Javier Bardem joined TheWrap’s Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman at the ArcLight in Sherman Oaks for a spirited discussion before a packed house, part of the site’s ongoing Academy Screening Series.
Bardem says he shied away from the challenging role at first. “I got scared because I knew this was a life journey, not a performance,” he said. “There’s no way you can do that without immersing yourself in the skin of that person.”
To prepare for the role, Bardem returned to the acting school he’s been attending for over 20 years. After meeting with his coach, he realized he was going to have to live the pain of his character in order to achieve the emotional veracity demanded by the role. “I didn’t perform in this one,” he confessed. “There was no way to perform it rather than be it.”