In just a year, Javier Bardem has gone from a well-respected, international actor to a household name. Winning an Oscar will do that for you. As more and more people who first saw Bardem in "No Country For Old Men" continue to explore this multi-faceted actor's other work, they'll be even more impressed by his incredible range. His latest film, Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", couldn't be further from his dark, Oscar-winning character in the Coen brothers' classic. But, honestly, it probably wasn't just the range of character that appealed to Bardem. Who would turn down a summer in Barcelona with Woody Allen, Scarlett Johannsen, Rebecca Hall, and Penelope Cruz? Bardem sat down this month at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons and let loose on winning the Oscar, working in two languages, painting, what he's doing next, and working with Mr. Allen.

Penelope had an interesting thing to say about working in both languages. She said there was a certain freedom that she didn't expect. Was that your sense too?

JAVIER BARDEM: I mean I think when you're working in a foreign language, it's always a matter of how to fulfill those words with emotion that sometimes those words doesn't have for you because, those words don't belong to you, don't belong to your own experience. When you're working in your mother tongue, besides the phonetic part of it, it comes easily to your mouth because every word has tons and tons of images not having to you, but are related to that word. So that's the difference between working in a foreign language and not besides the difficulties that we all know. When you're going from one language to the other, it's kind of crazy. Because there's something in your mind that has to change very quickly in order to open and close, open and close. It's like you feel how the body reacts, opens up when you're speaking your mother tongue, and how the body shrinks when you are speaking in a foreign language. But at the same time you have to be able to measure both of them, in order to not get lost, and to mangle the foreign one, especially when you are going fast and you were working in a Woody Allen movie where you have one take, two takes that's it. So you have to really learn the lines.

We asked Woody. He said he didn't know what you guys were saying till he got back to New York. In a situation like that, do you feel confident leaving the scene knowing the director has no idea what you said?

BARDEM: But you know what? I think he doesn't want to take the credit. I heard that he's saying that. But I think that-- I mean, the Spanish was literally translated from English. He wrote in those dialogues in English and then they were translated. And of course, once you're portraying it you bring this word or that word. But the idea, the whole thing was already translated, written by him. So he knew what we were doing. There were some words that he doesn't know, but he would discover them on the editing. But it's not all improvisation because you don't want to touch Woody Allen dialogue. I think he wants to say that it was improvised but it wasn't. There was some improvisation but it wasn't all improvised.

To some people they could see his proposition as outrageous and shocking and yet there's something really natural about this guy saying it.

BARDEM: Well, the first scene, it was hard one. I mean, I read it. I said, "How do you do that?" because it's so cliche. It's so stereotype. But then I read it and I keep on reading the script for the first time, and I realize what he wanted to do, which is, first of all, let's put all the stereotypes in front of us, all the clichés: American tourist, romantic town and the Latin lover. Second of all, let's make fun of that. Third of all, let's destroy it. Let's put dynamite on it. And finally we'll see-- let's see what's behind those stereotypes, which, basically, ultimately, it's people that share the same fears and needs, goals, dependence, questions, maybe asked in a different way, but all they're looking for the same thing. And I love that idea because then you can play it knowing that behind that there's a lot of things that he's going to show later on, which at the very end, is like crazy. Everything's crazy. You see the real people behind it and you go, 'What was that?' I thought it was the opposite. And that's why Woody Allen's a genius because he really can go that far without being scared.

Did you ever do that as a young man?

BARDEM: Yeah, well, no. I think you need Woody Allen to write the dialogue to be wise, no? To be brilliant.

But all that said, he's a seductive character who uses language. And I was fascinated that Jose Antonio actually convinces them to seduce themselves. So what is your sense of that? Of seduction? Is that an art?

BARDEM: I think it's-- I think Juan [sic] Antonio reflects-- I think that's my opinion. I don't know if that was Woody Allen's intention, but I think it reflects one kind of a dream that men could have about themselves or even women about men, which is how much I would love to find a man who's so secure of himself that can really protect me in anyway and I can really surrender to the fact that he's going to be with me, holding me on arm and the other side of his body free enough to show me life. It's like being a father and lover, as women are always trying to find mommy. I don't know, I'm the nanny. And I guess it's kind of imaginary role that women have and suddenly presents there and it's like a magic trick. 'Hey, I am here.' And one of the women responds to that, and the other one is like, 'No, that can't be true.' But then at the end, everything gets really mixed and you see that it was only magical trick. And that is not the truth because it's impossible to find that. That's a cliche.

Woody Allen's trademark is so much the neurotic guy from Manhattan. Did you ever imagine 10 years ago you'd star in a Woody Allen movie?

BARDEM: No, not really. No, not even 10 years ago, 1 year ago, before they called me. No, but I think that that's the great grace that I have this last year, that first of all I heard that Woody Allen was coming to Spain and I felt truly honored as a Spaniard. I felt, 'Wow, it's a big deal for Spain that Woody Allen is coming here to portray our country, first of all.' And of course there's a part of you that you go, 'Hmm. I wish I could work in that movie.' But you don't know what's the movie about? And you always think, 'Well it will be about foreign people coming to Spain.' But then there was a role there. And I have a call and I talk to him very briefly. And it was a very brief conversation. I read the script and I said, "Yes." I mean it was so easy. It was like, 'Okay.' And then one month after, I was shooting. And you go there and you have to be very well prepared. You have to do a lot of, I think, homework because things go fast. You have to be very alert. There's no time to think. There's no time to waste. You just have to be. And in order to be, you have to really be relaxed because he goes fast. And I think that's one of the greatest things to work with him which is you realize how much slow a day of shooting usually is-- people waiting in caravan for hours. When the things are ready, the dialogue is brilliant, the director is good, the actors are great, it's very easy. Let's go.

Can you go back to winning the Oscar?

BARDEM:Well, that night was a crazy night, as you can imagine, cause that night always come after nine months of tension. It's not only where you just have rested so well. And you go, 'You know what? I feel like winning an Oscar today.' And then you go and have fun with it. No, it's like it's been nine months of working, promoting the movie, meeting people, speaking a foreign language. I would seven or eight out of the nine months out of your home town. Things have really gone to a place that is kind of unknown for you. And then you bring 17 people from Spain, which was my case, my family and friends since I was 12 years old. And then you put more, even more kind of nervous situation to the fact that you are bringing 17 people and you have to locate them in different hotels, and you need cars and you need tickets. And then you sit down. And then you realize you haven't written a speech. You go, 'Great. So in case they give me the Oscar what do I say?' So all my Oscar night was, 'What if? What do I say? I have 45 seconds.' So when it happened I was there and I had to hold it and say, 'Okay, I have to say something.' And I would say that I'm tremendously grateful for the people in that theater and I guess on TV for being that generous and that respectful because truly I had the need of sharing that speech in Spanish with my mother. And they were so nice and they allowed me that. Having in mind that's a theater in LA full of mostly American people, which I would have perfectly understood that, 'Man, come on. Speak English.' And that as very nice. I truly, I truly, I've been thinking about that lately a lot because you don't realize until time goes by, you say, "Man, people were truly nice." because they could have gone like [whistling noises] no perfectly. But they really respected that. I guess because they saw that I had something really important going on with my mother and the grandparents, the parents of my grandparents, which were actors. And they work really hard for me to be there in that very moment. And about the foreign thing: yeah, it was Ireland, Scotland. France and Spanish. And I think that's such a great thing. I think that really improves, gives even more value to the American market because its' open to the world and because since the very beginning it's been open to people from all around the world coming here and work together. That melting pot is what makes this industry interesting for the rest of the world.

Do you have more respect for the system after going through a whole campaign?

BARDEM:Of course there's a campaign to do. I mean, you can't say, 'No. I'm not doing campaign.' No, no, there's a moment when you-- that the direction is wide open. And you go, 'You want to direction. You have to campaign.' And you go, 'All right, I'll do it.' And that's a decision to take. And that's the tricky part. Why am I doing a campaign to win anything? But I guess at the end of the day, the important thing is to remind yourself that you are doing a job. And in your job, which is performing, there's something that really theoretically helps you to get more jobs, which is win an award like this. You can't have anything more romantic to that. Of course, you want, you can think, 'I deserve it. I didn't deserve it. I'm the worst. I'm better.' Whatever. But that's the fact that makes you think, 'Okay, I want to keep on working in my job.' So I try to go until the very end of the road just to see how it feels like. And that's why I did it.

You're working on "Killing Pablo" right now?

BARDEM: No, I'm not doing 'Pablo'. I think it's great material and Joe is a great director, but we've been in and out, like it took some time. And then when it finally came, I was kind of tired after the whole year.

Did you complete any of the paintings that you made in the film?

BARDEM: No. Those paintings are done by Augustine Cugach, which is a Catalan painter. And I studied painting, and I paint myself a little bit. But one of the most pleasant moments were when he was putting in the blank canvas and showed me how to move the hands with colors without having anything in your mind, like express, express, express, because it's kind of the way Woody Allen wanted to portray him, like a guy who express himself without thinking too much. And then you realize how difficult that is. You realize how difficult the abstract painting is with a minimum sense, because after doing that it's, like, horrible, like, 'Whoa, man. That stinks. Why if I do the same like you, it doesn't have any meaning?' 'Well, that's the art, man. Because I have something to express and you don't. You do it through your acting.'

What's the bigger challenge, playing role that's nothing like you in real life or something that's closer to you?

BARDEM:I don't know. People used to say the second one, but I don't agree. I think everything's a challenge because I try to see their characters really away from where I am. I'm closer to Juan Antonio than in Chigurh, "No Country for Old Men", thank God. But I'm not Juan Antonio at all. I wouldn't ever dare to say those lines that you are mentioning in that table to Rebecca and Scarlett, ever in my life. I would stay on the bar with my head like this drinking the diet coke. So you have to really get in there and say, "Okay, what part of me would dare to do that." And then you realize there's no one. You have to imagine that.

What is your painting like?

BARDEM: My painting is more figurative, faces. But it's done with charcoal. I studied painting for 4 years.