Javier Bardem faced backlash in Spain
Javier Bardem faced a severe backlash in his native Spain after winning an Oscar last year – his countrymen accused him of “selling out”.
Bardem won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a sociopath killer in No Country For Old Men, becoming the first Spanish actor to win the coveted prize.
But he insists he had to work hard to convince Spaniards the recognition he found in the U.S. hadn’t inflated his ego.
He says, “The Spanish are tough. They criticize my work and say I sold out. You want to say, ‘Stop it – you’re a bunch of stupid people.’ But you are never going to be liked by everybody. After the Oscars, I came back to Madrid, where I live. I wanted to get back to the real world. After something like the awards, you’ve changed a little bit, but everyone around you has changed tremendously. You have to bring them back – you have to show that you are the same stupid, limited guy and not this kind of golden boy.”
WENN
