Javier Bardem
Born: 11th March, 1969
Where: Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
The frustrated painter has emerged to become one of Spain's most impressive actors with appearances in The Dancer Upstairs, The Sea Inside and No Country For Old Men.
The youngest member of a family of actors, Bardem's first role came at the age of six with the film The Scoundrel.
Numerous television roles as well as a spell touring with an independent theatre group found the young rugby fan increasingly dedicated to the stage.
An interest in painting led Bardem to study at Madrid's Escuela de Artes y Officios, but following a series of odd jobs he drifted back to acting.
His collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar (High Heels and Live Flesh) and JJ Bigas Luna (Jamón Jamón and Huevos de Oro) were Goya nominated, and his popularity in Spain grew.
He landed Goyas (Spanish Oscars) for Dias Contados and Boca a Boca before reaching an international audience with 2000's Before Night Falls.
After Benicio Del Toro dropped out, Bardem seized the role of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas in an Oscar nominated tour de force.
Resisting overtures from Hollywood (he turned down Bond actioner The World is Not Enough), Bardem could next be seen in The Dancer Upstairs.
John Malkovich's directorial debut saw him playing a South American detective hunting down a guerrilla leader.
His first Hollywood role was alongside Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx in the Michael Mann thriller Collateral in 2004.
Offscreen, he created headlines when he was sued by former model Jill Marshall for breaking her nose with his wild dancing at the New York launch party of The Sea Inside.
On a positive note, the same year he won critical acclaim for his portrayal of euthanasia advocate Ramon Sampedro in the same movie.
Subsequent work includes the Spanish redundancy drama Mondays in the Sun with Luis Tsar and the Napoleonic drama Goya's Ghosts.
In 2007 he memorably portrayed ice-cool killer Anton Chigurh in the Coen Brother's chilling adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bleak drama No Country For Old Men.
