{"id":297951,"date":"2023-11-02T15:38:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T15:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=297951"},"modified":"2023-11-02T15:38:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T15:38:53","slug":"can-you-recognise-this-oscar-winning-film-star-from-his-rugby-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/can-you-recognise-this-oscar-winning-film-star-from-his-rugby-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you recognise this Oscar-winning film star from his rugby days?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Oscar-winning film star reveals his secret past as an international rugby prop&#8230; but can you recognise him from his playing days?<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Hollywood star played rugby for 14 years until he was 23\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Oscar-winning actor represented Spain at international level\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>But he insisted he does not regret swapping the rugby pitch for Hollywood\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A Hollywood star has revealed he played rugby until he was 23 and even represented his country, before eventually dedicating himself to acting full-time.<\/p>\n<p>The one-time Academy Award winner played for Spain at international level and attended the Rugby World Cup semi-final between Argentina and New Zealand last month.<\/p>\n<p>And despite acknowledging rugby suffered from a lack of support in his country, the actor packed down in scrums for some 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>No Country for Old Men star Javier Bardem revealed ahead of the All Blacks&#8217; semi-final win against Argentina that he played for Spain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I played for Spain,&#8217; Bardem told former Scotland international Jim Hamilton.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/02\/14\/77323205-0-This_Hollywood_star_played_rugby_for_Spain_some_30_years_ago_can-a-30_1698935616039.jpg\" height=\"582\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>This Hollywood star played rugby for Spain some 30 years ago, can you recognise him?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/02\/14\/77323783-0-The_Oscar_winning_actor_played_as_loosehead_prop_for_Spain_befor-a-43_1698936018350.jpg\" height=\"646\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Oscar-winning actor played as loosehead prop for Spain before retiring aged 23<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I started when I was nine years old and I played until I was 23. I love it, it is my passion.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I\u2019m always saying that playing rugby in Spain is like being a bullfighter in Japan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It didn\u2019t make any sense back then but now, thank God, there is a lot of support in Spain for rugby.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Asked what made him fall in love with rugby, Bardem replied: &#8216;It\u2019s my favourite sport of them all because of the ethics, because of the union of the team, because of the respect to the fellow players and the referees.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The ethics of rugby are amazing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I don\u2019t like lately that people are whistling when the players are kicking. We are better than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We have a lot of lessons to give to the kids and one of the things I love about rugby is the ethics \u2013 respect the kicker.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The Skyfall star revealed he used be a prop and played alongside his brother, Carlos.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I was a prop, believe it or not, a small prop, number three,&#8217; he explained.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/02\/14\/77323027-0-image-a-28_1698935437281.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Bardem revealed he played rugby from the age of nine until he was 23<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/02\/14\/77323035-0-image-a-29_1698935447564.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 54-year-old actor attended the Rugby World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and Argentina last month<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;My brother Carlos and I, we were called &#8220;Los Mendrugos&#8221;, which is the hard part of the bread.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, however, Bardem does not regret swapping the oval for the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I don\u2019t have a 140kilograms train wreck coming towards me to tackle,&#8217; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I feel way, way safer making a movie than being there [on the rugby pitch] for one minute.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12702823\/Oscar-winning-film-star-reveals-secret-past-international-rugby-prop-recognise-playing-days.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oscar-winning film star reveals his secret past as an international rugby prop&#8230; but can you recognise him from his playing <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can you recognise this Oscar-winning film star from his rugby days? 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