Antonio Banderas has explained the reasoning behind his return to Spain.
Antonio Banderas doesn’t have any regrets about leaving Hollywood.
The 65-year-old actor returned to Malaga, Spain, after suffering a heart attack in 2017, and Antonio insists he doesn’t have any regrets about the move.
Antonio – who was married to actress Melanie Griffith between 1996 and 2015 – told People: “Those were beautiful, exciting years. But I always had this sense of provisionality that it was not going to last my whole life.
“I knew that Malaga was there, my hometown. I was not supposed to be in Malibu, but in Malaga.”
Antonio’s new film, Tony, is a biopic following the early life and career of Anthony Bourdain, the legendary chef, and the actor admits that he jumped at the chance to star in the movie.
He explained: “I didn’t know Anthony Bourdain personally, but I thought that [Bourdain’s travelogue series No Reservations] was a beautiful show that was not actually about cooking, but life.
“And then my character [based on Bourdain’s mentor Ciro Cozzi], he was a good man. He was somebody who has something to say. And I have eight restaurants, so I am a little bit in that world, too. It’s almost impossible to say no to a project like this.”
Meanwhile, Antonio previously claimed that having a heart attack was “one of the best things” to ever happen to him.
The Mask of Zorro star – who was born in Malaga, but spent decades living in the US – explained to the Radio Times magazine: “I had a heart attack six years ago. It probably was one of the best things that happened in my life. It was like putting glasses on and seeing what was important.
“I came back to Spain and started looking at my professional life from a different point of view. So I do connect to it in a personal way. I think it’s a beautiful message, and I think it was done properly.
“Since my heart attack, I’m looking only for the pleasure of acting. That’s it. I don’t care about anything else. For me, life starts when somebody says, ‘Action!’ – or when the curtain comes up.”
Antonio Banderas doesn’t regret leaving Hollywood
