Banderas deserts Hollywood for Spanish history
Antonio Banderas says he's tired of Hollywood, where he has lived since 1992, and wants to return to his Spanish homeland to develop his career as a director.
The 48-year-old, whose triumph in Hollywood as a Latin lover/villain figure paved the way for Spanish successors like Javier Bardem, says he now wants to create the sort of movies suffocated by Hollywood.
His latest project may be a case in point. Mr Banderas, with his film star wife Melanie Griffith by his side, is travelling the Arab world raising money for his forthcoming movie "Sultan", which he has written and hopes to direct and star in. It tells the story of Boabdil, the last Moorish king of Spain, who was forced to surrender his beloved Granada to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, a historic turning point that marked the birth of modern Spain.
The ageing Malaga-born screen star wants to tell the story from a pro-Arab viewpoint, and has been busy in recent days gathering funds from several Arab countries, tapping into their nostalgia for the legacy of 800 years of Arab rule in Andalusia...
Read entire article at Independent (UK)
The 48-year-old, whose triumph in Hollywood as a Latin lover/villain figure paved the way for Spanish successors like Javier Bardem, says he now wants to create the sort of movies suffocated by Hollywood.
His latest project may be a case in point. Mr Banderas, with his film star wife Melanie Griffith by his side, is travelling the Arab world raising money for his forthcoming movie "Sultan", which he has written and hopes to direct and star in. It tells the story of Boabdil, the last Moorish king of Spain, who was forced to surrender his beloved Granada to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, a historic turning point that marked the birth of modern Spain.
The ageing Malaga-born screen star wants to tell the story from a pro-Arab viewpoint, and has been busy in recent days gathering funds from several Arab countries, tapping into their nostalgia for the legacy of 800 years of Arab rule in Andalusia...