As Spain's most
internationally acclaimed actor, Javier Bardem has captivated audiences
worldwide with his diverse performances. In 2008, Bardem received the Academy
Award® for Best Supporting Actor for his chilling portrayal of sociopath
killer, Anton Chigurh, in Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men.
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| Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures |
Now, Bardem plays Silva,
the man who puts MI6 – Britain's secret intelligence agency -- at risk, in
Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures' “Skyfall,” the 23rd 007
James Bond installment which is the longest-running film franchise in history.
In “Skyfall,” James Bond’s
(Daniel Craig) loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to
haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the
threat, no matter how personal the cost.
When Bond’s latest
assignment goes gravely wrong and agents around the world are exposed, MI6 is
attacked forcing M to relocate the agency. These events cause her authority and
position to be challenged by Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the new Chairman
of the Intelligence and Security Committee. With MI6 now compromised from both
inside and out, M is left with one ally she can trust: Bond. 007 takes to the
shadows – aided only by field agent, Eve (Naomie Harris) – following a trail to
the mysterious Silva whose lethal and hidden motives have yet to reveal
themselves.
Bardem is no stranger to
playing dark and complex characters. “When I read the script, I was immediately
drawn to the story and the character's possibilities. To work with Sam Mendes
and to be a part of his incredible cast and crew, I couldn’t say no to an
opportunity like this,” says Bardem.
Director Sam Mendes says
that the key to a great Bond villain is to strike a certain balance. “The
performance has to be real enough, but also have flamboyance,” he says. “The
great ones – the Dr. Nos’, the Rosa Klebbs’, the Goldfingers’ – are
ever-so-slightly theatrical and yet are all the more frightening because of it.
For Silva, Javier allowed himself to be playful and mischievous, but never lost
the danger, the mystery, the strangeness, the otherness. I think he’s done
something wonderful.”
Bardem describes his
character, Silva, as “An angel of death – a very clean-shaven person who
happens to be rotten on the inside.”
The Oscar®-winning actor
explains finding the character inside the villain. “He has a very personal
objective – he’s not trying to destroy the world,” he says. “And he is on a
straight line to that objective: he is a man seeking revenge. It’s about being
focused on the one person he wants to eliminate.”
“It’s always about who’s
the person behind the character,” he continues. “It would be very difficult for
me to play a role that I just saw as some kind of symbol. In this case, there
is a man suffering, a man full of pain and frustration, who simply wants to fix
the situation. Within that journey, there was room to be funny or aggressive,
but I could perfectly understand who he was, and that helped me to portray him.”
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