Javier Bardem is the youngest member of a family of actors that has been making films since the early days of Spanish cinema.He got his start in the family business at age six when he appeared in his first feature, "El Pícaro" (The Scoundrel). During his teenage years he acted in several TV series, played rugby for theSpanish National Team, and toured the country with an independent theatrical group. Javier's early film role as a sexy stud in the black comedyJamón, jamón (Ham Ham) propelled him to instant popularity and threatened to typecast him as nothing morethan a brawny sex symbol. Determined to avert a beefcake image, he refused similar subsequent roles and has gone on to win acclaim for his ability to appear almost unrecognizable from film to film. With over 25 movies and numerous awards under his belt, it is Javier's stirring, passionate performance as the persecuted Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls that will longbe remembered as his breakthrough role. He received five Best Actor awards and a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a strong-willed man who survived censorship, imprisonment, and homosexual intolerance for the privilege to write freely, only to commit suicide at age 47 in New York, ending a battle with AIDS.


Younger brother of Carlos Bardem and Mónica Bardem. Nephew of director Juan Antonio Bardem His Best Actor nomination for Before Night Falls (2000) made him the first Spanish actor to receive an Academy Award nomination and his Best Supporting Actor victory for No Country for Old Men (2007) made him the first Spanish actor to win an Academy Award. Played rugby union as a teen and was on the Spanish National Team. Javier's original interest was in painting, and he studied at Madrid's Escuela de Artes y Oficios. Eventually, deciding he'd never be a talented painter, he drifted into a number of odd jobs, working as a bouncer, a writer, a construction worker, and even a stripper. Javier, his mother, Pilar Bardem, and his siblings, Mónica Bardem and Carlos Bardem, often appear in each other's films. Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 Actors Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna list him as their favorite actor. Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#73). [2007]. The Bardem family owns a restaurant in Spain called La Bardemcilla. The restaurant is managed by Javier's sister, Monica. Had a long relationship with Cristina Payés. They were together for ten years. Has been in a relationship with Penélope Cruz since they began working together on Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). Was originally cast in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), but dropped out of the project and was replaced by Josh Brolin.