Javier Bardem on Playing Pablo Escobar With Penelope Cruz in ‘Loving Pablo’

“Loving Pablo,” about Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, is a passion project for Javier Bardem. He clearly relishes the title role in  which he plays opposite his wife Penelope Cruz, who plays Escobar’s lover. The pulpy biopic, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival before moving to the Toronto festival, is directed by Spain’s Fernando Leon de Aranoa, based on the book “Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar,” by Virginia Vallejo, the Colombian journalist with whom Escobar had an affair. Bardem spoke to Variety about the challenges of bringing “Pablo” to the screen and what it was like to work with Cruz for the first time since they’ve become a couple.

You are one of the producers on “Loving Pablo,” which has had a long gestation. How tough was it to bring to the screen?

I had long been been intrigued by Pablo Escobar. When I started to dig into this character almost 10 years ago, he wasn’t as much in the public eye. And during that period I was offered [projects with me playing] him several times, but I never felt a human link to any of those roles. I wanted to make a movie about what was on his mind; about his personal side. And I really wanted to make this movie in Spanish. But we tried and tried, and just couldn’t find the financing. Then, to move things forward, we decided we would do it in English, with Spanish accents, and we were able to mount the production.

So “Pablo” will be dubbed in Spanish for Spanish audiences?

Yes. But in Spanish-language territories it will also be going out in English.

Are you going to dub yourself in Spanish?

No. I have tried to dub myself in Spanish several times for my American movies. But at this point [in my career] my dubber is better than I am at capturing the nuances in Spanish of how my voice sounds in English. Also, Spanish audiences by now are used to his voice. So If I dubbed myself in Spanish, it would throw them off.

How did you prepare for the part, besides your prosthetic belly?

I tried to learn where his monstrous behavior came from. I was very interested in diving into Pablo’s inner self. What was going on inside Escobar’s mind that made him capable of so much harm, while at the same time he was very loving, and took care of his family and his lover. He was not somebody who appeared outwardly threatening. He moved at a slow place, like a hippopotamus. That is the physical aspect of his energy, but he could very quickly become a monster.

This is the first time you and Penelope Cruz work together since you’ve become a couple. Did this help, especially in the erotically charged [albeit devoid of nudity] sex scene?

It was easy working with Penelope. She is a great actress and we can always challenge one another to go farther, deeper, bigger and smaller. She can immediately tell what I’m doing; where I’m going. We know how to play with each other and try different things. All it takes is a little look, or a word here and there. So we pushed each other to be more daring. Like in the climactic scene [towards the end] where Virginia confronts Escobar and asks him for $80,000 to leave the country and make a new life, and he responds by threatening her physically. That confidence that we have in each other is a great thing.

Had the two of you done sex scenes on screen before?

Yes, in Bigas Luna’s “Jamon Jamon.” which won the Silver Lion at the Venice festival in 1992 and launched both of our careers.

Since then, both of your careers have flourished in Hollywood. To the point where you are dubbed by a regular Spanish dubbing actor, just like Tom Cruise. Would you like to work more with Spanish directors, besides Fernando Leon de Aranoa? What is your rapport with the Spanish film industry?

I want to work more with the Spanish industry, but they think I’m too expensive. What I want to tell them is: I’m expensive; but I can also be less expensive, if I like the project.

Penelope Cruz oozes glamour in a sequined ombre gown with a racy thigh high split at Murder On The Orient Express premiere in London

She plays a chaste missionary in Murder On The Orient Express. 

But Penelope Cruz showed off her racy side as she attended the film's world premiere in London on Thursday clad in a dazzling sequined gown. 

The Spanish actress, 43, oozed sex appeal in the eye-catching black and navy ombre gown which glittered under the bright lights of Royal Albert Hall. 

She truly dazzled in the glittering number, which remained utterly sophisticated with a round scooped neckline and three-quarter length sleeves, before it cut into a daring thigh-high split at the skirt.

Showcasing her enviably tanned and toned pins, the Oscar-winning actress boosted her frame with a pair of platform peep toe heels as she sashayed down the red carpet. 

Penelope accessorised with shimmering silver drop earrings for an added touch of glamour, and left her hair in loose, tousled waves to let her naturally stunning features shine through.

Penelope stars as missionary Pilar Estravados in Murder On The Orient Express - which is based on Agatha Christie's 1934 novel of the same name - and marks the fourth adaptation of the story so far. 

The story follows famed detective Hercule Poirot, who boards the famous Orient Express to enjoy some time off between cases.

However he immediately finds himself faced with a desperate oil tycoon, who begs him for personal protection, as he is fearing for his life on the famous transportation.

Following the ominous encounter, the tycoon is then found stabbed to death the following day, and Poirot is forced to investigate the other weird and wonderful characters on board, to uncover the culprit.

Penelope joins a number of Oscar winners in the film's stellar cast, including Johnny Depp, 54 and Judi, 82, as Princess Dragomiroff. 

The film is a remake of the 1974 classic, and hits UK theaters on November 3 and US theaters November 10.

It's the fourth adaptation of Christie's novel - following Sidney Lumet's famous 1974 film, a 2001 CBS version, and a 2010 episode of ITV series Agatha Christie's Poirot.  

Penelope was not joined at the premiere by her husband Javier Bardem - who she shares Leo, aged six, and Luna, aged four, with. 

The Vicky Cristina Barcelona star recently admitted that becoming a mother changed her outlook in life and contributed in shrinking her ego.  

In conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow, the pinup said: 'I'm happy to say, that my ego has gotten smaller over time.'

She continued: 'I used to be so afraid about what people were going to think of me, if I was going to be accepted, if I was going to be loved. I put a lot of energy into the perception of myself. 

'When I became a mother—almost seven years ago—something very deep changed in me, where I really don’t care about a lot of the stuff I used to care about before. 

'That’s part of growing up, and now I have to go through other tests that life will put in front of me. I have new fears now.' 

Penélope Cruz Strips for Esquire U.K. and Talks About The Nude Scene She Thought Would End Her Career

Penélope Cruz sheds her clothes for the cover of the latest issue of Esquire U.K., and bares other revealing details.  The Spanish actress sat down with the men’s magazine to discuss her latest role as Donatella Versace in the FX Network’s forthcoming The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

In the interview, the Oscar winner discussed her very first nude scene in director Pedro Almodóvar’s 1992 classic film Jamón Jamón, which she believed would torpedo her career. “Of course I was not looking forward to those scenes but I did it. Everyone was really respectful, aware of the fact that I was 18,” the 43-year-old said. “I remember the last day of filming, I was crying, saying: ‘What if I never shoot a movie again? The feeling was devastating.'”

She shared the steamy scenes with her future husband Javier Bardem with whom she has two children, Leo, 6, and Luna, 4.  In one sexy clip, a hunky 23-year-old Bardem is bullfighting naked under a full moon before getting frisky with the teen actress on a pool table at a local bar.

As reported by Esquire U.K., Bardem once said of their initial spark: “There was obvious chemistry between us,” he said. “I mean, it’s all there on film; it’s like a document of our passion. One day we’re going to have to show the kids — imagine! ‘Mummy, Daddy, what did you do in the movies together?’ Well, my children, you should celebrate this movie as you’re here because of it.”

The stunning couple, who costarred in Woody Allen’s comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008, showed their on-screen magic again in the newly released Loving Pablo, which is based on the love life of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Since that auspicious beginning, Cruz has become a silver screen sex goddess in films such as To Rome with Love and Blow, and a highly esteemed actress for roles in Nine, Volver and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for which she won an Academy Award.

For her latest turn as Donatella Versace, the native-Spanish speaker told the magazine Versace’s accent was tough to master: “It’s a lot of dialogue, in my second language, but with [Donatella’s] accent, which is Italian….I speak Italian. But still, it was a big challenge.” In the newly released trailer for The Assassination of Gianni Versace, which is set to air sometime in 2018, a platinum blonde Cruz somberly kisses and walks up the steps of the infamous Miami mansion where her brother was killed.