I’m a fairly cool customer. I’ve rubbed elbows, however briefly, with several rather impressive celebs and maintained my composure throughout our scheduled interview time. But never before has one actor’s voice so totally thrown me for a loop.
I found myself on the other end of the phone from Antonio Banderas getting dragged deeper and deeper into the enticing vocal tones as he talked about his newest movie, “The Code.” If there was such a thing as vocal quicksand, Antonio would be the world’s supplier.
From what I could recall — in the brief moments I wasn’t being lulled into a submissive state by his soothing voice — Antonio plays a con man who is recruited by one of the world’s most elite thieves [Morgan Freeman] to pull off a major heist.
The requisite double crosses ensue — but this film has surprises in spades. I chatted with Antonio about his co-stars, the state of the world today and, naturally, sex scenes.
PopWrap: What initially attracted you to this movie?
Antonio Banderas: To tell you the truth, it was Morgan Freeman — working with a man I admire very much. And I was not wrong — when I met him, he was just as good in person as he is on screen. Plus, working with [director] Mimi Leder. She is someone I admire very much and it just reconfirmed that I love to work with women.
PW: Was that ever a big concern for you?
Antonio: I felt very early on in my professional life that where there were limits, there shouldn’t have been limits. I remember in “Law of Desire,” where I played a homosexual, that people were more upset that I kissed a man on the mouth than I killed a man. It’s interesting to see how people can pardon you for murdering a man, but they can’t pardon you for kissing one. It’s a very interesting approach to morality in our days, so you see there is an incredible amount of hypocritical judgment over those things.
PW: Do you think that’s changed 20 years later?
Antonio: Those worries are diminishing, people are a little more permissive of this type of thing. But it didn’t come for free — the permission came because a number of artists opened spaces, little by little, to confront the world and demand that people accept then in the way it is. I think we have advanced a lot in the last 20 years. The years I spent playing those parts in the ’80s was assumed to be a big deal because I would be stamped as that for the rest of my life. But I was never afraid of that to tell you the truth. I tried to do it with dignity and present my character in the way he was written, regardless of who he slept with.
PW: What is the movie you’re planning to direct?
Antonio: It’s the last 10 years of an event that changed the history of the world. Spain was ruled by Arabs for almost eight centuries, so I’m telling the story of the last Moorish King. It’s very Shakespearean and it gives me the chance to reflect on our world today.
PW: America has definitely been in a state of change. Are you optimistic about the direction we’re headed in?
Antonio: I’ve always been an optimistic guy, to tell you the truth. The last eight years of Bush were very hard. I don’t want to get into a deep analysis of what everybody already knows, but the situation deteriorated our world. But I have to say, with Obama you see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“The Code” is available on DVD now!
Photo: WireImage; First Look Pictures