The 57-year-old actor shares that he has to spend over five hours in the make-up chair before shooting for ten hours.
- Apr 25, 2018
AceShowbiz - Antonio Banderas truly struggled for his art to portray an ageing Pablo Picasso in new TV series "Genius", spending over five hours in the make-up chair before every shoot. The Spaniard, who grew up in Malaga where the artist was born, admits his work day began at 2.30am - because he had to get a head start on the rest of the crew.
"I would be picked up at 2.30 in the morning ready for a three o'clock make up session that would take five hours and a half," "The Mask of Zorro" star explained. "Then I had to shoot for 10 hours".
But throughout the shoot, Banderas knew he had the support of Picasso's daughter, jewellery designer Paloma Picasso, thanks to a lunch meeting he had with her in Los Angeles years before he took on the role - when he hadn't mastered any English and had to speak to her in Spanish.
"She was closing her eyes [at the table], so I ask her, 'Are you tired?' " he recalled during an appearance on "The Talk". "[She said], 'When I close my eyes I can see my father. My father never lost the Andalusian accent [from Spain].' ".
Meanwhile, Banderas reveals he used to pass by Picasso's apartment on his way to school every day, adding, "It was four or five blocks from where we lived". And he had the chance to visit the place where the legendary artist was born while making the new series, which premieres in America on Tuesday night, April 24. "We shot the birth of Picasso scene in the same place he was actually born," he explains.
