"Is it a man walking on the beach, winking at the girls and looking for going to bed? Is it someone who wears a lot of gold chains and rings and sits at the bar? Because this is not me! I am very, very Latin, but not so much lover. "

Antonio Banderas is a Spanish actor, best-known for his role in The Mask of Zoro.

Banderas' father was a State Department worker; his mother was a teacher. He has one brother, Francisco. He was raised in a catholic household. As a child, Banderas dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player until he broke his foot at the age of fourteen. He put aside his athletic ambitions to study drama; he joined a theatre group that travelled throughout Spain. His work with the theatre gave him the exposure he needed to land a spot with the National Theatre of Spain. He was noticed by director, Pedro Almodovar, who cast Banderas in his debut film, Laberinto de Pasione in 1982. In 1984 he appeared as a gay man in Ley del Deseo (Law of Desire). At the time Banderas spoke very little English

Banderas' first American film was Mambo Kings, which stands as a testament to his acting abilities and helped him gain an American mainstream reputation. His first mainstream appearance was his 1993 performance in Philadelphia as Tom Hanks' gay lover. The following year he was cast in Interview with the Vampire, co-starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Subsequently, he appeared in Desperado, Evita, and The Mask of Zorro.

Banderas appeared in the 2003 Broadway musical, Nine, a performance from which he was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical. Recently, he was the voice for Puss in Boots in Shrek 2.

In 1996, Banderas married actress Malanie Griffith who he met during the shooting of Two Much. The couple have one daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith.