Javier Bardem arrived at the Oscars Sunday night wearing the same anti-war pin that he wore during the 2003 awards season.
Speaking with TheWrap on the Oscars red carpet Sunday night, the actor explained the significance of his attire.
“The pin is the same badge that I used in 2003 with the illegal war of Iraq,” Bardem said, before shifting his focus to the current war in Iran. “Here we are, 23 years after, again, with another illegal war created by Trump and Netanyahu and creating lots of damage and lots of innocent people being killed and bombed.”
The pin read “No a la guerra.” A historic anti-war Spanish slogan, the statement translates in English to, “No to war.” In addition to that pin, Bardem also wore a symbol of pro-Palestinian support to the Oscars this year.
“[This is also] the resistance of the Palestine people with Handala, which is a [symbol] of a 10-year-old boy who was drawn in 1969 by a Palestinian saying that until he [goes] back to his homeland, he won’t grow,” Bardem explained. “He’s still 10-years-old and waiting to come back to his land.”
Bardem did not just keep his political statements Sunday night to his accessories. While presenting the award for Best International Feature Film, which eventually went to director Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” alongside co-presenter Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bardem told those in attendance at the Dolby Theater, “No to war and Free Palestine.”
Although this year’s Oscars featured a surprisingly low number of political statements from the night’s winners, Bardem’s remarks were met with a round of applause from his peers.
While Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” took home its fair share of awards Sunday night, including Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw, making history as the category’s first female winner) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Coogler), it was writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” that took home the night’s Best Picture prize.
Anderson also collected this year’s Best Director and Best Original Screenplay awards, while Sean Penn, who did not attend Sunday’s ceremony, won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “One Battle After Another.” The film’s casting director, Cassandra Kulukundis, additionally won the first-ever Best Casting Oscar for her work on the Warner Bros. epic.
