Antonio Banderas: From Zorro to.... "Pussycat"?

He's that gorgeous Latino heartthrob soon to don the black mask and pick up the sword again as "Zorro" in the sequel to the huge hit swashbuckler film. But wait! Is that Antonio Banderas' voice coming out of another dashing swordsman? Why, it's Puss in Boots, all big-eyed, furry and orange and decked out in Musketeer hat while brandishing a cool rapier sword. Antonio plays a cat, a CGI cat, in Shrek 2, one of the best sequel films we've ever seen!

Banderas, so notable in the "Desperado" and "Spy Kids" films, has recently conquered Broadway in the play "Nine". With Shrek 2, he joins actress wife Melanie Griffith in voicing an animated character for the first time (She was the little birdie in Stuart Little 2). Antonio's kids love him as "Puss" and even told the actor "Look, Papa! He even moves like you!". When meeting with us to talk about his first voice character role, Banderas made lots of gestures and faces that made him a delight to watch as well as listen to. He's got his longer "Zorro" hair again and won't be losing his "hunk" label anytime soon. The charming actor entered the room carrying a large glass or orange juice, took a slug and told us about... throwing up a hairball!

TeenHollywood: You are very good in comic roles. Do you enjoy them?

Antonio: Very much. I think that comedy is one of the more serious things that you can do in our day, especially in the world that we're living in. We have to provide the people with good entertainment that has a soothing effect on everything that we're watching on TV these days. So, I consider comedy a very serious thing.

TeenHollywood: This was your first voice character role. How hard was it for you?

Antonio: It was less hard than I thought it was going to be, and I suppose that that has to do with the team that you work with because Melanie [Griffith] had an experience with Stuart Little that was a little bit harder than that. But, this director and the whole entire team, they relate very much to actors. They ask your opinion. They love to see you improvise sometimes. It was hard for me because I was doing theater at the time and I had to sing every night. I had to go to C notes and suddenly, for half an hour, I'd be trying to get a hairball out of my throat. (imitates cat throwing up hairball. We laugh).

TeenHollywood: But was the process of recording the voice different for you?

Antonio: Yes, not having the other actors in the room is difficult but I'd seen the first movie and I had that reference point.

TeenHollywood: So you didn't meet any of the other voice actors?

Antonio: I met Mike [Myers] because he came to the theater. Actually, I met him two or three years ago. I know Cameron [Diaz] because we met on the red carpet and we act like we know each other. 'Cameron! How are you? How is your movie?' Eddie [Murphy], I've never shaken hands or seen him in person. We were totally separated, and I sang the song, the whole entire song, ("Living La Vida Loca") and knowing Eddie and his work and Donkey, I started just throwing him some stuff. For example, at the end, I started singing falsetto, and he starts saying, 'You stupid cat.' I say, 'You speak Spanish?' He's just making jokes on that. You throw him something and you know that he's going to give that back to you and the guy is funny and a great, great actor.

TeenHollywood: Did you enjoy the first Shrek?

Antonio: The movie has such wit. My daughter has seen the first one probably a couple of times. I saw it like six times [Laughs]. I think that it's very positive and has beautiful messages to it. The first film is about friendship. I will always remember when I first saw the scene of donkey and ogre just laying down under the stars and telling each other their problems, you know, like two normal friends. Donkey is very annoying sometimes but the two love each other. Ogre is such a human character in a way. He's an ogre, but he's more human than any other character in the movie. He's got problems. And, the love story...there is such a beautiful message there that has to do with our society and our times. People are just lifting their faces and taking pills and in the movie, instead of making them both beautiful, they make them both ugly as ogres and they love each other. The movie is telling you too that love isn't only for beautiful people [Laughs]. Ugly people love each other the same and it's beautiful and it's human and it's real.

TeenHollywood: I detected a lot of Zorro in Puss in Boots.

Antonio: (smiling and wiggling eyebrows) Do you think so? I think that the first idea that they had for the character was D'Artagnan with a French accent. Obviously, when they called me, they rejected that idea because of my accent. So, we went for it, yes. It wasn't that clear at the beginning that it was going to be so much Zorro. It's something that grew during the process. Funnily enough, the only thing that makes a difference between Zorro and this character is the main weapon for Zorro is the sword and this cat, his main weapon is himself. He can stop an army coming (by just being so cute).

TeenHollywood: What did you think when you first saw the Puss character on screen?

Antonio: I was just laughing and amazed at how well the animation was done. I'm pretty sure that they followed my movies and the way that I move in all the epics that I have done especially 'Desperado' or 'The 13th Warrior', characters like that. There's a lot of sword fights and stuff. I could recognize the movements as mine! It's the same way I look around and the same way I move my hands and I'm like, 'Oh man, look at this guy.' Even my daughter said 'It's not just the voice, Papa. He looks like you.' They saw 'Zorro' and other movies and just tried to imitate body language and things like that.

TeenHollywood: Your career is really branching out. Movies, Broadway plays, now animation voices. Is it fun to progress like that?

Antonio: I've been so many things in particular periods in my life. I was a lover boy for many years. I suppose that I recognize myself as a very eclectic actor. I have done horror movies like Interview With the Vampire, musicals like Evita, adventure movies like Zorro, action movies like 'Assassin'. I've done movies for kids and, at the same time, social movies like Philadelphia. I have been on many different turfs. Now, I've done theater and I directed a movie and I've been producing too. I love that. I feel that it's the essence of being an actor, or at the very least, I think that that is what really, really attracted me about acting, the possibility of doing totally different things.

TeenHollywood: What was one of your favorite lines for Puss?

Antonio: My favorite line, 'I hate Mondays' is one great line. I thought that was pretty cool.

TeenHollywood: Do you have any cats at home?

Banderas: I have two cats, yeah. I tried to do some research [Laughs]. They would yell, though. Cats are very independent animals. They're very sexy, if you want. Not dogs. Dogs are different. They're familiar. They're obedient. There is another mood with them. You call a cat, you go, 'Cat, come here.' He doesn't come to you unless you have something in your hand that he thinks might be food. They're very free animals, and I like that. I think that it's the same with Puss in the movie too. He's not dependent. He's an outcast actually. At the beginning of the movie, he's presented as an outcast. That's a great thing because you put that voice and all of that together and it made me laugh. I suppose that it's going to make audiences laugh. He's a cute character.

TeenHollywood: Oh, he's totally adorable. What if they want you to do a whole Puss in Boots movie?

Antonio: Just the cat? I don't know. There was a moment that they had that in mind, but that it's obviously subjected to seeing how this movie performs. I mean, it's going to do well. The movie on Wednesday is going to open in a movie theater in Los Angeles and people are invited to come in their pajamas to watch the movie. We're going to go there to see what the first reaction to the movie is.

TeenHollywood: So, you and your family in P.J.s?

Antonio: (laughs) I don't think so unless I want to be on E! Entertainment for the whole entire week.

TeenHollywood: Have Melanie and the family seen the whole movie yet?

Antonio: They saw it but the total process of finishing the movie was not done. We were still in early stages. I haven't seen the final product yet. The song was not edited when I saw it, 'Living La Vida Loca'.

TeenHollywood: Did you enjoy doing the play "Nine"?

Antonio: It was physically very, very hard, but I will say with no doubt that it was the most beautiful experience. I'm an actor because of theater. I worked for six years in the National Theater in Spain, different companies but not in America. I was very afraid of doing theater in English, and being on stage for two hours and forty five minutes and singing fourteen songs. I lost like fifteen pounds and my pants were falling apart. We used to lose around five liters, five kilograms in every performance and had to be drinking water continuously.

TeenHollywood: Are you going to do some more plays?

Antonio: Yes, next year. Next year at this time, I will be almost close to opening a new play, a musical called 'Death Takes A Holiday' based on the movie and it was written by the same author who wrote 'Nine'.

TeenHollywood: When will you start the second Zorro film?

Antonio: I'm going to start Zorro, the new one, on July 26th in Mexico. It's a beautiful story, more mature than the first one. The concepts are mature like jealousy and the relationship between father and son and it's quite different than the first one. It's going to have the adventure and it's going to have the comedy too.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.