| Real Name: | José Antonio Domínguez Bandera |
| Birthday: | August 10, 1960 |
| Net Worth: | $45 million |
| Height: | 174 cm |
| Occupation: | Spanish Actor, Film Producer and Director, Singer |
Antonio Banderas is a Spanish film actor, director, producer, and singer. Yes, Antonio Banderas can sing. He is one of the most famous Spanish actors making it to Hollywood. He got discovered by the best Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar. After starring in Spanish movies, Banderas moved got parts in Hollywood hits like Interview with the Vampire.
Before making it to Hollywood, Banderas wanted to play professional football (soccer). But a broken foot shattered his childhood dreams. He took some drama classes and then joined a theater troupe touring across Spain. He got his breakthrough role in Almodovar’s movie, Tie Me Up Tie Me Down. As of August 2020, Antonio Banderas’s net worth cash flow is more than $45 million.
Career Ups and Downs
Born as Jose Antonio Dominguez Bandera in Malaga, Spain, Banderas wanted to play professional football/soccer. He has another brother, Francisco. His father worked as a police officer and his mother as a schoolteacher. At the age of 14, he broke his foot. That sidelined his dreams of playing soccer.
So, instead, he followed his second interest in performing arts. He started his acting studies at the School of Dramatic Art in Malaga. There, he made his acting debut at a small theater. Fun fact: He got arrested for a performance in a play by Bertolt Brecht because of political censorship for the play.
During his early years, he got arrested a couple of times for playing in censorship plays. Sometimes, he played on the street. During the post-dictatorial cultural movement in Spain, he began working in small shops.
He caught the attention of Pedro Almodovar while performing with the theatre. He cast the young actor in Labyrinth of Passion. That serves as the movie debut for Banderas. Five years later, Antonio made it to the Law of Desire. His performance as a gay man turned heads and got him a lot of attention. Fun fact: In that movie, Antonio engaged in his first male-to-male onscreen kiss.
Banderas successfully appeared in Matador, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and other Almodovar movies. But he got his big break in Tie Me Up Tie Me Down controversial comedy. There, he played a mental patient who kidnaps a porn star and keeps her tied up until she returns his love.
After appearing in Almodovar’s movies through the 1980s, Banderas made it to Hollywood. Madonna introduced him to Hollywood. She made him an object of her desires in her pseudo-documentary movie, Madonna: Truth or Dare. In the beginning, Banderas struggled to speak English. Yet, he had a successful appearance in the American drama, The Mambo Kings in 1992.
The next year, he broke through to mainstream America thanks to the movie Philadelphia. He portrayed the lower of lawyer Andrew Beckett, played by Tom Hanks. The next year, he got the part in the high-profile adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. He shared the screen with Brad Pitt.
In the early years, Banderas played a Latino star in most movies. And the scripts were in that spirit. For example, in 1995, he had a successful role in Desperado. But in 1996, he got to play in a drama movie. Madonna invited him again to her project. He starred alongside the famous singer in Evita.
By the end of the 1990s, Antonio got recognized for his role as Zorro in the movie The Mask of Zorro. In a way, Zorro is to Banderas what Die Hard is to Bruce Willis. Every good actor has his action franchise. Banderas has Zorro. At the beginning of the 2000s, Banderas starred in the Spy Kids movie trilogy.
By 2003, Banderas returned to the musical genre. He appeared in the Broadway revival of Nine, playing the prime role. He won a couple of awards for that role and earned a Tony nomination as well.
In the late 2000s, Banderas tried himself in another area. He voiced characters for the Puss in Boots and Shrek. His voice for Puss in Boots made the character popular on the family film circuit.
In 2005, Banderas got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And by 2011, he returned to a Pedro Almodovar movie in the horror thriller The Skin I Live In.
Banderas got married to actress Melanie Griffith for many years. The two split in 2014 in a friendly manner. He retains feelings of love for her.
Net worth
As of August 2020, Antonio Banderas cash flow is more than $45 million. He earns money in a variety of ways. But acting jobs is his main source of income.
His movies earned close to $2 billion with him as a leading actor. And with Banderas in a supporting role, movies earned $3 billion. That is more than $5 million in earnings.
Fun fact: When Banderas and Griffith split up, they agreed to allow each other to keep money from their own projects. Banderas agreed to pay $780,000 per year in spousal support for several years.
Antonio now earns millions for his roles. When he starred in Almodovar’s movies, in the beginning, he earned pennies. Now, he earns millions. For example, he got paid $4 million for his appearance in Evita and $12 million for his appearance in The Body. Here are some of his highest-grossing movies.
- Shrek the Third earned $1 billion at the box office
- Shrek Forever After earned $869 million at the box office
- Puss in Boots earned $637 million at the box office
- Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles earned $499 million at the box office
- Spy Kids 3: Game Over earned $297 million at the box office
His last television role paid him a hefty amount of money. Banderas got paid $200,000 per episode for the Genius: Picasso mini-series.
The Spanish actor has endorsement deals with Marks & Spencer, Nasonex, Police, Opticalia. Banderas knows that money from movies can run out. So, he keeps businesses alive in other industries. He invested some of his movie earnings into a winery in Spain. He owns 50% of the Villalba de Duero winery called Anta Banderas. It produces red and rose wines.
Antonio also performed a voice-over for the computer-animated bee for commercials for Nasonex. And he is a veteran in the perfume industry. He worked with Puig for more than 10 years. That makes him one of the most successful representatives of the company.
Thanks to smart stock investments, property holdings, lucrative endorsement deals, and more, Antonio Banderas’s wealth is more than $45 million. And he also owns several restaurants like The Fat Banderas Burger chain in Madrid. He launched his own brand of Vodka, Pure Wonderbanderas.
