Actor born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Oscar winner for "No Country for Old Men". One of the most internationally recognised figures in Spanish cinema.
Javier Bardem was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1969, in one of the most veteran families of Spanish cinema: his mother is the actress Pilar Bardem, his uncle is the actor Juan Diego and his grandfather was the director Rafael Bardem. He grew up between film sets and theatres, and although he spent a complicated adolescence between Madrid and Las Palmas, he ultimately followed his family's path. He studied at the Royal School of Dramatic Art in Madrid.
His first film appearances were in films by José Luis Garci and then Pedro Almodóvar, but it was director Bigas Luna who gave him his first great role in Jamón, jamón (1992), a performance that revealed him as an unusually powerful physical and interpretive presence. In the following years he built a varied and ambitious filmography in Spain and internationally: Before Night Falls (2000) — for which he was nominated for an Oscar — The Sea Inside (2004) by Alejandro Amenábar, and then No Country for Old Men (2007) by the Coen brothers, for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Bardem is today one of the most globally recognised actors, with a filmography that includes collaborations with directors such as Woody Allen, Ridley Scott and Sam Mendes. He has received multiple BAFTA, Goya and international awards. His Canarian identity is not merely a biographical fact: he has publicly expressed his affection and roots in the archipelago, and the Canary Islands consider him one of their most illustrious cultural ambassadors.