Antonio Banderas was "surprised" to find himself nominated for his first ever Academy Award.
The 59-year-old actor has been nominated for Actor in a Leading Role for his work on ‘Pain and Glory’, and has said he didn’t expect to land his first ever Oscar nod at the prestigious award ceremony, which will take place next month.
Speaking whilst attending a special screening for the movie in Malaga, Spain, he said: "I was surprised. There is this period of the Oscars becoming the big awards worldwide, not only American, but worldwide. It’s logical though that it takes time to adapt, and see what the future is of these important awards. It will be very interesting if it actually covers the whole entire world."
And in a second statement, Antonio expressed his thanks to The Academy for considering him as one of the actors in contention for the gong.
He said: "I would like to thank The Academy for my nomination for Best Actor for my work in ‘Pain and Glory’. It is an honour to share the nomination with my fellow actors, they did an amazing job. The bar is very high and I’m very thankful to be in the run for the Oscars. I would like to congratulate Pedro Almodóvar and the ‘Pain and Glory’ team for the International Feature Film nomination for the amazing work they did. I would also like to thank Sony Pictures Classic for their support and effort to get here."
The star will go head to head against Joaquin Phoenix (‘Joker’), Leonardo DiCaprio (‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’), Adam Driver (‘Marriage Story’), and Jonathan Pryce, (‘The Two Popes’) for the award.
The 92nd Academy Awards – which will have no host for the second year in a row – take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on February 9.
Antonio Banderas ‘surprised’ by Oscar nomination
