Image Credit: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com Antonio Banderas and his Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! director Pedro Almodóvar will reunite for the film La Piel que Habito (translation: The Skin I Live In). According to The Hollywood Reporter, Almodóvar told the Spanish daily El Pais, “The film will be a terror film, without screams or scares….It’s the harshest film I’ve ever written and Banderas’ character is brutal.” In the movie, based on the Thierry Jonquet novel Tarantula, Banderas will play a plastic surgeon who takes revenge on the man who raped his daughter. Almodóvar said he sees it as a way for both Banderas and himself to stretch. “I could have continued with a puerile guy with an overpowering power of seduction, but this guy [in Skin] is a real psychopath and Antonio, at 50, is perfect for this exercise is something so different from anything I’ve done until now.”
Though he’s done live-action films in recent years — straight-to-DVDs with Morgan Freeman (Code), Meg Ryan (My Mom’s New Boyfriend), and Jennifer Lopez (Bordertown), and the limited release The Other Man with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney — I think it’s safe to say Banderas is currently best known as the voice of Shrek‘s Puss-in-Boots. The last time I saw him in something was when I dragged two friends to see 2006′s Take the Lead (I’m a sucker for dance movies). But with a role opposite Naomi Watts in Woody Allen’s upcoming You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and this return to once frequent collaborator Almodóvar, things are looking up. I’m open to a Banderas big-screen comeback. You?
its about damn time
Can he please cast Penelope as his daughter?
Just read the article from El Pais and Almodovar said that although he originally saw Penelope as having a role in this film, based on rewrites (9!), he doesn’t see her in a role for this film, but he said that he has four other films he’s been working on and will likely cast her in one (or more) of those.
OMG, at first I thought this said “Banderas REMEMBERS Pedro”…
I’m Ceballos, and I approve of this comeback.
I’ve always considered Banderas to be a total triple-threat. The guy can act, he can sing, he can dance… he can do comedy, drama, he’s credible as an action star, he’s a good looking guy and can play a romantic lead. (Ok, I guess that makes him more of a octuple threat.)
My point is that he should be getting more quality work than he has in recent years.
bring me a piece of some of that hot Latino!!!
To me, he will always be Armand…:)
Ditto!!!
I will watch ANY Pedro movie. Antonio just sweetens it. Hope it gets weird and twisted like Matador.
Sounds good to me too.
Antonio is a great actor (remember him in Tie me Up/Tie me Down?) and I will watch any Pedro Almodovar movie. Antonio should have been cast in “Nine” the movie over Daniel Day-Lewis, no offense to Daniel, he just didn’t pull off the role. Antonio had the role on Broadway and was even nominated for a Tony Award. I have always wondered why he didn’t get the movie role. Antonio must have been devastated.
I heartily second the prior comments about Antonio’s multitalents. I’m still waiting for him to make the Cary Grant romantic comedy movie that he’d be superb at. Why can’t the suits realize what a tremendous talent they have been wasting, and how many of his fans bemoan the type of scripts he has been offered. “Nine was the best thing I’ve ever seen on Broadway and R. Marshall deserves the pans his movie version earned for not even offering the role to A.B.
Oh, yes I am ready to see Antonio do some great cinema in the future! He has the talent, he just needs some decent roles!