Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, who is filming the television series for National Geographic “Genius: Picasso” in which he plays the famous painter, told AFP that he feels a “huge responsibility” in interpreting the role of the “hero from Malaga”.
While filming the series in Budapest, the actor, who has transformed into Picasso (1881-1973) in his later years thanks to makeup, recalls that the artist was “born in his hometown”, in Malaga, the capital of Andalusia.
The actor says he “grew up in the shadow of that giant” who, he emphasizes, is “probably the greatest artist of the 20th century”.
“When I would go to school holding my mother’s hand, every morning we would cross the Merced square,” where Picasso’s birthplace is, he recalls, speaking fluent English with a charming Spanish accent.
>>>Antonio Banderas will embody Picasso
The hardest thing, Banderas emphasizes, is “understanding Picasso”, his political and artistic decisions, and the nature of his friendships and love affairs.
The ten-episode series, which begins airing on April 23 in France and on the 24th in the United States, seems to him an interesting way to tell the life of “such a prominent person”.
He has to spend five hours in makeup to look like Picasso in his later years.
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But the resemblance to him is not the most important thing, notes Antonio Banderas, “we do not want to be a museum of wax figures”.
Understanding Picasso
Historical authenticity is one of National Geographic’s main assets, he adds.
The hardest thing, he emphasizes, is “understanding Picasso”, his political and artistic decisions, and the nature of his friendships and love affairs.
“I constantly have to read between the lines trying to find the truth, and that is difficult,” he said.
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The plot of the series does not flow chronologically and begins with the Nazi bombing of the Basque town of Guernica on April 26, 1937, to aid Spanish nationalist forces.
“By frequently returning to the past, we create a kind of cubist representation” of the life of the “omnipotent” Picasso.
The great artist in his youth is portrayed by Alex Rich (“Glow”, “True Detective”).
