm an actor and i'm blessed by the fact that i can work right get a job right be paid by it for it yeah most of the actors and actresses are unemployed it's a huge percentage of unemployment in the acting world and to be able to look back able to look back at the time that we were speaking about the ages of Lulu with my mom and said, well, I've kind of worked constantly since the 90s with some ups and downs, but mostly in consecutive years.

That's a lot to celebrate. Yeah, you've got a lot of, you know, you've got a good resume going. And how often have you worked with your wife? I worked with her, come on, come on,

then... So that's where you met her? Yeah. Woody Allen's. But when did you start dating? After Woody Allen?

Yeah. Yeah, after one, in 2007. So you've been together since then? Yeah. So those are the only two movies? No. And then we did two more. Oh, yeah. Loving Pablo, where she was... I was playing Pablo Escobar and she was playing the journalist. Oh, yeah. Butfully loved with Pablo.

And then one with Asghar Fahadi called Everybody Knows. And do you like acting with your wife? Yeah. She's a great actress. Yeah, she is. We know each other well. There's a lot of work that is already done oh yeah right we don't need to excuse ourselves and she works with almaraz for permission we just go for it sure but at the same time if it's too intense it can be like okay uh go back to house and be dad and mom right after sure intense scenes kind of not the most ideal so we all we both think okay let's do it but not too often like oh interesting so like what what actually comes

home with you that makes it tricky well like when we're doing when we were doing loving pablo i was playing this monster yeah i was playing this monster. Yeah. I was playing this victim. Yeah. And there were scenes that were very brutal. Brutal, not physically brutal, but emotionally and psychological. Yeah. And try to go back to be just nice and okay and relax and just make some dinner. okay, and relax, and just make some dinner.

It was difficult because there's always something holding inside of you when you've gone that way, when you've made that journey. It's normal. You've put your body and your emotions and your voice and yourself into it. So you're not going to wash it up, wash it out just because you clapped your hands or because you snapped your fingers. It takes time. Right. So do you think that there's a moment too

where she may think like, I didn't know you had that inside of you. Of course. Of course. Of course. Of course. Of course you go, did that scare you?

And she was like, well, I wasn't expecting that. Which is a good thing because you want to surprise your partner. But then you want to put it away. Exactly. All right. Well, great talking to you, man. Thanks for coming by.

Thank you very much. Nice to see you. Thank you very much. Javier Bardem. Yeah, we did all right, right? Being the Ricardos is now streaming on Prime Video. Go to WTFpod.com slash tour for all the upcoming tour dates. I've heard nothing about any of them getting switched or fucked with.

Okay? Now I'm going to do, I don't know, I'm going to play guitar. guitar solo Thank you. Thank you. Boomer lives. Monkey, La Fonda, cat angels everywhere. Everywhere. It's winter, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. We'll be right back. Because that's alcohol, and we deliver that too. Along with your favorite restaurant food, groceries, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region.

See app for details. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think

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