Bardem has some top-tier movie performances...
Bardem shows off his softer side in his role as Felipe, the Brazilian love interest of Julia Roberts' character, in Eat Pray Love. Compared with many of his darker roles, it's refreshing to see Bardem play someone kind and romantic. The actor's natural charm shines in this movie, and it carries much of the relationship between the two. | © Columbia Pictures/Plan B Entertainment
Bardem played Cuban-American entertainer Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos. His casting generated plenty of discussion at the time, but he silenced his critics with his committed performance. He captures Arnaz's charisma and complicated relationship with Lucille Ball quite well, and gives the character a surprisingly vulnerable side. It's certainly a different kind of performance from the Spanish actor, but that's part of the appeal. | © Amazon Studios/Escape Artists
Bardem only has a small role in Collateral, but he truly makes every second count. As Felix, he provides Vincent with one of the movie's most important stops during his endless night of assassinations. Bardem's calm performance makes the character feel dangerous without needing to do very much at all. | © DreamWorks Pictures/Paramount Pictures
Darren Aronofsky's Mother! is an intentionally mysterious psychological film. Bardem plays into that mystery in his role as a struggling poet simply known as "Him". His seemingly gentle character gradually reveals a much darker side as his house descends into chaos. Bardem's calmness makes the character even more unsettling, which is vaguely reminiscent of his portrayal of Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. | © Protozoa Pictures/Paramount Pictures
Bardem reunites with his wife Penélope Cruz in Everybody Knows, a psychological thriller from acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi. As Paco, he plays a seemingly dependable man whose extremely complicated history gradually comes to light. Bardem keeps the character restrained for much of the movie, which makes the film's emotional moments hit harder. | © Focus Features/Universal Pictures
Raoul Silva is one of the most memorable villains in the modern James Bond franchise. Bardem enters Skyfall with an almost playful energy before revealing just how cold, calculated, and unbelievably dangerous he really is. His eccentric performance gives Silva an unpredictable quality that makes his scenes with Daniel Craig remarkably entertaining. | © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
In Mondays in the Sun, Bardem plays Santa, an unemployed shipyard worker struggling to find purpose in life after losing his job. Rather than turning the character into an unbearable victim, Bardem gives him plenty of humor, stubbornness, and personality. His performance is both funny and deeply depressing, which ultimately earned him the Goya Award for Best Actor in 2003. | © Mediapro/Televisión de Galicia
Bardem received his first Academy Award nomination for playing Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls. His portrayal is remarkable, and this goes beyond the striking physical similarities between the two. Bardem captures Arenas' passion, humor, suffering, and determination, and that helps deliver much of the film's emotional weight. | © Grandview Pictures
Bardem delivers a compelling early performance in the crime drama film Live Flesh. Playing Victor Plaza, a young man whose life is dramatically altered after a violent encounter, Bardem gives the character's personality immense depth. This role is an early showcase of the intensity and screen presence that would eventually make him an international star. | © Warner Española S.A.
Bardem gets to showcase his comedic talents in The Good Boss, a Spanish black comedy-drama. He plays a seemingly charming owner of a family-run industrial scales company named Julio Blanco. He presents himself as a caring boss while quietly manipulating everyone around him. Bardem does a phenomenal job of making his character's hypocrisy hilarious and uncomfortable. | © Tripictures
Bardem brings plenty of personality to Stilgar in Denis Villeneuve's Dune trilogy. He makes quite the impression as the stern but charismatic leader of the Fremen, despite his limited screen time in the first film. His larger role in the second film allowed him to show much more of the character's humor, loyalty, and intensity. Bardem demonstrates his character's fanatical belief in Paul so well. | © Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures
As the passionate Spanish artist Juan Antonio, Bardem gets to play a much more seductive and romantic character in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. His chemistry with Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson gives this Woody Allen film much of its appeal. Bardem makes Juan Antonio charming without completely hiding the character's arrogance and emotional instability. | © Mediapro/Wild Bunch
Bardem delivers one of his most emotionally devastating performances in Biutiful. He plays Uxbal, a deeply flawed man struggling with poverty, fatherhood, criminal activity, and his own mortality. Bardem never makes him easy to like, but he makes it almost impossible for audiences not to empathize with him. | © Focus Features International
Bardem's performance as Ramón Sampedro earned him international acclaim in this deeply emotional Spanish drama. In The Sea Inside, he plays a quadriplegic man fighting for the right to end his life. Bardem treats the role with an enormous amount of humility and respect. It's genuinely an understated performance that demonstrates just how much Bardem can communicate without relying on his physical stature. | © Sogepaq/UGC Images
Anton Chigurh is the performance that turned Bardem into a superstar. There's something almost alien about the way he plays the character, from his monotone voice to his emotionless stare and strange sense of morality. His impressive performance in No Country for Old Men helped him win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and it was entirely deserved. To this day, Chigurh is one of cinema's most iconic villains. | © Paramount Pictures
Few actors can shift between terrifying villains and deeply vulnerable characters quite like Javier Bardem. Since breaking out internationally, the Spanish actor has built one of the most expansive and impressive filmographies in modern cinema. That said, here are 15 of Javier Bardem's best movie roles, ranked from worst to best.
