Banderas, a 'singular sensation'
Friday, November 15, 2019 at 12:00PM by Nathaniel R
Campaigns for hotly competitive Oscar categories require a good deal of presence on the circuit. Which makes Antonio Banderas's journey to a first Oscar nomination a bit of a question mark at this writing. After a Best Actor win at Cannes for his indelible turn as a famous Almodóvar-proxy director named Salvador Mallo in Pain & Glory, an Oscar nomination was clearly a target worth investing in and aiming for. In fact, it was arguably the stuff of a slam dunk barring the subtitles: aging gorgeous actor (everyone knows they make the pretty men wait), long uncelebrated-by-Oscar career meets meaty role with intertwining "narratives" (a triumph with the director who discovered him nearly 40 years ago and his own recent heartattack dovetail superbly with the role). It's a potential nomination that the media, industry, and fans could all get excited about. But as the season began to heat up all sorts of viable options for the Best Actor shortlist have emerged. This coveted nomination feels like a 'will he or won't he' coin toss now.
If you've been wondering why Antonio hasn't been quite as ubiquitous on the campaign trail as you'd expect given the heavy competition, look no further than his hometown of Málaga, Spain where he's in the process of playing another iconic director...
Inbetween all his press duties for Pain & Glory he's embarking on another major artistic journey. He's now funding a 900 seat theatre in his hometown to give them artistic freedom and the inaugural production A Chorus Line just launched to strong advanced sales. He not only co-directed the show (with original A Chorus Line cast member Baayork Lee) but he's starring in it, too, pro bono, as the director Zach who rather testily auditions all those desperate dancers in this musical classic.
You'll remember (perhaps not fondly) that Michael Douglas played that role in the ill-begotten film adaptation in 1985. Regardless of the film stumble, that famous stage role should be a natural fit for Banderas.
Banderas has a solid history playing creative giants and he's also well versed in the musical genre and no stranger to the stage. His first major English language role was in the music-heavy drama The Mambo Kings (1992) and his first (of four) Golden Globe nominations came playing Ché in Evita (1996) opposite Madonna, who famously lusted after him in her 1991 confessional documentary Truth or Dare. Seven years after that Madonna musical he was Tony-nominated for Best Actor for the Broadway revival of Nine as director-in-crisis Guido Contini. (The less musically-gifted Daniel Day-Lewis biffed that plum part -- yeah, we said it -- when the musical became a movies in 2009)
Care to travel to Málaga and report back on Banderas' latest musical sojourn? We wish one of our Spanish readers would! In the meantime we'll just be over here in NYC singing his praises and impatiently rooting for that potential Oscar nomination. How about you?
Reader Comments (10)
Short run in Málaga. Expected to open in Barcelona by the end of Feb. Superhot Pablo Puyol will replace him when he gets nominated to everything.
How can you not absolutely love this guy!
Pain and Glory, Farewell and Parasite are my faves so far this year. Sad best actor is so competitive as recent years it wasn't so much. Ordinarily I'd love to see Banderas and Taron Egerton as nominees.
Antonio Banderas was fab in Evita. Wasn't he supposed to be the film phantom of the opera at one point? Too bad they didn't stick with him.
Antonio Banderas was supposed to be in Phantom of the Opera? Dammit! That would've been awesome. Instead, we had to get SHUT-UP BUTT-WAD!!!!!!
Banderas would have been a fabulous phantom- actually he should have played the lead in "Nine" he had the sexy charm that Daniel Day Lewis lacked in the part
I Hope The battle Joaquin vs Adam give us a surprise named Antônio like was Adrien with The battle Lewis vs Nicholson
https://www.laopiniondemalaga.es/cultura-espectaculos/2019/11/15/preparado-inauguracion-teatro-soho-caixabank/1127122.html
Release of Chorus Line in Málaga in a local media with pic gallery
Peggy, thanks for introducing me to the world of Pablo Puyol
Don't see Banderas missing here.