Speaking of your own complexity, obviously the Oscar nomination for Before Night Falls and all of the attention that came with that must have changed the way that you felt and thought about what you do, and perhaps even changed the way that you went about it. Is that true? Did it make things more complicated?

Well, first of all, it changed my attitude. It was very difficult for me to walk on the street in Madrid. [Chuckles] The popularity level was very high, and that really drives me nuts because here in Europe we have these scumbags, this garbage, called paparazzi. They make a fortune chasing people and even if you want to stay away from them they are in your telephone, like in my case when I got the nomination. Some journalist - perhaps we should call them that but I don’t think they are journalists - put mics on my phone, just to know where I was.

Wow! What do you do in that case?

I went to the police and they realized that they were under surveillance and then they quit, but it still took like three weeks.

That's horrible.

Yeah! I wasn't expecting that and I don't like that. I basically do what I do; I think it's a privilege that I work in something that I like and that I'm quite well paid for it. But basically I never chose to be popular, which is absurd and it's in contradiction to my job, I know. But a lot of actors that I know feel the same and it's true. Expressing a feeling, expressing a way of watching the world with different eyes, portraying a character, doesn't have anything to do with being popular and being recognized on the street. It's not the same thing. So what changed for me after the Oscar nomination was the perspective that I have about myself. I became very important in the media. I laughed about myself - I didn't want to be that important because I don't feel that I'm that important. Then I received some offers and I keep on receiving offers from the States but I haven't found what I'm looking for, as U2 would say. All I'm trying to do is find good material, something that I would be proud of watching.

Is there anything that you have done over the past couple of years in the whirlwind of all of this attention that you figured was a mistake or do feel you've really stuck to who you are and handled everything well?

Well, no, there are many mistakes that I've made. I mean, there are many things that I've refused to do and I haven't seen all of them but I'm sure that some of them will be great movies. That I'll know as soon as I watch them. But the only thing that I know, and I'm happy with that, is that two choices that I've made - which are Mondays In the Sun and Dancer Upstairs - I liked them and I felt fine doing those two different roles and I'm proud of those two movies. So I'm not sure about what I refused but I'm sure about what I did chose.

That's a good way to think about it. You must have learned something from watching the members of your family who'd gone before you in acting and getting into the public limelight. Obviously things are different about the way that you became a celebrity for your generation versus your mother's generation. I'm sure that she didn't have people bugging her telephone to overhear conversations and whatnot.

No.

Are there certain things that she or others in your family - your uncle for instance - learned through their experiences that they passed on to you? And what are some of the things that have happened to you that you've taught them?

[Chuckles] Let's see. Oh, I don't know. It's a different medium - my mother usually works in theater. It's like only ten years ago that she’s working a lot in cinema. So the things that I've learned from her have to do much more with acting or the way she sees acting, the way to interact with a job. And the things that I've learned and the things that I'm learning or I will learn, I don't know if they will be of enough importance to anybody. I will know that when I'm sixty or seventy.

Going back again to when you and I first spoke, you brought up a very good point when people asked if you were going to do more English-language films. You said the difficulty wasn't necessarily with the content of those movies and the fact that maybe they wanted you to be some action hero or stud or something, it was about merely being able to express yourself in English and the fact that you weren't comfortable enough with the English language yet to feel you could bring enough emotion to roles by speaking English. Has that changed? Do you feel better about speaking English?

Well, yes, I think so. I've been working on my English with a coach. I would like to make more movies out of Spain and I don't know any word of French or Italian. The only language that I speak a little bit is English and will work more in that direction. Also I enjoy more the trips and the chance that I have to know places if I speak a language. So it's not only about movies, it's about my private life also. So yes, I think my English is getting stronger now. I've done two movies in English and will do more but it depends on the role. If the role has a weight, if a character has an emotional journey and has some values, I think I can bring that to reality. But if the role is almost nothing, only a man talking, then I would be very bad in that, because I can barely talk.

[Laughs] You're doing very well I have to say. Along the same lines, do you think that American audiences and Hollywood in general are becoming more open to non-English films? Spanish-language films have become hugely popular over the past couple of years, so do you feel something like Mondays In the Sun has a better chance with audiences here even if it isn't in English than it would have a couple of years ago?

Yeah, of course. I think Almodovar has done a great, amazing job - he has been like ambassador! A great ambassador of not only Spanish movies but European movies; he's brought people to the movie theaters to watch those films and make the people get used to reading subtitles. It's not only him - there are a lot of directors like him - but is the only Spaniard that has done that. And yes, I would like to think that some people will go and watch Mondays In the Sun and not have problems with reading subtitles. We don't have problems reading subtitles when they are in English. I think that foreign movies - except from those foreign movies which are huge hits like Crouching Tiger or even Almodovar - are usually watched by people from the film industry, not a big audience, and I'm fine with that. It's an honor for me to be able to show my work to the people that I admire, that I would like to work with.

But I love audiences, of course! I would love that every movie I make is full of people but that you can't chose. I mean, you can chose to make a big blockbuster movie and even if you don't know that it's going to work you more or less know that it's going to be a successful movie and a hit. I haven't chosen any movie like that, so I'm used to making little movies and being fine with that. For example, Mondays In the Sun has been a huge success in Spain; in Spain I would say that mostly every movie I've made has been huge. But the States is different, and I'm fine with that - my ambition is not that big.

What's the difference between the way things work in Madrid - like your day-to-day life - versus the way things are here? You mentioned that you can't really walk on the streets anymore. Can you do that when you come to L.A.?

I would say some famous actors that I know have come here to Spain or to Madrid and they say that maybe this is the worst city to be famous.

Really?

Yes, because people here are very affective, emotional, much too open. So they go to you and they touch you and they embrace you, and they are nice but they are very all over you, you know? So when you come here for a week, maybe it's too much. When you live here… [Chuckles] You have to really, um, I don't know, be careful. It's difficult for me - I don't like to be recognized. I told you that it's a contradiction to be an actor and not like to be recognized, but it's true. It's something that I can't help. When I go to other cities that problem doesn't exist, because if I take an airplane and I go to Paris or Rome or L.A. or New York, I'm Mister Nobody, and I'm fine with that. I can't imagine what it's like to be a famous world star like Tom Cruise. That must be something really hard.

But you would never move from Madrid or Spain because of that?

Sometimes I feel like moving, yes, but I don't know if it will be to States. I think it will be to Europe or Rome, I don't know. But I'm fine with this - I mean, I'm very stuck in my roots, much more than I would like, because that makes it difficult for me to move.