Movies

On film, Javier Bardem is a direct guy.

In his Oscar-winning turn in No Country for Old Men, he shows no hesitation in shooting people in the head with a cattle gun. And in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which opens today, he's just as forthright, if not equally lethal.

Early in the film, his Juan Antonio, a dashing painter, spots two strangers (Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall) across a Barcelona restaurant and heads over to their table. Rather than spew the usual chitchat and icebreakers, he asks the friends if they would like to join him on a trip to the Spanish town of Oviedo, where they'll take in the sights and restaurants before ending up in a sandwich of their own making.

EVAN AGOSTINI/The Associated Press

Hollywood star Javier Bardem still calls Madrid home.

If anyone could pull off this kind of talk, Mr. Bardem would seem to be the man to do it. But during a recent phone conversation from his home in Madrid, the 39-year-old actor said that's where he and his character part ways.

"Those who know me know that there is no money in the world that you could pay me for me to go up to a table where there are two beautiful women and invite them to come with me to Oviedo," he says. "That's why you want to be an actor – you want to live lives that you know would be impossible.

"It's like I'd never kill anyone like my character in No Country for Old Men, but my killer side of me is already satisfied."

And yet, his most celebrated roles outside of No Country's Anton Chigurh are based on true stories. In 2004's The Sea Inside, he portrays Ramón Sampedro, a quadriplegic fighting for the right to end his life. And in 2000's Before Night Falls, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, he inhabits the life of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas.

While Mr. Bardem has shown a knack for getting inside the lives of other real people, he guards his own life closely. One of the major selling points of Vicky Cristina Barcelona is the pairing of Mr. Bardem with Penélope Cruz as his ex-wife and muse. Their on-screen chemistry is undeniable, as one minute they passionately argue while the next they confide to others how much they care for each other.

If the Internet and tabloids are to be believed, that connection may be fed by their off-screen coupling. (Those pictures of them on vacation last year are tough to deny.) If that's the case, Mr. Bardem would rather not say – a publicist for the film passed along the message that any questions concerning Ms. Cruz would lead to a swift ending of the interview.

Which is not to say that all of his off-screen interests are off-limits. It's clear that he's a devoted fan of Mr. Allen's work, and that Barcelona proved an irresistible package deal.

"The thought of him coming to Spain and making a movie here I thought could be a great experience, like it was," he says. "I loved the script, and there wasn't much to talk about – it was like, 'OK, where do I have to go?' "

Next up on his wish list is a return to Spanish-language films.

He's made close to two dozen of them with some of Spain's top directors, including Bigas Luna (1992's Jamón, Jamón, his first pairing with Ms. Cruz) and Pedro Almodóvar (1997's Trembling Flesh, again with Ms. Cruz).

But in a strange way, his Oscar win and English-language success may be standing in his way.

"It's funny, when you go and work outside of your country, when you come back, even if I live here, some people might think that I live in the States. Some people might think that I am impossible to reach. Some think that I might be a millionaire that earns a lot of money in movies so they can't afford me," he says.

"So they have a lot of reasons – and some of them may find me a really horrible actor, and some of them may find me very old – there are many reasons for people not to call me.

"But that doesn't mean that I don't want to do it. Actually, it is what I want to do."

So, attention all directors: If you need an actor with leading-man looks, palpable charisma and Oscar credentials to shoot a movie in Spanish, you know whom to call.