It’s his moment and he knows it. No only did he become the first Spanish actor to win the gold Oscar statuette on February 24, he also won the BAFTA Award and the Golden Globe no less. If we add the two European Film Awards, 4 Goyas and a San Sebastian Film Festival Concha de Plata, there’s more than enough to show for his deserving this latest prize.

According to the jury, the award with 30,000 Euros in prize money recognizes the actor “for the professional goals he has reached throughout his extensive career, especially in 2007, as well as for his defense of the acting profession and his faithful commitment to Spanish cinema”. Bardem, who has been on a well-deserved sabbatical year following the ground-breaking march to the Oscars, received the telephone call notifying him of his latest prize from the Spanish Minister of Culture himself, Cesar Antonio Molina, who wanted the pleasure of telling him personally.

Once more, the actor showed his appreciation for the award by turning attention away from himself. Bardem said, “It’s not for me, but for an entire profession that I love and I try to defend day in and day out through my work. I take it as a big hug from my profession, from my Spanish colleagues”. He gave similar speeches on receiving the British BAFTA, the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the Special Award of the Spanish Actors Union.

It’s an unstoppable career which still awaits the premiere of the Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, filmed in the city in the title, and sharing billing with Spain’s other most international film star, Penelope Cruz, along with the Allen’s new diva, the American Scarlett Johansson. However, without a doubt, it was his role as villain Anton Chigurh and the Joel and Ethan Cohen film No Country for Old Men, winning four Oscars including his as Best Supporting Actor, that has brought Javier Bardem genuine and wide-spread acclaim for his work through the years and made him a world-wide star. We hope it will continue long into the future.