Feb
26
And the Oscar goes to….
Javier Bardem! No surprise there, unless you are Pilar Bardem, Javier’s mother who is also a well-known actress in Spain. In today’s newspaper, Javier told how he was very nervous about the Oscars until his mum calmed him down. How did she do it? Through the power of diminishing expectations. “Hace unos días le dije que estaba nervioso. Me dijo, ‘No te preocupes. No te lo van a dar y si te lo dan, diviértete.’” [A few days ago I told her I was nervous. She told me, ‘Don’t worry, they’re not going to give it to you and if they do, have fun.’ “] Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Mom. Guess Mama Bardem has never heard of the Secret. 
Anyway, way to go Javi! We knew you could do it. Now just don’t go crazy and wind up becoming the next F. Murray Abraham, alright?
P.S. I owe you guys another installment about movie dubbing but I’ve lost my original train of thought. Sorry. Meantime, check out the insightful comment that Chris made yesterday about dubbing’s history in Spain.
It’s kind of a shame that you can’t really win an Oscar until you’re acting in English. Bardem was mindblowingly amazing in Mar Adentro, which is a way better movie than No Country, but it could only be nominated for one Oscar…which it won, of course.
Yes, Javier Bardem was incredible in “Mar Adentro” and also in “Before Night Falls.” Both of those roles were more physically and intellectually demanding than the “No Country for Old Men” character but, as you already pointed out, those roles weren’t in English.