Pedro Almodovar helped launch the international careers of several Spanish actors who are now Hollywood legends, including Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Now the celebrated filmmaker says he’s toying with the idea of making his first movie in English.
The Academy Award-winning Spaniard has always remained deeply attached to his homeland, and none of his 18 films has been set beyond its borders.
That could change if one of three projects currently in development comes to fruition.
“There’s a script that … could perhaps become my first project in English,” Almodovar said in an interview at the Cannes Film Festival, where he was promoting his latest movie, horror thriller “The Skin I Live In.”
“I’m writing it in Spanish but I’ve spoken to an American writer about doing the English version.”
Almodovar declined to provide any details about the project, which he said is in the early stages of development.
“The Skin I Live In” — one of 20 movies competing for the top Palme d’Or prize at Cannes — marks the return of a Hollywood heartthrob who was a regular feature of Almodovar’s movies from the 1980s, Antonio Banderas. The two haven’t worked together since 1990’s “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!”
In “The Skin,” Banderas actor breaks out the Latin Lover mold of his Hollywood work, playing an icy and calculating plastic surgeon bent on avenging the rape of his daughter. Banderas’ pared-down performance is among his strongest in recent memory.
Almodovar “wanted this character to always be under control, to never reveal the monster he has inside,” Banderas said. “This character with Pedro actually opened the door with me to a different turf.
“I’m going to be 51 this year and now I’m getting the possibility of doing characters I’ve never done before,” Banderas said.
Almodovar said he thought Banderas’ co-star, Elena Anaya, could follow in the footsteps of Almodovar muse, Penelope Cruz. In “The Skin,” Anaya delivers a zinger of a performance as a victim of the Banderas character’s Machiavellian plot.
“In addition to her youth and the fact she’s a beautiful girl, Elena isn’t afraid of any kind of scene,” said Almodovar.
“I think she’s the most open actress in this way that I’ve ever met. She can be in physical situations that are really atrocious,” like the movie’s brutal rape scene, and not blink, he said.
“She has the hardness necessary to handle really difficult scenes and the sensitivity to be able to transmit emotion in a really direct and immediate way,” said the filmmaker. “I don’t like to make comparisons, but I predict for Elena a future like that of Penelope in the U.S.”
Anaya has already had a taste of the experience of working in Hollywood, with her role as a vampire in the 2004 action flick “Van Helsing.” Though she said she had “lots of fun” on the project, Anaya said she’s not angling for roles in big-budget blockbusters.
Still, the doe-eyed 35-year-old said she’s not ruling anything out.
“You never know what kind of opportunities life holds in store,” she said. “It goes without saying that I’m super content and incredibly happy with the opportunity Pedro has given me here.”
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More