Javier Bardem has lots of love for “I Love Lucy” star Desi Arnaz.
Bardem was nominated for best actor at Sunday’s Academy Awards for his portrayal of Arnaz in the biopic “Being the Ricardos,” which explores the legacy of the Cuban-born entertainer who revolutionized the TV industry alongside Lucille Ball.
“Today, it’s more common to see people from different places having jobs or playing important roles in the industry, but in the ‘50s it was kind of impossible. It was kind of forbidden,” Bardem told the Daily News.
“He meant a lot. He really opened the door for foreigners to be able to be represented, to be present in the American culture. We have to understand that once you are in the American culture somehow, you belong to the world culture, because America has that power. ... He was one of the first, and he did it with a lot of talent. He got there by his own right and he earned it.”
Bardem, 53, was one of three actors nominated for an Oscar for “Being the Ricardos,” which depicts a tumultuous week of production of the wildly popular “I Love Lucy” sitcom. Nicole Kidman was nominated for best actress for her performance as Ball, while J.K. Simmons was up for best supporting actor after co-starring as William Frawley.
It’s the fourth career Oscar nomination for the Spanish-born Bardem, who won best supporting actor in 2008 for his terrifying turn as a killer in the crime thriller “No Country for Old Men.”
Bardem, whose last nomination came in 2011, says he views the honor differently now than he did earlier in his career.
“I am more aware or more sensitive to it, and even more grateful to it than I was when I was younger,” Bardem said. “When you’re younger, you want to grab, you want to belong ... you want to achieve stages, and now is different. Now it’s like, OK, I did what I could and here I am trying to make a living. I’ve been blessed by the fact that I’m still working, and not only that, but they are recognizing my work.”
Bardem’s preparation for the role included meeting with the actor’s daughter, Lucie, and reviewing tapes that showed Arnaz, who died in 1986, was “the same man in every situation.”
“It didn’t matter if he was on the TV show or in front of the executives,” Bardem said. “He would be the same type of force of nature. Absolutely unstoppable. But he was killing them with charm. He was killing them softly.”
The actor said it was a “great experience” working with Kidman on the movie, which is streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video.
“She was coming super-prepared to the set and she knew exactly every detail of Lucy. She worked for months,” Bardem said.
“We didn’t have much time to rehearse or to exchange points of view, or share doubts or fears, so we just had to jump in it. When you do that, you need a companion. You need a colleague. You need a partner. You need a player, and she is a great player. She really is there for you.”
Bardem’s wife, Penelope Cruz, was nominated for best actress for the twist-filled Spanish thriller “Parallel Mothers.” She and Bardem are the sixth married couple to receive Academy Award nominations in the same year.
The two first met in 1992 while filming the Spanish comedy-drama “Jamon Jamon” and got married in 2010.
“It means the whole world to us,” Bardem said. “We both are from Spain. We never thought for a second that we would be able to be nominated for any Oscar coming from where we were coming from. ... Sharing the nomination, which is kind of historical, but especially unique for both of us, and it brings even more awareness of how blessed (we are) by what we have received and we are still receiving.”
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