Javier Bardem Calls His & Her Oscar Noms with Penelope Cruz ‘Extraordinary’ Second for Couple to Share

On Thursday, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz turned solely the sixth married couple in Oscar historic previous to be nominated within the similar yr – nevertheless when TheWrap suggested Bardem that in all probability essentially the most well-known couple to realize that feat was Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, he had a quick response.

“I hope we don’t end up like they did, correct?” he said, laughing as he remembered the famously combative couple who’ve been married in 1964, nominated for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 1967, divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975 and divorced as soon as extra in 1976.

In actuality, three of the 5 earlier Oscar-nominated {{couples}} did break up up post-Oscars. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne stayed collectively after their 1932 nomination, as did Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester after their twin noms in 1957. Nevertheless together with Burton and Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner have been nominated in 1953 and divorced 4 years later, whereas Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts have been nominated in ’63 and divorced in ‘71.

“Oh no, no, no, that’s not gonna happen!” Barden shouted on a Zoom title from Spain. “I assure you.”

The potential for his and hers nominations – his for having fun with Desi Arnaz in “Being the Ricardos,” hers for starring in Pedro Almodovar’s “Parallel Mothers” – made for an eventful morning inside the Bardem/Cruz household. “It’s been a ravishing day at dwelling,” he said with an infinite grin. “We now have been holding on to 1 one other, trying to swimsuit on the similar sofa, and there have been so many points to pay attention to.”

These completely different points included “The Good Boss,” Spain’s worldwide entry, which stars Bardem and which made the shortlist nevertheless was not nominated; “Parallel Mothers,” which moreover acquired a nom for its composer, Alberto Iglesias; and the Spanish fast film “Distances,” which wasn’t nominated.

Nevertheless the precept events, he conceded, have been Best Actor and Best Actress. “When the time for actor received right here, I knew my establish could possibly be the first because of (it begins with) B,” he said. “So within the occasion that they don’t start saying the ‘Ja…’ instantly, we had a difficulty. I heard the ‘Ja,’ and I said, ‘All correct!’ And she or he celebrated higher than me.”

Throughout the Best Actress class, though, Cruz didn’t have the similar alphabetical profit. “They said Chastain, Colman, and she or he said, ‘too many Cs.’ Nevertheless then, ‘Penelope Cruz,’ and that was the second after we’ve got been like, ‘Yeahhhhh!’

“It’s extraordinary, having that second of sharing one factor so specific alongside together with your wife. It truly makes the issue way more invaluable. I indicate, it is invaluable, actually, nevertheless the reality that you could be share that alongside together with your wife for the nice, fantastic work she does in ‘Parallel Mothers,’ it’s specific.”

As for the work that acquired Bardem his private nomination, he nonetheless remembers the Zoom dialog he had with writer-director Aaron Sorkin when Sorkin suggested Bardem and Nicole Kidman that he didn’t want them to do imitations of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball in “Being the Ricardos.”  

“It was an unbelievable weight off our shoulders when he said to every of us, ‘That’s not what I’m looking out for,’” Bardem said. “Nevertheless I do know that as shortly as we hung up from that Zoom, Nicole and I’ve been nonetheless trying and looking out, watching every episode (of “I Love Lucy”) to hunt out every intonation, all sides of them. You can’t help nevertheless do that.”

And no, he was not at all truly assured that he’d found the essence of Desi. “In 32, 33 years of engaged on movies, there’s not one the place I haven’t felt like I’m the mistaken actor to do it,” he said. “There’s on a regular basis a second the place you assume, ‘All individuals is conscious of I’m the mistaken actor, nevertheless nobody dares say it to me.’ You merely want to take care of going – and in case you’re lucky, there is likely to be additional good moments than harmful moments.”