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.
Brother of Carlos Bardem and Mónica Bardem. Son of Pilar Bardem Nephew of director Juan Antonio Bardem Grandson of Rafael Bardem Is the first Spanish actor ever to be nominated for an Academy Award. Says in interviews that he doesn't know how to drive. Played rugby as a teen and was on the Spanish National team. Ten years ago a stranger in a disco asked him his name. When Javier replied, the man punched him in the face for no apparent reason, breaking his nose. Javier's original interest was in painting, and he studied at Madrid's Escuela de Artes y Officios. 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. To portray Reinaldo Arenas, Javier not only learned Cuban-Spanish,but Cuban- accented English, and lost 30 pounds to better resemble the smaller-framed Arenas. Javier, his mother, Pilar Bardem and his siblings, Mónica Bardem and Carlos Bardem often appear in each other's films. Lives in Madrid with his long-time girlfriend, Cristina. [2003] Has four Goya Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscar). To become Ramón Sampedro, a 55-year-old Spanish man who made headlines with a crusade to end his own life, Javier, aged 35, was on the set of "The Sea Inside" at the crack of dawn for a five-hour makeup session that produced the necessary aging. Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 Spanish citizen. Shares birthday with Frédéric Chopin and David Niven. Actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna list him as their favorite actor.