Javier Bardem on ‘Little Mermaid’ role: It’s about adults learning from their kids

We’ve been following Javier Bardem’s celebrated acting career long before he began dazzling Hollywood with his versatility and uncompromising thespic chops, particularly for his Oscar-cited portrayals in 2000’s “Before Night Falls,” 2010’s “Biutiful,” 2021’s “Being the Ricardos” and 2008’s “No Country for Old Men,” for which he won the coveted golden statuette for best supporting actor.

In fact, we were already in awe of the 54-year-old actor’s ability to create and inhabit complex characters ever since we saw him in Pedro Almodovar’s “High Heels” (1991) and Bigas Luna’s “Jamón, Jamón (1992).”

So, while Disney’s triumphant live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid,” which opens in Philippine cinemas today, has a lot of exceptional stars in it—among them Melissa McCarthy, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay—we really wanted to direct our first question to Javier at the film’s global press con last week.

Javier Bardem as King Triton —PHOTOS COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY STUDIOS

Since he has created so many memorable characters on-screen, we asked Javier how he wanted to set his nonsinging, larger-than-life character King Triton, ruler of the Seven Seas and strict dad to his youngest daughter Ariel (Halle Bailey), apart from his previous roles on the big screen.

Very specific job

Very casually, the actor answered, “Oh, thank you for saying that! You know, I just tried to do my job—which was very specific. It’s about a father who is deeply in love with his daughter. With that love comes confusion, fear and insecurity. As a result, he blocks her from being free.

“That kind of relationship between Ariel and King Triton was what I had to create—and that’s the role I needed to bring to life for this tale to make sense.

“One of the beautiful themes in the story is that the mother [of Prince Eric] and the father of Ariel may be the adults in the story, but in this case, they learn a lot [about life and love] from their own kids.” INQ

Read Next

Don’t miss out on the latest news and information.

For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.