February 8, 1994: Antonio Banderas goes gay.

From the Archives of The Advocate

Gay Latinos are making great strides in Hollywood today, but one Spanish actor who helped pave the way isn't even gay. Antonio Banderas spent his early career playing gay in some of his movies with gay filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, such as Labyrinth of Passion and Law of Desire, as well as in U.S. hits like Philadelphia and Interview With the Vampire. In 1994, as Philadelphia was being released, Banderas sat down with The Advocate's Ronald Mark Kraft. "I am completely proud to play a gay character," Banderas said, adding that despite Spain's Catholic culture, "homosexuality is more accepted there than in the United States." He continued, "If I have to worry [that] somebody is not going to call me because I played a gay character ... it's pretty sad." Banderas also said making a movie about AIDS was important to him: "I know many people who died and people who are suffering the sickness now. If 15 years in the future we see we did nothing--I mean no movies, paintings, plays--then we will not be able to say we are artists."

For Tom Hanks, acting opposite Banderas proved simple: "The first day, Antonio was in those tight pants and was wearing that cute leather jacket, and I just thought, I'd flip over this guy. He is dark, he is mysterious, he is ... completely accepting in that old-world kind of way. Playing Antonio's lover, I am the envy of 95% of the women in the world and, I guess, about 17% of the men."

Find this 1994 Advocate on Antonio Banderas in its entirety at www.advocate.com