Banderas knew fairly early on in life what he wanted to do when he grew up. After his early ambition to become a professional soccer player was snuffed out due to a foot injury, Banderas discovered his true calling when he saw Milos Forman's hit 1979 cult movie Hair. The teen enrolled in drama classes and soon scraped together a group of other young thespians to form his own troupe, which subsequently traveled all over Spain, performing on the streets in little towns. After a performance at a small theater, Banderas was introduced to film director Pedro Almodóvar. Together theyforged a new film industry, and set about making a handful of respectable and controversial movies the first of which was 1982's Labyrinth of Passion. However, it was the 1988 hit Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown that would first bring Banderas to the fascinated attention of an international audience. Bandaras’ first film in the US, was the The Mambo Kings. Next stop: the deeply affecting AIDS-message picture Philadelphia, in which Banderas found himself in the role of a gay character. He felt strongly about accepting the challenges of the role, and ended up turning in a highly creditable performance. Banderas went on to appear in a string of movies that further tapped his talents for bringing complex personalities alive on screen, including The House of the Spirits (1993), Interview With the Vampire (1994), Desperado (1995), and the shoot-'em-up Stallone actioner Assassins (1995). Even when the films themselves were only mediocre, Banderas showed audiences that he possessed a singularly funny, quirky, and vulnerable style, and that combination of qualities fostered his unusual reputation as a steamy and sexy actor who could also laugh at himself. Bandaras caught the attention of Melanie Griffith while the two actors filmed a comedy together and married in May 1996. The couple welcomed their first child together, Stella del Carmen, the following September. On the career front, Banderas starred opposite Madonna in the 1997 musical Evita; and in 1998 in The Mask of Zorro, with Anthony Hopkins. The following year, Banderas headlined The 13th Warrior and Eaters of the Dead. He wrapped production on his directorial debut film, Crazy in Alabama, and co-starred with Woody Harrelson in the boxing pic Play It to the Bone. In 2001, Banderas headlined Robert Rodriguez's box-office hit Spy Kids.
Antonio Banderas