You may know the name, but you do not know the legend...
J.P. Montalvan • March 6, 2023
“You may know my name, but you do not know the legend. I protect the innocent. And in my brave and noble quest for justice, nothing will distract me! Ohhh!”
— Puss in Boots (played by Antonio Banderas)
Photos courtesy of Eva Rinaldi and Lauredobac
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You may know the name, but you do not know the legend.
Antonio Banderas recently wrote about how he was proud of his role in the animated movie “Puss in Boots”.
What does a story about Banderas and this animated character have to do with leadership, let alone legends?
Leaders lead because they find a way to breakthrough and succeed where others haven’t. I’ve shared with you over the last month about how when you find your W.H.Y. — What you want, How you go about getting what you want, and having a clear vision of who You will be — you have the key ingredients you need to lead the life you want, and lead others to where they want to go.
Banderas’ started acting with work in small Spanish theaters and performances on the streets of Malaga, Spain, eventually landing a place with the Spanish National Theatre and international films. Getting a start in Hollywood was a totally different story.
“It’s no secret that I struggled with my English when I first arrived in Hollywood in 1988,” he said. “I was told my accent was too heavy, that I would be typecast and be destined to play the ‘bad guy.’ It was quite a challenging time for me.”
If you wonder what it must have been like to try to breakthrough as a Hispanic actor in Hollywood in the 1980s and 1990s, just think about where we are today. In 2022, only about 3% of lead actors in TV shows are Latinos, and representation in films is no better. But at the box office, Hispanic customers purchased 29% or $2.9 billion of all box office tickets sold in 2019, before the Covid pandemic shut down theaters. Never mind that many of the portrayals of Latinos are negative, from undocumented immigrants, orphans and criminals to poor and uneducated people.
But Banderas was clear on what he wanted. “I was eager to prove myself as an actor and to break out of the limited roles that were being offered to me,” he said. In 1992, still speaking minimal English, he began acting in U.S. films. Despite having to learn all his lines phonetically, Banderas put together a critically praised performance as a struggling musician in his first American drama film The Mambo Kings.
How did he do it? “I remained optimistic, and I knew that if I could find the right project, I could showcase my talents beyond villainous roles.”
When DreamWorks Animation decided to introduce Puss in Boots in Shrek 2, they chose Banderas to voice Puss. For Banderas, it was “a game-changer.”
When you find your W.H.Y., the breakthrough can be larger than you. You create a path that others can be inspired by, learn from and follow. Banderas is doing that for Hispanics, other actors — and all people — who struggle to breakthrough with language accents. That’s the final step to finding your W.H.Y. — being clear, comfortable and confident on who you will be when you get when get what you want.
Antonio Banderas is crystal clear, very happy and clearly confident on who he wanted to be and became.
“One of the things that I always loved about Puss in Boots is that he’s a hero with an accent,” Banderas said. “That Puss would go on to delight so many children who had rarely seen or heard a character at the center of the cinematic story who maybe sounded like them — or sounded like the people they knew — is one of the greatest joys of my life. No matter how old you are, visibility matters. It matters to see yourself represented as a hero, be it live action or animated.”
Here’s to you finding that hero and legend in you — and leading others to find their W.H.Y.
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