- Dedicated the Oscar he won for No Country for Old Men (2007) to his mother, Pilar, whom he brought with him to the ceremony. At the end of his acceptance speech, Javier said to her (originally in Spanish), "Mom, this is for you, this is for your grandparents, for your parents, Rafael and Matilde, this is for the actors of Spain, who have brought, like you, the dignity and the pride to our job. This is for Spain and this is for all of you.".
- Married long-term partner Penélope Cruz at a friend's house in the Bahamas in a small ceremony with just family members present.
- Says in interviews that he does not know how to drive.
- Several years ago, a stranger in a disco asked him his name. When Javier replied, the man punched him in the face for no apparent reason, breaking his nose.
- Has been in a relationship with Penélope Cruz since they began working together on Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008).
- Good friends with Josh Brolin and Tom Cruise.
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 8, 2012.
- Became a father for the second time at age 44 when his wife Penélope Cruz gave birth to their daughter Luna Encinas Cruz on July 22, 2013.
- To portray Reynaldo Arenas, Javier not only learned Cuban-Spanish, but Cuban-accented English, and lost 30 pounds to better resemble the smaller-framed Arenas.
- Javier's original interest was in painting, and he studied at Madrid's Escuela de Artes y Oficios. Eventually, deciding he'd never be a talented painter, he drifted into a number of odd jobs, working as a bouncer, a writer, a construction worker, and even a stripper.
- Is one of 14 actors to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance. The others in chronological order are Geoffrey Rush for Shine (1996), Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004), Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (2005), Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006), Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012), Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008), and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009), Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010), Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010), J.K. Simmons for Whiplash (2014), Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant (2015), Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour (2017).
- Played rugby union as a teen and was on the Spanish National Team.
- Became a father for the first time at age 41 when his wife Penélope Cruz gave birth to their son Leonardo Encinas Cruz on January 22, 2011.
- The Bardem family owns a restaurant in Madrid, Spain called "La Bardemcilla". The restaurant is managed by Javier's sister, Mónica Bardem.
- His Best Actor nomination for Before Night Falls (2000) made him the first Spanish actor to receive an Academy Award nomination and his Best Supporting Actor victory for No Country for Old Men (2007) made him the first Spanish actor to win an Academy Award.
- Javier, his mother, Pilar Bardem, and his siblings, Mónica Bardem and Carlos Bardem, often appear in each other's films.
- Had a long relationship with Cristina Payés. They were together for ten years.
- Actors Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna list him as their favorite actor.
- Met Penélope Cruz for the first time on the set of Jamón, Jamón (1992), but they would not become a couple until working together in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). They also worked together on Live Flesh (1997), but did not share any on-screen time.
- Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005.
- Is one of only four Academy-Award winning actors to play a primary James Bond villain. The others are Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill (1985), Christoph Waltz in Spectre (2015), and Rami Malek in No Time to Die (2021).
- Beat out Johnny Depp for the role of Florentino Ariza in Love in the Time of Cholera (2007).
- Was originally cast in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), but dropped out of the project and was replaced by Josh Brolin.
- He has worked with seven directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Milos Forman, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Woody Allen, Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Sam Mendes.
- To become Ramón Sampedro, a 55-year-old Spanish man who made headlines with a crusade to end his own life, Javier, who was in his thirties at the time, was on the set of The Sea Inside (2004) at the crack of dawn for a five-hour makeup session that produced the necessary aging.
- Bears such a strong resemblance to fellow actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, they are sometimes confused for one another.
- Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#73) (2007).
- Teamed up with the Enough Project's co-founder, John Prendergast, to raise awareness about conflict minerals in the Congo (2011).
- He has said that he doesn't watch his own films.
- His Oscar nomination for Being the Ricardos (2021) coincided with wife Penélope Cruz's nomination for Parallel Mothers (2021), a first for the couple. Neither took home the statuette.
- Was originally cast as Guido Contini in Nine (2009), which he turned down and Daniel Day-Lewis was eventually given the role.
- The longest he has gone without an Oscar nomination is seven years, between Before Night Falls (2000) and No Country for Old Men (2007).
- Is one of six performers with multiple Oscar nominations for foreign language films; the others are Marcello Mastroianni for Divorce Italian Style (1961), A Special Day (1977) and Oci ciornie (1987) (Italian), Sophia Loren for Two Women (1960) and Marriage Italian Style (1964) (Italian), Liv Ullmann for The Emigrants (1971) and Face to Face (1976) (Swedish), Isabelle Adjani for The Story of Adele H (1975) and Camille Claudel (1988) (French), and Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose (2007) and Two Days, One Night (2014) (French). Bardem was nominated for his performances in Before Night Falls (2000) and Biutiful (2010) (Spanish).
- Son of Pilar Bardem. Nephew of Juan Antonio Bardem.
- As of 2022, he has been in 2 films that were Oscar nominated for Best Picture: No Country for Old Men (2007) and Dune: Part One (2021), with the former being a winner in the category.
- Brother-in-law of Mónica Cruz and Eduardo Cruz.
- Younger brother of Carlos Bardem and Mónica Bardem.
- Grandson of Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro. Grand nephew of Guadalupe Muñoz Sampedro and Mercedes Muñoz Sampedro. Second nephew of Luchy Soto and Carmen Lozano. Cousin of Miguel Bardem. Political grand nephew of Manuel Soto. Political second nephew of Luis Peña.
- Vacationed with Penélope Cruz and his family (mother, Pilar Bardem and brother, Carlos Bardem) in Fernando de Noronha, a cluster of islands located directly off the Brazilian coast. (January 2010)
- Born at 9:30 PM (GMT).
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