Banderas Breaks Stereotypes, Embraces Theatre Roots

0:00It's March 27th. This is Entertainment and Celebrity News today, powered by AI, your daily dose of celebrity buzz. Antonio Banderas opened up in a recent interview about facing stereotypes early in his Hollywood career. At 65, the Spanish star said casting directors limited him to villain roles when he first took on English language parts around the 19. Nineties. They grouped him with others expected to play only bad guys. He quickly changed that narrative with standout heroic turns. In the 1998 hit, The Mask of Zorro, he led as the swashbuckling hero opposite of Fairhaired antagonist. Even bigger for him was voicing plus in boots in the Shrek films and spin-offs, a fun character with a Spanish flair that kids love as a good guy. Banderas started on stage in his hometown of Malaga before breaking into Spanish films in 1982. Back then, Hollywood felt off-limits to Spaniards, linked to old insecurities from the Franco dictatorship era. He pushed through without much English at first, marrying American actress Melanie Griffith

1:04from 1996 to 2015, transformed his life and boosted his confidence. They share 29-year-old daughter Stella, and he stays close with stepdaughter Dakota Johnson. These days, after a 2017 heart attack in recent films like Baby Girl and Paddington in Peru, Banderas embraces his theater roots, staging, plays that bring him full circle.