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You did some
dancing in this movie.
Antonio Banderas: Not too
much. A little bit at the beginning. The
Waltz the Tango and that was enough.
It’s looking good. And that’s what I was
pretending that it looks good. I am not
a dancer. Not a trained dancer. I train
specifically for things that I’ve done
in movies and the Broadway show I did
years ago. I had to Tango every night. I
did that blindfolded.
Were there any personality
characteristics about Mr. Dulaine that
you incorporated into your character?
Antonio Banderas: Yeah. It
was something about his persona that I
loved. And that was his mystery. He’s
not a person that likes to talk very
much about personal life. We found that
that was an interesting concept, the
fact that we don’t know very much about
this character in the past and where
he’s going to go in the future. I
thought that was an interesting
characteristic about the character.
What’s funny about the movie is when I
first received the script, I put it
aside because my agent was like, and
it’s a movie about ballroom dancing. And
then the producers asked to talk to me
in my house. I was supposed to give them
five minutes but I gave them 2 hours
actually. And they showed me the
documentary of Pierre Dulaine. And
that’s when I got hooked into the movie.
And then I read the script and then I
met him personally. So all of these
steps is what took me to this movie.
Knowing somebody is a rare animal,
actually, in our day is capable to do
things without expecting anything in
return. That is something that people
don’t do so easily. Everybody expects
something in return; money, whatever.
Power; I don’t know. But that was
something that interested me, especially
when the public administration doesn’t
take care of public schools. And they
have had opportunities to introduce kids
to study. It’s a pretty traumatic
situation. So when you see people like
this, when they do this type of action;
it’s not going to change the world
obviously and it’s not going to change
dramatically, but it just adds ideas.
Art applied to schools; it could be
dancing, painting, whatever. All of
those things add to the academics. It
bonds kids more. This movie just gives a
grain of sand. It just informs and to
say put attention to this. In the last
10-15 years, especially in America, we
have seen things that are absolutely
dramatic and tragic. Something is
brought with this movie. At the same
time its entertainment. It’s not
something very difficult that you have
to think about. You just go and have fun
but at the same time there must be some
teachings there.
What was it like working with the
kids?
Antonio Banderas: It was
great; discovering you are getting older
when you work with people that young.
For me what was really important was not
looking for respect but looking for a
bond that can work in front and behind
the camera. I was just crazy for them to
ask me for advice because it was an
opportunity for me to jump in the
position of Pierre Dulaine. We also did
activities that didn’t have anything to
do with dance rehearsal. We would have
meetings in my room and then watch a
movie. After doing that, slowly they
would start to open up; blossoming and
then they trust you. That is what I was
searching for basically with the movie.
Once that is established then we get to
cruise.
Any favorite scenes?
Antonio Banderas: I love the
scene that I had with the parents
because it’s sincere to me. In a very
little way, he expresses pretty much
what I am talking about here. The guy is
not trying to solve the problems of the
world. The guy is saying, I’m just
trying something. Ballroom dancing
doesn’t kill anybody. Why don’t you just
allow me to do this? I’m talking about
dignity, self-respect and manners.
Something that is very superficial
apparently but can be making the life of
people a little bit better. I thought
that scene was pretty interesting.
Do you see yourself going back to
theatre?
Antonio Banderas: By this
time next year, I will be already on
Broadway. Yes. I promised that I wasn’t
going to let 16 years go by without
doing some Broadway. I also brought a
house in New York because I want to be
close to Broadway. It’s a world that I
like. Not only the fact of playing in
that theatre but it’s a sense of
community that I don’t feel in
Hollywood. Everybody knows everybody. We
are working in the same area. There is
something very special and unique that I
found very fulfilling when I did that
and I want to go back to that.
You’ve done a number of family films.
How has being a father affected the
roles that you take?
Antonio Banderas: It’s funny
because when I did Spy Kids people would
ask me, oh you did it because you had a
baby…I said no, I did it because I love
working with Robert Rodriguez. And also
because it was a fantastic adventure and
interesting. My daughter who is 16 now,
I would let watch this movie. I think it
would be interesting for her. She’s at
that kind of age, she’s 16; she’s got
her hormones … I think that it’s
interesting for them to watch this
movie. Especially for them. They go to
very expensive schools but they have to
recognize other realities that I was
very aware of actually with my
relationship because I never had kids
before. We traveled at the beginning of
our relationship when I was doing Evita
and we took them around the world.
Because forme it was important to show
them another reality. They saw the
shanty towns in Buenos Aires. So they
know there are lots of realities. I
wanted them to see life for other people
so that they wouldn’t take for granted
what they have. It’s very important
because I actually come from that world.
I am not a Hollywood nothing. I am just
a worker there. But my beginnings …we
didn’t have money at all like that. So
that’s what I want them to know.
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