Javier Bardem

This Spanish-born actor can seemingly do any role perfectly

Birth Name: Javier Angel Encinas Bardem

DOB: 3/1/1969

Where: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Trademark

-His deep voice

Trivia

-He brought his mother Pilar to the Oscars and dedicated his Oscar, which he won for the film No Country for Old Men, to her

-He married actress Penelope Cruz in a private ceremony at a friend's house with just family present

-His original interest was in painting. He studied at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios in Madrid. When he decided he would never be a talented painter, he worked a number of odd jobs, including bouncer, writer, construction worker and even a stripper

-He and Penelope Cruz became a couple while working on the 2008 film Vicky Christina Barcelona

-He is sometimes confused for actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan because they both so closely resemble each other

Filmography

Numbered Days (1994)

-Lisardo

Ecstasy (1996)

-Rober

Second Skin (1999)

-Diego

The Dancer Upstairs (2002)

-Rejas

Collateral (2004)

Felix

Goya's Ghosts (2006)

-Lorenzo

No Country for Old Men (2007)

-Anton Chigurh

Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)

-Florentino Ariza

Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)

-Juan Antonio

Eat Pray Love (2010)

-Felipe

Skyfall (2012)

-Silva

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

-Captain Salazar

Thy Kingdom Come (2018)

-Father Quintana

Dune: Part One (2021)

-Stilgar

Being the Ricardos (2021)

-Desi Arnaz

The Little Mermaid (2023)

-King Triton

Dune: Part Two (2024)

-Stilgar

F1: The Movie (2025)

-Ruben Cervantes

February Birthdays

It's February! Time to say Happy Birthday!

Rod Smallwood

-Birth Name: Roderick Charles Smallwood

-DOB: 2/17/1950

-Where: Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England

-He initially didn't want to manage Iron Maiden, because of a bad previous experience managing a musician. After hearing their music, he changed his mind and offered his services as management

George Russell

-Birth Name: George William Russell

-DOB: 2/15/1998

-Where: King's Lynn, United Kingdom

-He started in competitive go kart racing at age 7

Shakira

-Birth Name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoli

-DOB: 2/2/1977

-Where: Barranquilla, Colombia

-She learned how to perform Lebanese-style belly dancing from her grandmother

Tom Wilkinson

-Birth Name: Geoffrey Thomas Wilkinson

-DOB: 2/5/1948

-Where: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

-DOD: 12/30/2023

-Where: Muswell Hill, London, England

-He was offered a role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but didn't like the idea of being away from his family for a year

Pierre Gasly

-Birth Name: Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly

-DOB: 2/7/1996

-Where: Rouen, France

-He started in competitive go kart racing at age 10

Kelly Rowland

-Birth Name: Kelendria Trene Rowland

-DOB: 2/11/1981

-Where: Atlanta, Georgia

-She started out in the late 1990s, early 2000s as a member of the all girl group Destiny's Child

Tony Iommi

-Birth Name: Anthony Frank Iommi

-DOB: 2/19/1948

-Where: Aston, Birmingham, England

-He and future Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne attended the same school. Tony was one year ahead of Ozzy

Christina Ricci

-DOB: 2/12/1980

-Where: Santa Monica, California

-She is good friends with Johnny Depp, with whom she starred in the film Sleepy Hollow

Thomas Jane

-Birth Name: Thomas Elliott

-DOB: 2/22/1969

-Where: Baltimore, Maryland

-He claimed in a 2005 interview that The Punisher was both the most and the most exhausting movie he has ever acted in

Paul Wight

-Birth Name: Paul Donald Wight II

-DOB: 2/8/1972

-Where: Aiken, South Carolina

-He got his nickname "The Giant" from his 7' height

Adrian Smith

-Birth Name: Adrian Frederick Smith

-DOB: 2/27/1957

-Where: Hackney, London, England

-He is good friends with current Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen

Matt Groening

-Birth Name: Matthew Abram Groening

-DOB: 2/15/1954

-Where: Portland, Oregon

-Matt Groening created the character Comic Book Guy as a sort of version of himself

Alice Cooper

-Birth Name: Vincent Damon Furnier

-DOB: 2/4/1948

-Where: Detroit, Michigan

-He's known as the King of Shock Rock because of the many macabre items he has on stage

Alan Rickman

-Birth Name: Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman

-DOB: 2/21/1946

-Where: Hammersmith, London, England

-DOD: 1/14/2016

-Where: London, England

-While filming the scene where his character Hans Gruber falls from the Nakatomi Building in Die Hard, a stuntman dropped him from a 20 foot high model on the count of two instead of three, resulting in the surprised look on his face

Steve Irwin

-Birth Name: Stephen Robert Irwin

-DOB: 2/22/1962

-Where: Upper Ferntree Gully, Australia

-DOD: 9/4/2006

-Where: Batt Reef, Australia

-He was known for his massive enthusiasm for animals

George Harrison

-DOB: 2/25/1943

-Where: Liverpool, England

-DOD: 11/29/2001

-Where: Beverly Hills, California

-He was the youngest member of The Beatles

Rachel Bolan

-Birth Name: James Richard Southworth

-DOB: 2/9/1964

-Where: Point Pleasant, New Jersey

-He is known as the bassist and primary songwriter for metal band Skid Row

Henry Rollins

-Birth Name: Henry Lawrence Garfield

-DOB: 2/13/1961

-Where: Washington, D.C.

-The murder of his friend Joe Cole (son of actor Dennis Cole) was on a 1987 episode of Unsolved Mysteries and remains unsolved to this day

Rickey Medlocke

-DOB: 2/17/1950

-Where: Jacksonville, Florida

-His American Indian tattoos represent his Lakota Sioux and Cherokee heritage and his pride in his heritage

Billie Joe Armstrong

-DOB: 2/17/1972

-Where: Oakland, California

-He wrote "Wake Me Up When September Ends" about his father passing away

Johnny Van Zant

-Birth Name: John Roy Van Zant

-DOB: 2/27/1960

-Where: Jacksonville, Florida

-His brother Donnie Von Zant is the lead singer of fellow Southern rockers .38 Special

January Birthdays

It's January! Time to say Happy Birthday!

Jenson Button

-Birth Name: Jenson Alexander Lyons Button

-DOB: 1/19/1980

-Where: Frome, United Kingdon

-He raced in Formula 1 from 2000-2017

Regina King

-Birth Name: Regina Renee King

-DOB: 1/15/1971

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-Her mother, Gloria, was a special education teacher while her father, Thomas, was an electrician

Dolly Parton

-Birth Name: Dolly Rebecca Parton

-DOB: 1/19/1946

-Where: Pittman Center, Tennessee

-She has over 50 albums credited to her name

Elijah Wood

-Birth Name: Elijah Jordan Wood

-DOB: 1/28/1981

-Where: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

-His parents ran a deli shop, which they sold to fund their move to California

Lewis Hamilton

-Birth Name: Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton

-DOB: 1/7/1985

-Where: Stevenage, United Kingdom

-Has has been open about his ADHD and dyslexia

Karun Chandhok

-DOB: 1/19/1984

-Where: Chennai, India

-He competed for the Mahindra Racing team in Formula E and Hispania Racing in 2010 for Formula One

Sergio Perez

-Birth Name: Sergio Michel Perez Mendoza

-DOB: 1/26/1990

-Where: Guadalajara, Mexico

-He won six Grand Prix across at least 14 seasons of Formula One

Peter Steele

-Birth Name: Petrus Thomas Ratajczyk

-DOB: 1/4/1962

-Where: Red Hook, New York

-DOD: 4/14/2010

-Where: Scranton, Pennsylvania

-He was known for his slightly vampiric look and being self conscious about his 6'8'' height, especially when photos were involved. He requested the photo to be taken in such a way that not make his height obvious

Janick Gers

-Birth Name: Janick Robert Gers

-DOB: 1/27/1957

-Where: Hartlepool, England

-His father was Polish and his mother was English

Ian Hill

-Birth Name: Ian Frank Hill

-DOB: 1/20/1951

-Where: West Bromwich, England

-One of the founding members of Judas Priest

Richie Faulkner

-Birth Name: Richard Ian Faulkner

-DOB: 1/1/1980

-Where: London, England

-He played guitar for Lauren Harris prior to joining Judas Priest

Rod Stewart

-Birth Name: Roderick David Stewart

-DOB: 1/10/1945

-Where: Highgate, London, England

-He was the singer for The Faces prior to going solo

David Bowie

-Birth Name: David Robert Jones

-DOB: 1/8/1947

-Where: Brixton, London, England

-DOD: 1/10/2016

-Where: New York City, New York

-He had different personas, representing different eras of his music, such as The Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust

James May

-Birth Name: James Daniel May

-DOB: 1/16/1963

-Where: Bristol, England

-He can successfully play the piano, flute and saxophone

Kate Middleton

-DOB: 1/9/1982

-Where: Reading, United Kingdom

-She's a strong advocate for mental health, early childhood development and sports

Phil Collins

-Birth Name: Philip David Charles Collins

-DOB: 1/30/1951

-Where: Chiswick, London, England

-He started playing drums at age 5

Malcolm Young

-Birth Name: Malcolm Mitchell Young

-DOB: 1/6/1953

-Where: Glasgow, Scotland

-DOD: 11/18/2017

-Where: Sydney, Australia

-His brother George Young died four weeks after Malcolm

F1: The Movie (2025)

For any fan of Formula 1, this is a must see movie. I actually had plans of going to see it with my sister in the theatre, both of us wearing our Formula 1 gear (me wearing either Aston Martin or Mercedes, her wearing Ferrari), but now I have to buy it on Amazon instead

Summary

-A former Formula One driver, who was a legend in his time, comes out of retirement to team up with a younger driver and his team

For any fans of F1, you should immediately recognize Oscar Piastri in this picture

Cast

-Brad Pitt: Sonny Hayes

-Damson Idris: Joshua Pearce

-Javier Bardem: Ruben Cervantes

-Kerry Condon: Kate McKenna

-Tobias Menzies: Peter Banning

-Kim Bodnia: Kaspar Smolinski

-Sarah Niles: Bernadette

-Will Merrick: Nickleby

-Joseph Balderrama: Fazio

-Abdul Salis: Dodge

-Callie Cooke:Jodie

-Leigh Diffey: Daytona Race Broadcaster

-Will Buxton: Himself

-Martin Savage: Las Vegas FIA Race Director

Did You Know?

-It took a year to convince the FIA (the governing body of Formula 1) and the ten teams to allow production of the teams and drivers on the tracks during race weekends. One concern of the Red Bull team was that they would be shown as the villain because the Mercedes team had built the car used in the movie and then Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton was included as a producer on the film. Jerry Bruckheimer stated that the FIA or any of the teams would be not shown in a negative way

-Filming the racing scenes were scattered throughout the 2023 and 2024 race weekends. A garage was set up for production between the garages of the Mercedes and Ferrari teams

-For the drivers of the 2025 racing season, a private screening of the movie was held at the Cannes Film Festival

-Brad Pitt and Damson Idris did all of their own driving in this film

-Sarah Niles, who plays the mother of Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), is only 4 years older than him

-The car Brad Pitt drove is a modified Dallara F2 2018. The motor was replaced with an electric motor. It was created with the help of the Mercedes F1 team and Carlin Motorsport

-Brad Pitt is a long time fan of auto racing

-Director Joseph Kosinski was worried about Sir Lewis Hamilton's reaction to the footage of racing. Kosinski said "He smiled and said 'It looks fast.' I was like 'Oh, thank God.' If Lewis says that, we're in a good place.'"

-Any interior shots of the actors behind the wheel is actually them driving. No stunt men were used for the racing scenes. Brad Pitt logged over 6,000 miles of racing time, which now makes him quite experienced

-The scenes showing the racing simulator were done at the HQ and factory for the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team in the UK

-Bernie Collins, a Northern Irish female Formula 1 strategy engineer, was the inspiration for Kerry Condon's character, who was the first female technical director of the Formula One APX GP team

-Sonny Hayes would wear mismatched socks, a trait that former F1 driver Alex Wurz would do. Wurz would wear mismatched racing shoes and socks

-As a tribute to the F1 world, HAAS team principal Guenther Steiner can be seen swearing. He is famous for his profane language among Formula 1 fans. He does it silently in the film, but lip readers can still pick it up. Despite not being seen using profane language during broadcasts, the Netflix series Drive to Survive did an episode featuring Guenther Steiner, making it clear about his use of profanity

-The headquarters for the APX team is actually the McLaren headquarters. It's the McLaren Technology Center

-The English Bulldog being walked through the paddock early in the film belongs to Formula 1 driver Sir Lewis Hamilton. The dog's name is Roscoe and he frequently joins Lewis during racing weekends

-This film was initially considered as a sequel to the 1990 film Days of Thunder

-Max Verstappen, driver for the Red Bull team, skipped the private screening for the F1 drivers and the New York premier while Carlos Sainz Jr, driver for Ferrari and now Williams Racing, cautioned the "pure F1 fans" to be "open minded to Hollywood films"

-Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) has a tattoo on his left arm. It's of the Jerez circuit in Spain, the circuit in which his character had his career-ending crash during an F1 race in the 1990s

-The name of the racing team Sonny joins is APX, pronounced Apex, the innermost point of a corner that a car can take to minimize lap time

-As part of an invitation from McLaren team principal Zak Brown, Brad Pitt took McLaren driver Lando Norris' car out for a private test at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) circuit in Texas. Lando Norris and SkySports commentator and former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle were present to give Pitt any advice. He did three laps in Norris' car

Zak Brown, McLaren Team Principal

-Black and gold are the colors of the APX team. They are also the same colors for the University of Missouri, where Brad Pitt attended school and dropped out