Javier Bardem

Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in blockbusters, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in the Coen Brothers' modern western drama film No Country for Old Men (2007). He received critical acclaim for his roles in films such as Jamón jamón (1992), Boca a boca (1995), Carne trémula (1997), Los lunes al sol (2002), and Mar adentro (2004). Bardem starred in Woody Allen's romantic drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Sam Mendes's James Bond spy film Skyfall (2012), Terrence Malick's drama To the Wonder (2013), Darren Aronofsky's psychological horror film mother! (2017), Asghar Farhadi's mystery drama Everybody Knows (2018), Denis Villeneuve's science fiction drama Dune (2021), and Disney's live-action remake The Little Mermaid (2023). Bardem has been nominated for three additional Academy Awards; Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls (2000), Alejandro González Iñárritu's Biutiful (2010), and Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos (2021). Bardem is the first Spanish actor to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Actor for Before Night Falls in 2001) as well as the first—and, to date, only—Spanish actor to win one (Best Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men in 2008). He has received various other accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, five Goya Awards, two European Film Awards, two Volpi Cups for Best Actor at Venice Film Festival and a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Bardem has been married to actress Penélope Cruz since 2010. In January 2018, Bardem became the ambassador of Greenpeace for the protection of Antarctica. Early life Bardem was born on 1 March 1969 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, Spain. His mother, Pilar Bardem (1939–2021), was an actress, and his father, José Carlos Encinas Doussinague (1931–1995), was the son of a cattle rancher. According to Pilar's memoirs, José had a "capricious and violent will," and shot up the front door. He changed jobs more than 10 times, leading to evictions and the children going hungry. The two separated shortly after Javier's birth. His mother raised him and his elder siblings, Carlos and Mónica, alone (another sibling died shortly after birth), both of whom have also pursued an acting career. His father died of leukemia in 1995.