Antonio Banderas and His Summer of Film: A Famous Chef, a Shark Thriller, and Now a Drama of Intrigue

Summers are for filming. That must be on Antonio Banderas' agenda, who since opening the Teatro del Soho Caixabank in 2019 ... and immersing himself in the production of musicals and the management of the stage space on Córdoba street, uses these months to return to Hollywood or to any international project that seems interesting to him. A particularly sweet recent phase since winning the Goya and receiving an Oscar nomination for 'Pain and Glory', which has allowed him to alternate between risky projects ('Babygirl') and more popular and unavoidable ones ('Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'). However, this year has been non-stop. Since the summer season began, he has already been involved in his third filming. And quite varied: a biopic about chef and television presenter Anthony Bourdain ('Tony'), a shark thriller ('Above & Below') and a family and medical drama, 'Rose's Baby' (Rose's Baby), which he is currently shooting in London.

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This latest production has brought the actor from Malaga together with fellow Spaniard Úrsula Corberó, whose international career has skyrocketed since her charismatic role as Tokyo in 'Money Heist', and with British actress Eva Birthistle ('Ae Fond Kiss' and 'The Last Kingdom') in a personal project by actress and producer Trudie Styler ('Maniac' and 'The Next Three Days'), who makes her directorial debut with this story about a pair of poorly matched divorced parents of a girl, who face the dilemma of setting aside their vast differences to conceive another child who could cure their firstborn's serious illness.

A drama with touches of comedy that mixes marital entanglement with the most intense and emotional cinema of the fight for health and life. A unique and committed project that Antonio Banderas has joined this tireless summer of filming, where he plays the protagonist who faces the need to overcome his own domestic demons and the dispute with his wife if he wants to save his daughter. The cast is completed by Nigerian actor Arinzé Kene ('Lee Miller'), Richard E. Grant ('Gosford Park') and the Oscar-winning Forest Whitaker ('The Last King of Scotland').

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After this third summer shoot, Antonio Banderas already has his next project on the calendar, although this time in Malaga and at his Teatro del Soho with the new version of the musical 'Godspell', which premiered on the Malaga stage in 2022 under the direction of Emilio Aragón. After its tour of Spain, this production returns to the starting point with a significant novelty, as it will be the Malaga-born actor and producer himself who will take over the direction to revise this show that will premiere on October 30 and will be on stage for ten weeks.

From the USA to the Canary Islands

Banderas' passion for musicals even led him to attend a performance of 'Cabaret' in London's West End, the absolute mecca of the genre in Europe, a few days ago. A getaway while filming 'Rose's Baby' in the British capital, which has been his third professional destination of the summer after also passing through the United States and the Canary Islands. Thus, this bustling summer quarter kicked off last June in Massachusetts to star in 'Tony', a 'biopic' based on the story of chef and television presenter Anthony Bourdain, the chef who exposed the hidden side of the culinary world.

The actor has turned 65 this summer, but far from retiring, he coincides with his most frenetic phase of filming

The Malaga-born actor embodies this head chef who did not hesitate to openly oppose Trump in his first term and who committed suicide at the age of 61, causing a great shock in the world of gastronomy and television in the United States. A character that Banderas considers an "honor" for the commitment and leadership that Bourdain showed in his life and that, on screen, he shares with actor Dominic Sessa ('Those Who Remain'), who plays the chef in his youth.

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After this film, Banderas headed to the Canary Islands to swim among sharks in 'Above & Below' (Up and Down), an international thriller produced by Spanish director and producer Frank Ariza ('V for Victor' and 'With the Years That I Have Left'). A luxurious title far from the standards of national cinema, which the actor from 'The Mask of Zorro' and 'Philadelphia' adds polish and glamour to by embodying an old sea wolf, "calculating and methodical" and "forged in violence". A film with which the Malaga-born actor has particularly enjoyed himself.

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Amid so much character change and travel, Antonio Banderas also had time to stop by Marbella at the end of July and dine with his friend Robert de Niro –when will they make a movie together?–, although his birthday, which he celebrated on August 10, caught him on the set of 'Rose's Baby' in London. It was not just another birthday, as he blew out 65 candles, the official retirement age that, paradoxically, coincides with his most frenetic moment of work. And for anyone tempted to offer him the golden card, the actor makes his future intentions clear: "Defying mathematics and the passage of time, I congratulate myself for still being young."