Javier Bardem believes the tide is turning in terms of Palestinian representation in Hollywood, telling the Cannes Film Festival press conference on Sunday: “Everyone is starting to realize that this is unacceptable.”
The Oscar-winning Spanish actor, who is in Cannes with his latest film, The Beloved, was immediately asked whether his condemnation of the Gaza war would have a negative impact on his career. Bardem has been one of the most outspoken actors on the subject, using the occasion of the Oscars to say “Liberate Palestine” at the award ceremony for Best International Feature Film.
“Fear does exist, but people have to act even if they feel some fear or fear,” he said. “You have to be able to look yourself in the mirror, look yourself in the eyes, and that’s what happened to me. My mom taught me to be who I am. There’s no plan B. There are consequences to this, and I’m ready to take them.”
Bardem said he “cannot confirm” that an actual blacklist exists, and that he continues to receive many offers from around the world, so he believes “things are changing.”
“Everyone is starting to realize, thanks to the younger generation who are more aware of the situations we are experiencing firsthand on our phones and other screens. This is unacceptable. There can be no justification. And there can be no reason or explanation for this genocide,” he said. “So I think what’s happening is exactly the opposite. I believe that the people who are creating the so-called blacklist will actually be exposed and will suffer the so-called consequences, at least on a public and societal level. And this is a big change.”
He also said the genocide taking place in Gaza is a “fact.” “You can resist it, you can try to justify it, you can explain it. That’s a fact. You can resist it, you can justify it,” Bardem said. “If you justify it with silence or support, you are in favor of genocide. To me, those are the facts.”
Asked about his thoughts on democracy later in the meeting, Bardem also criticized the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. “I believe monopolies are increasing in the information world, and this is one of the issues we’re looking at, for example, given Paramount and Warner Bros. and their merger,” he said. “When it comes to information, what are we listening to, what are we seeing, who is actually in control of all of this? So it’s very clear that technology and social networks and very populist and quickly put together messages have made it more important. I think it’s increasing. They’re certainly affecting the younger generation. That’s endlessly worrying to me. We have to ensure that the younger generation continues to think, to understand, to compare and to verify information.
This all comes down to toxic masculinity, he said, pointing to the number of women murdered in his native Spain. “On average, two women a month are killed by an ex-husband, an ex-boyfriend, or an ex-husband. That’s horrifying, that’s how many women are killed. It’s unbelievable, but we’ve normalized it in a way. So are we sane? Are we killing women because some men think they’re theirs?”
He also condemns world leaders, including Trump, who he says exemplifies this behavior. It’s toxic male behavior…so we have to talk about it. And thankfully, we’re more aware of it, so we’re talking about it. ”
“I had a microphone and a recorder recording my voice, and I always felt like I had the right to call out what I thought was wrong,” Bardem told Variety in a recent cover story.
Bardem came to Cannes with his new film, The Beloved, which received a seven-minute ovation at its premiere on Saturday night. In Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Beloved, Bardem plays a legendary director who offers his estranged daughter (Victoria Luengo) a role in his latest film in the name of helping her stalled acting career. But working together on set brought them closer together than they had in years, but it also reopened old wounds.
