Sylvester Stallone & Antonio Banderas go Face to Face with "Weird Al" Ya...

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What has Antonio Banderas not done? He is a prolific actor, has a fragrance line, owns a winery, does voiceover for fierce cats and—as of two years ago—is the face of Iberostar resorts, a family-operated hotel-chain based out of Spain. Fodor's met up with the charming (and let's face it: drop-dead handsome) Spanish actor to briefly discuss his role with Iberostar, his love of Aspen, and reinventing himself.

Why did you choose to be the spokesperson for Iberostar?

In all my policies outside my professional life, I make choices with Spanish companies that have international exposure. It was something that has to do with human touch. My wife and I met with Iberostar and I decided to be part of the project. The company has respect for the environment. It's a Spanish company that I feel proud to be a part of.

What are some of your favorite destinations to travel to?

I travel a lot. Vacation for me is difficult. I travel so much (for work) that when I have time off I love my sofa. But I love skiing in Aspen. I have a house there, and it's actually a very cultural city.

Your performance in The Skin I Live In was one of your best. Do you think it was the material or acting in your native language that made it so good?

Basically, it was the material and the director. Pedro Almodovor is not a mainstream director, he likes to create new spaces and new universes. I knew I was going to confront hard work. You accumulate things while you travel through life and your profession and you have a backpack with all your tricks that you know work. Pedro Almodovor took all those things and threw them out the window on the first rehearsal day. He said I don't want Antonio Banderas from the 80s, I want you now, and I want a new character from you.

Did he have you in mind specifically for this role?

Yes! He talked to me nine years ago.

Everyone's saying that you and Madonna did not speak to each other at the premiere of The Skin I Live In.

We did.

So… what did you guys talk about?

I told her we're both in our fifties and we both look great.

You're right. You do. So what makes you guys look so good?

I can't speak in the case of Madonna, but I practice sports and yoga practically every morning. I run. And I love skiing. I was just in Aspen. I gave myself 5 days vacation after two years of promotions. I hate gyms (laughing). I think the perfect human was described by and done artistically by Romans and Greeks. I like to be healthy like that.

Are the rumors true that you'll play Fidel Castro in Castro's Daughter?

Its true they offered to me but it's also true I have not made a decision.

Any chance of a Puss in Boots sequel?

The movie passed $510 million worldwide. It was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe. So. I think so. Yes.

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Married stage and screen stars Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith attended a performance of the Cirque du Soleil show, Iris at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 28. Iris, written and directed by Philippe Decouflé, takes a unique look at the world of cinema, and bring together dance, acrobatics, live video, filmed sequences, and animation.

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Back in March, we were disappointed to hear that Goldie dropped out of the HBO pilot The Viagra Diaries and now we are even MORE disappointed to hear that Lifetime has passed on Melanie's pilot for American Housewife. What gives? These are two women we would LOVE to see on television! She not only was the star of the comedy series, but she executive produced it along with her hubby, Antonio Banderas.

We thought this would be the beginning of her career comeback, but it looks like we'll be waiting to see that happen a little bit longer than we anticipated. Don't worry though, gurl! We know you'll get a good gig sooner than later! Who wouldn't want that talent on set?

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Antonio Banderas had a $10,000 false beard made for a movie role after shaving his facial hair off before shooting was complete. The usually clean-shaven actor sported a bushy growth for Steven Soderbergh's 2011 action thriller Haywire and shaved it off when filming wrapped. He was later left stunned when the director told him there were three new scenes to shoot - so the special effects crew designed a pricey fake beard for the actor to wear.

Banderas tells Total Film, "Steven met me in New York when I was doing a workshop for a musical, Zorba The Greek. I was trying out a beard for the role, which my wife hated so was going to shave off, but Steven said, 'It's perfect for your character!' Six months after I finished, he phoned me and said, 'I love your character, so I've written three new scenes for him.'""I said, 'But I don't have the beard anymore.' So they built me one for $10,000."

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Lagrimas y Favores at the 5-star Vincci Posada del Patio hotel in Malaga City. This award is given to a public personality who has made a positive impact on the city and is this the second year the awards have taken place. Winners are given a bronze statue. The ‘Social’ prize was awarded to the Fundacion Lagrimas y Favores and the ‘Development’ prize was awarded to the company ‘Caterpillar CIF’ Malaga.

The dinner was attended by Malaga Mayor Francisco de la Torre and Rotary Club members, headed by its president Ana Lopez Caparros, as well as several leading members of the business community.
Banderas travelled to Spain without his wife Melanie Griffiths or their daughter Stella del Carmen, and is participating in Easter Holy Week festivities in Malaga together with the Baroness.

Processions
The Malaga-born Hollywood actor took part in the procession of the ‘Virgen de Lagrimas y Favores’ on Palm Sunday. “This is the church where my parents were married and where I was baptized, where people carrying the throne are friends of mine since we were kids and I have met them again only because of the Holy Week,” he said.

He has been the president of the ‘Virgen de Lagrimas y Favores’ which joined the Corinth project organized by the Holy Week group to help nearly 200 families in Malaga by establishing a cheap supermarket last October with subsidized prices of up to 75 per cent.

“We have to eliminate the word charity because people maintain their dignity and have to go and buy,” said Banderas. The foundation also awards scholarships for graduate students of the University of Malaga and collaborates with charities including Cudeca and Caritas.

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Actor Antonio Banderas appealed to 65,000 brothers for a social engagement to help people facing the economic crisis in Spain, before he took part in the procession of the “Virgen de Lágrimas y Favores” on Palm Sunday during the Holy Week in Malaga.

“This is the church where my parents were married, this is the church where I was baptized, where people caring the throne are friends of mine since we were kids and I’ve met them again only because of the Holly Week” said the famous Hollywood actor.

Banderas has been the president of “Virgen de Lágrimas y Favores” which joined the the Corinth project organised by “Agrupación de Cofradías de Semana Santa” to help nearly 200 families in Malaga by establishing a cheap supermarket with subsidised prices of up to 75 %.

A group of 21 brotherhoods participating in the project help people in difficult circumstances and without any income, who can purchase basic food items, hygiene and cleaning products, which are provided by the brotherhoods. The initiative began last October.

“We have to eliminate the word charity because people maintain their dignity and have to go and buy” said Banderas indicating that “they still have to pay 25% of the real price to fill the carts with the food “and he was hoping “this is contagious” he said referring to willingness of the social commitment.

He pointed out that the foundation provides awards and scholarships for graduate students of the University of Malaga and collaborates with the cancer care organizations such as Cudeca and Caritas.

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Some people in Spain look caucasian, some others have darker skin and look more Latin. So I wonder how Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas would be classified?

Caucasian. The Spanish have the oldest DNA in Europe. Latino or Latin in Europe means a person from a country that speaks a romance language; ie a language derived from Latin which was the language of the Romans. Hispanic and latino are not races or ethnicities. In the USA the terms are poorly used and poorly defined as they are very vague. Some American sources define hispanic as a person from a former Spanish New World colony or their descendants in the USA. That makes Salma Hayek, Alberto Fujimori, Linda Carter, Cameron D??az and Sammy Davis Jr. hispanics. Some people extend hispanic to the Spanish themselves or their descendants so that would make Cruz and banderas as well as Charlie Sheen hispanic.

We white people have a lot of different looks based on ancestry. Our skin is not actually white and the tone of our skin, the color of our eyes and the color and texture of our hair can vary. I have been in Spain a lot and travel there frequently. The only non-whites I have ever seen were recent immigrants from non-white countries or foreign tourists.

Clantarf 1002′s answer is correct! "Caucasian" is a way to describe race. The exact boundaries of the Caucasian race are a matter of debate; but Europeans, Arabs, Iranians, other Middle East and Caucasian populations, many Afghans and Indians are classified as Caucasian.

"Latino" is a very ambiguous term with no precise meaning. The most accurate would be (as Clontarf notes) someone who speaks a Romance language – French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalonian, etc. More loosely, it is an ethnic grouping – meaning, someone who belongs to one of those ethnicities.

In the USA, people tend to use race and ethnic terms in a slightly confused way (well, confused compared to most other places). "Hispanic" is often considered a "race" in the US. That’s really an administrative or legal definition of "race", not the same as the scientific definition of race. For anthropologists,, there’s no such thing as a "Hispanic" or "Latino" race, although they could arguably be called ethnic groups.

Antonio Dom??nguez Banderas was born in Andalusia in Spain, or pure Spanish heritage. The Andalusian coast was part of the "civilised" world of Classical Greek and Roman antiquity since around 600 BC.

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Antonio Banderas has had his wallet stolen by a pickpocket. The "Mask of Zorro" actor was mobbed by fans as he arrived at Franz Litzt airport in Budapest, Hungary, earlier this week and, after getting into a waiting car, discovered his wallet had been taken.

According to the Austrian Times newspaper, local police believe expert thieves had taken advantage of the crowd chaos to target the actor. It is unclear how much money was taken from the Spanish star. Antonio isn't the only celebrity to have been targetted by thieves recently.

In September, John Travolta's vintage Mercedes was stolen when he visited a Jaguar dealership in Santa Monica for 10 minutes, The 1970 vehicle was partially recovered in January after law enforcement officers found it "chopped up".

Sergeant Richard Lewis, who was investigating the theft, revealed: "It was not recovered in whole. It was chopped. We have numerous pieces recovered but not the entire car."Speaking last year, John -- who is also a qualified pilot -- admitted he was glad it was not his private jet that got stolen instead. He joked: "I was looking for Jaguars, and it was a beautiful, spotless dealership and I left it parked on the side.

"And eight to 10 minutes later, my car was gone. And it's like that movie, "Gone in 60 Seconds," like, who can explain it? "But at least it wasn't a jet, though that might be easier to find."

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“The Skin I Live In,” a Pedro Almodóvar movie starring Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya, will be shown Saturday by Norwich Community Cinema at the Donald L. Oat Theater. Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After 12 years, he manages to cultivate in his own laboratory a skin that is sensitive to caresses, but a real shield against all the aggressions, both external and internal, to which our largest organ is submitted. To obtain it, he has used the possibilities provided by cellular therapy.

In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a human guinea pig, an accomplice and no scruples. Scruples were never a problem, they weren’t part of his character. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice.

As for the human guinea pig, during the course of each year, dozens of young people of both sexes disappear from their homes, in many cases of their own will. One of those young people will end up sharing the splendid mansion, El Cigarral, with Robert and Marilia, and will be doing so unwillingly. The movie, rated
R, was an official selection in 2011 for the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the film will be preceded by the short film “Hollow.”

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