stats people / SIGNAL
enes
LIVE
← PEOPLE
stats people / People
LIVE
Javier Bardem
Martin Kraft · CC BY-SA 4.0
People

Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem, 57, is the Spanish actor who won the Oscar for No Country for Old Men and played Stilgar in Dune. In autumn 2026 he is in the news on several fronts: Florian Zeller's thriller Bunker with Penélope Cruz, Rodrigo Sorogoyen's The Beloved, narration of a documentary on cinematographer Néstor Almendros, Dune: Part Three (December 18) and his stage debut in ¡Chéjov, Chéjov! in Madrid from November 2026.

By · stats people · Updated October 30, 2026
All 13 questions▾
What people ask

People also ask

01

Where does Javier Bardem live?

Javier Bardem lives in Madrid, Spain, with his wife Penélope Cruz and their two children. After years spent between Los Angeles, New York and London, the couple chose to base their family life in Spain, according to idealista and People. Reports differ on the exact property, and the family keeps the address private, so we do not repeat it. Sources: idealista, People, Promiflash.

02

What is Javier Bardem's nationality?

Javier Bardem is Spanish. He was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, into a family of Spanish actors and filmmakers, and grew up in Madrid. Sources: Wikipedia.

03

How old is Javier Bardem?

Javier Bardem was born on March 1, 1969, which makes him 57 years old as of October 2026. His full name is Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem. Sources: Wikipedia.

04

How tall is Javier Bardem?

Javier Bardem has never published an official height. He is commonly listed at about 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in), the figure given by IMDb; other databases say 1.80 m. Sources: IMDb, Dimensions.com.

05

Who is Javier Bardem's wife?

He is married to the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz. They first met on the set of *Jamón jamón* (1992), became a couple after *Vicky Cristina Barcelona* (2008) and married in July 2010 in the Bahamas. They have two children, a son born in January 2011 in Los Angeles and a daughter born in July 2013 in Madrid. In 2026 they star together again in *Bunker*. Sources: Wikipedia, People.

06

Did Javier Bardem win an Oscar?

Yes. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing the killer Anton Chigurh in the Coen brothers' *No Country for Old Men*, at the 2008 ceremony. He was the first Spanish actor to win an Oscar. He has three other nominations, all for Best Actor: *Before Night Falls*, *Biutiful* and *Being the Ricardos*. He also won Best Actor at Cannes for *Biutiful* (2010), two Volpi Cups in Venice and seven Goya awards. Sources: Wikipedia, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

07

Who does Javier Bardem play in Dune?

He plays Stilgar, leader of the Fremen of Sietch Tabr, in Denis Villeneuve's *Dune* (2021) and *Dune: Part Two* (2024). *Dune: Part Three*, adapted from *Dune Messiah*, is scheduled for release on December 18, 2026 by Warner Bros.; the studio had not published a full cast list confirming his return at the time of writing. Sources: Wikipedia, Radio X, Tech Advisor.

08

What is Bunker with Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz about?

*Bunker* is a psychological thriller written and directed by Florian Zeller (*The Father*). Bardem plays Miguel, an architect hired to build a survival bunker for a billionaire, while his wife Sophia, played by Penélope Cruz, is wary of the job. Stephen Graham, Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger co-star. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2026 and screened at the BFI London Film Festival; Sony Pictures Classics holds North American rights, and the wide release is expected in early 2027 (Pathé in France). Sources: AV Club, Screen Daily, BFI, El Español.

09

What is The Beloved (El ser querido)?

*The Beloved* (Spanish title *El ser querido*) is Rodrigo Sorogoyen's drama in which Bardem plays a two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker who casts his estranged daughter, played by Victoria Luengo, in his new period film. It competed at Cannes, opened in Spanish cinemas on August 26, 2026, and will get a US qualifying run before a theatrical release in early 2027 via Kino Lorber. Sources: The Playlist, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter.

10

Is Javier Bardem doing theatre?

Yes, for the first time. He makes his stage debut in ¡Chéjov, Chéjov!, a play built from short pieces, stories and writings by Anton Chekhov, directed and adapted by his longtime acting teacher Juan Carlos Corazza, with Alicia Borrachero, Rafa Castejón, Ben Temple and Manuela Velasco. It is staged at Espacio Zafra Teatro in Madrid, Thursday to Sunday. Listings give November 5, 2026 to January 31, 2027, while one October report gives public performances from November 19 to February 7, 2027; check the theatre's site for the final dates. Sources: Infobae, Revista Godot, Los Lunes Seriéfilos.

11

Why did Javier Bardem turn down Skyfall at first?

At the BFI London Film Festival in October 2026, Bardem said he initially hesitated over the villain role in *Skyfall* (2012) and pitched Sam Mendes an idea: making Raoul Silva's fascination with Bond suggestive. Mendes kept the idea, and the interrogation scene became one of the film's best-known moments. Sources: Hollywood Reporter, Yahoo Entertainment.

12

Who were Javier Bardem's parents?

His mother was the actress Pilar Bardem (1939-2021). His uncle was the filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem, his grandparents Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro were actors, and his siblings Carlos Bardem and Mónica Bardem also work in the industry. Sources: Wikipedia.

13

What are Javier Bardem's political positions?

He is a long-standing advocate for the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara: he produced and narrated the documentary *Sons of the Clouds* and is a spokesperson for a Spanish solidarity platform. He has also spoken repeatedly about Gaza, saying Israel's government is "not at all representative" of the Jewish community or of Israeli society, and closed his presentation at the 2026 Academy Awards with "No to war, and Free Palestine". He opposed the Iraq War and condemned Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Sources: Wikipedia.

Background

Javier Bardem is the most internationally famous Spanish actor of his generation. Born on March 1, 1969, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, he grew up in Madrid in a family of performers: his mother, Pilar Bardem, was a well-known actress and his uncle Juan Antonio Bardem a major director. He broke through in Bigas Luna’s Jamón jamón (1992), where he first worked with Penélope Cruz, and became a star in Spain through the 1990s.

International recognition came with an Oscar nomination for Before Night Falls (2000), the Venice prize for The Sea Inside (2004) and, above all, his chilling Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, which won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2008, a first for a Spanish actor. He has since played a Bond villain in Skyfall, Uxbal in Biutiful (Best Actor at Cannes), Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, King Triton in The Little Mermaid and Stilgar in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films. On television, he played José Menendez in Monsters and Max Cady in Apple TV’s Cape Fear series, which aired from June 2026.

Autumn 2026 is especially busy. Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved (El ser querido) opened in Spain in August after competing at Cannes. Florian Zeller’s thriller Bunker, in which he stars with Cruz, premiered in Venice and toured the London Film Festival, where Bardem also recounted his pitch for Skyfall. In late October he began narrating Néstor, a documentary on cinematographer Néstor Almendros, and Dune: Part Three is due in cinemas on December 18.

The most unexpected project is on stage: at 57, Bardem makes his theatre debut in Madrid in ¡Chéjov, Chéjov!, directed by his longtime teacher Juan Carlos Corazza, from November 2026. Married to Penélope Cruz since 2010, he lives in Madrid with their two children and is also known for his outspoken positions on Western Sahara and Gaza. Sources: Wikipedia, Hollywood Reporter, AV Club, Deadline, Infobae, The Playlist, idealista.

Privacy choices