Los Angeles Film Festival: A Conversation with Antonio Banderas
By Emily Christianson, Hollywood.com Staff
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
On working with director Pedro Almodovar:
“I prefer to be in a creative hell than to be having fun and nothing comes out of it. He is very demanding. He is a leader in every single department…he is not only a director, he has an opinion about colors, about lenses, about actors, about dresses, anything has to pass through this filter which makes him someone with something to say and a strong personality.”
On ageism in Hollywood:
“Hollywood is sometimes a little bit cruel with women, with age. It is a little bit hard to say this but it is almost like a factory where they need fresh flesh. That’s not fair because there is a lot of talent. I’m not only talking about my wife now, a number of actresses who have crossed 40 or 50 and been relegated to another place and it is not fair.”
On directing vs. acting:
“I am going to say something that might sound weird, but you become God. You create a world out of your hands…when I go as a director I’m not even thinking of money…for me directing is absolutely personal, which is not in acting form. In acting you could be described as an interpreter, you act, you interpret…I don’t know if this is something I can do in Hollywood, this is something I have to do in places where I am allowed to do so.”