ANTONIO BANDERAS stars as Luis Vargas in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures' sexy, suspenseful thriller ORIGINAL SIN.
© 2001 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures

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Antonio Banderas Reveals Details About His New Action Film

Antonio Banderas, the father of the SPY KIDS, is excited to be working on his new film ECKS VS SEVER with co-star Lucy Liu. Recently, during a visit to the film's set in Vancouver, Banderas filled CINESCAPE in on the details of his latest explosive action movie.

ANTONIO BANDERAS stars as Luis Vargas in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures' sexy, suspenseful thriller ORIGINAL SIN.

© 2001 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures

In the film, Banderas plays the titular "Ecks" (pronounced "X"), an FBI agent who's emotionally destroyed by the death of his young wife.

"Then, out of nowhere, a department of the government tells him that there is a chance his wife is still alive," explains Banderas. "They will give him all the information they know about her location, if he agrees to go on a dangerous mission for them."

Naturally, Ecks agrees to the terms.

"He is a complex character to play," notes Banderas. "At the beginning of the film, he is depressed beyond all limits. He's been depressed for years, but when he finds out that [his wife] may still be alive, he has to let in a little ray of hope." Banderas has to create an air of tense anxiety during the entire film. "He's under the pressure of not knowing his wife's fate, and he isn't going to find out unless he can get this job done."

The character soon learns that his mission is even more difficult than he expected.

"He's sent to find this one special mark, a very specific person." That person turns out to be Sever, a martial artist killing machine played by Lucy Liu. "Lucy has just been fabulous to work with," says Banderas. "She's a real professional."

ORIGINAL SIN star Antonio Banderas, with his wife Melanie Griffith, at the film's premiere event.

© 2001 Sue Schneider

In the story, things come to a head quickly for Ecks. "The film takes place over the course of about 28 hours, so continuity has been very difficult," Banderas states. One of the things that the actor finds hardest to maintain is his character's three day old growth of facial hair. "This beard is driving me nuts! It has to be just this short, a certain length! Maintaining it just so is killing me!"

One of the reasons that Banderas was drawn to the film is because "it's an urban character. I have played a lot of historical figures, like ZORRO, or things like DESPERADO, which is set nowadays, but is dressed like a Western. It's good to play someone who is more urban, more contemporary. I get to speak lines that are closer to things that I say in real life, and I get to wear clothing that's more modern. I wear a tie in this movie!"

Also, Banderas was drawn to the large-scale stunt scenes in the script. The film will feature approaches to action that are new, different, and bigger than things seen in previous films. One sequence, called "the raining cars sequence," features the actor riding, jumping and crashing a motorcycle while several exploding cars are falling out of the sky all around him.

"I enjoy the physicality; I enjoy a physical approach to characters," Banderas says with a smile. "In this movie, I get to surf on an overturned bus... I'm sore, but I enjoy it."

Lucy Liu in CHARLIE'S ANGELS

© 2000 Columbia Pictures, Inc.

Even though there's a lot of action, don't expect ECKS VS SEVER to play up the gore.

"This is not dangerous violence. We expect a PG-13... We don't even put any blood into the squibs. Everything is choreographed, like a ballet.

"Violence in movies can be confused," Banderas continues. "There are different kinds of violence. I don't do movies where I think that the violence encourages certain behaviors, or where the violence is inappropriate in its treatment of women, or things like that. For me, those aren't 'action' movies. They aren't entertaining and fun, like action movies are. They are something else.

"For example, I don't consider the action in DESPERADO as the kind of violence that can hurt anybody. I consider it as a visual fantasy. It's almost like 'action magic realism,' if you want to call it that."

Banderas is about halfway done with the film, which has completed 30 days of its 60-day schedule and, as of right now, is on budget. ECKS VS SEVER is currently slotted for theatrical wide release on November 1st of this year.

Banderas sums up the intent of the film quite simply.

"This is just the kind of movie for guys who love to see explosions and cars flying. This movie is for them... and they're going to love it!"