I wake up every morning, look in the mirror and ask, 'Am I a sex symbol?' Then I go back to bed again. It's stupid to think that way.
— Antonio Banderas
A couple of years after I arrived in Hollywood, everything that was Latino was fashionable, and years after, my thought is that we're not fashionable anymore. We're here to stay.
This may sound a little harsh, but I don't care about my career. Really, I don't like actors who are always planning what they're going to do next or always worrying about doing something that will go against the image they've created. To me, that's almost like an attack of narcissism.
I think I'm a romantic person, yeah.
I think that comedy is one of the more serious things that you can do in our day, especially in the world that we're living in.
The recycling in my house was imposed by my kids.
Picasso is a character that has pursued me for a long time and I always rejected. He deserves a lot of respect because I am from Malaga, and I was born four blocks from where he was born.
When I do a political movie, I do a political movie.
I don't believe in any kind of fundamentalism.
I do yoga every morning, then I run for half an hour and take a sauna.
The man who doesn't want anything is invincible.
We're living in hard times.
I remember in 'Law of Desire,' where I played a homosexual, that people were more upset that I kissed a man on the mouth than I killed a man. It's interesting to see how people can pardon you for murdering a man, but they can't pardon you for kissing one.
I wouldn't want my daughters to date a guy like me. I was dangerous around women in my twenties. I'm terrified that they might end up with someone like me.
I always feel that art in general and acting in particular should make the audience a little uncomfortable, to slap them and wake them up.
If bad things are going to be said about me, I have to bear that. If I don't understand that it's part of being in show business, then I'd better go work in a bank.
The only time you actually are a spectator of your own work is the day you read the script.
In my personal life, I am very contemplative.
Making movies is difficult and you get disorientated sometimes - even when you're working with fantastic talent.
Hollywood is a very strong machine that needs, and in... especially with female actors, fresh flesh. It's that cruel. But that's the way it is.
Cats are very independent animals. They're very sexy, if you want. Dogs are different. They're familiar. They're obedient. You call a cat, you go, 'Cat, come here.' He doesn't come to you unless you have something in your hand that he thinks might be food. They're very free animals, and I like that.
You see a woman, 22 years old, going out with a guy over 60 - and it's kind of natural. But if it happens in the opposite direction everyone says, 'What is going on there?'
Always when you go to a new country and they teach you bad words, you just say them without knowing the value and people look at you because you didn't know that value of them.
Whatever happens in my life from now on, I know the day I finally die - the final act of my script - people will always make references to the work I've done with Almodovar.
I don't think there is a guy that played more gay characters than I have done in my life.
I have to recognize that I am agnostic.
I think the problems with being older come when your body cannot do what your mind wants. Then, Houston, we have a problem.
As an actor, when you encounter a psychopathic personality, you naturally want to make him 'bigger than life,' as the Americans say.
I've always been an optimistic guy, to tell you the truth.
Everything changes as you get older - your mind, your body, the way you view the world.
I'm a complete hypochondriac. If my heart starts beating a little faster than normal, I think I'm having an attack.
I am lucky, that is all. Lucky because there are a lot of people - producers, directors, people who buy tickets - who put confidence in me.
I'm still a promising actor. It's better to be climbing even if you have a lot of falls than to be descending. Maybe that's kept me young. I haven't gotten to any peak yet.
Characters don't belong to anyone, not even the person who plays them.
I suppose that I am ambitious.
There are some movies that I would like to forget, for the rest of my life - really! But even those movies that I'd like to forget teach me things.
I cry a lot, you know. Which is very difficult for a man to recognise, but I do. I cry in movies, you know, just watching movies.
I've never liked watching real-life couples play couples onscreen or onstage. It takes me out of the story.
I divide my time badly.
When you work in a different language you are not so attached to the words.
One thing I have clear is that I don't want to work for money anymore.
I try to teach my kids to be open.
I love my country. And I would have to renounce my Spanish citizenship to become a U.S. Citizen.
I don't like to over-intellectualize scenes that are working. I tend to think when you do that you may lose it.
I like flesh. I do! Something to hold.
Cinema has opened a world of possibilities up for me.
I have a fantastic studio in my home, and it's my biggest toy. I have about a half a million dollars worth of musical equipment in my house.
I used to be scared of women. When I was very young they terrified me, but discovering the female universe was incredible and still is to this day, as you never stop learning about them.
I'm not such a big star. I am just a little planet. In Spain, people don't put so much attention on the star system. But here in America, I can feel it. Mostly, people are very, very nice. But there are also a bunch of fanatics behind the stars.
I drink a bucket of white tea in the morning. I read about this tea of the Emperor of China, which is supposedly the tea of eternal youth. It's called Silver Needle. It's unbelievably expensive, but I get it on the Web.
