Paris (QNN)- Javier Bardem has said he is “getting more work than ever” despite his public pro-Palestine stance, attributing it to “the narrative changing” on Gaza. He also said that the genocide in Gaza “is a fact” and described anyone who justifies it as “pro-genocide.”
At the last Oscars ceremony in February, the openly political star of No Country for Old Men used his time presenting the award for Best International Feature Film to state: "No to war and free Palestine."
Acclaimed actress Susan Sarandon, a fellow pro-Palestinian campaigner, as well as other figures, have complained about their work drying up after their statements condemning Israel's genocide in Gaza and the occupation.
"I think it's important to be able to express your point of view, knowing that there will be people who agree and people who don't," Bardem told AFP at the Cannes Film Festival, where he is starring in The Beloved by Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
Irish-Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, a member of the Cannes jury this year, accused Hollywood of blacklisting film figures such as Sarandon, Bardem, and Mark Ruffalo over their politics.
"It doesn't worry me because I'm lucky enough to be able to work. I'm lucky to be in a place where I can express myself, knowing that I have job offers. I imagine there are people who are more afraid they won't get called because of it, but that's not my case," Bardem said.
"In fact, it's the opposite, they're calling even more because the narrative is changing," said the Oscar winner.
"Now it's no longer as controlled by those who have always controlled it.
"Instead, we now understand that there are consequences when you support or justify a genocide like the one that is happening. And society knows that," he said.
Bardem also spoke out in Cannes on toxic masculinity, "That problem also goes to Trump, Putin and Netanyahu... the big balls man saying 'my cock is bigger than yours and I'm going to bomb the shit out of you' is a f*cking male toxic behavior that is creating thousands of dead people."
He also said that genocide being committed in Gaza is a “fact.” “You can fight against it, you can try to justify it, explain it. That is a fact. You can be against it, or you can justify it,” Bardem said. “If you justify it with your silence or with your support, you are pro-genocide. Those are facts, for me.”
https://x.com/ramabdu/status/2056093407605342459?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
In February, Bardem was one of over 100 celebrity signatories to an open letter criticizing the Berlin Film Festival for “silence” on Gaza.
https://x.com/variety/status/2033394387754127622?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
“We write as film workers, all of us past and current Berlinale participants, who expect the institutions in our industry to refuse complicity in the terrible violence that continues to be waged against Palestinians,” the letter reads.
“We are dismayed at the Berlinale’s involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state’s key role in enabling it.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bardem also slammed the US-Israeli assault on Iran as an “illegal war created by Trump and Netanyahu.”
https://x.com/amockx2022/status/2033356878424809542?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
