{"id":294681,"date":"2023-10-22T17:40:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-22T17:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=294681"},"modified":"2023-10-22T17:40:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-22T17:40:07","slug":"rugby-world-cup-fans-astonished-as-james-bond-villain-lifts-lid-on-rugby-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/rugby-league\/rugby-world-cup-fans-astonished-as-james-bond-villain-lifts-lid-on-rugby-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby World Cup fans astonished as James Bond villain lifts lid on rugby career"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Dame Judi Dench discusses her painting from James Bond set<\/h3>\n<p>Spanish actor Javier Bardem has graced the big screen with iconic performances in James Bond and No Country for Old Men, but has since revealed that he grew up loving rugby and even played for the junior national team. Before pursuing a career that would see him become a starring man in Hollywood, Bardem opened up on being a promising prop.<\/p>\n<p>Barden worked alongside Daniel Craig as villain Raoul Silva in Skyfall, but could have ended up gracing the turf in France this Autumn. He was in attendance during New Zealand\u2019s Rugby World Cup semi-final win over Argentina, where he lifted the lid on his early days as a budding rugby star.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI played for Spain,\u201d Bardem explained to RugbyPass TV. \u201cI started when I was nine years old, and I played until I was 23. I love it, it is my passion. I\u2019m always saying that playing rugby in Spain is like being a bullfighter in Japan. It didn\u2019t make any sense back then but now, thank God, there is a lot of support in Spain for rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bardem revealed that he played in the front row, leaving many fans surprised at his rugby career. Reacting on X (formerly known as Twitter), as @AmosaDan wrote: \u201cI already love him as an actor, now I respect him even more as a rugby fan\/former player!\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <strong> JUST IN <\/strong> <strong>Rugby World Cup rocked by &#8216;racism storm&#8217; as South Africa star accused of slur[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/69\/590x\/secondary\/Rugby-World-Cup-Javier-Bardem-5026765.jpg?r=1697994914581\"><\/p>\n<p>Their sentiments were echoed by @DrJSherrington who added: \u201cOmg Javier Bardem played rugby for Spain!!!!! This pleases me greatly,\u201d while @lukeyywhi similarly was overjoyed by the news, posting: \u201cJust when you think you can\u2019t love Javier Bardem anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though the tournament organisers perhaps were wise not to get the actor to conduct the pre-match coin toss if they had watched the Coen Brothers\u2019 western classic, he explained his role on the pitch as a Spanish junior player.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/path> <\/path> <\/g> <defs> <clippath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"><\/rect> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Advert-free experience without interruptions.<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/path> <\/path> <\/g> <defs> <clippath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"><\/rect> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Rocket-fast speedy loading pages.<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/path> <\/path> <\/g> <defs> <clippath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"><\/rect> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Exclusive &amp; Unlimited access to all our content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/logo\/logo-premium-subscription.png\"><\/p>\n<p> <strong> Don&#8217;t miss&#8230; <\/strong> <br \/> <strong>England&#8217;s Owen Farrell has blunt reply when quizzed on Rugby World Cup scrap[INTERVIEW] <\/strong> <br \/> <strong>South Africa boss Nienaber defends Libbok humiliation in England World Cup win[REACTION] <\/strong> <br \/> <strong>Rugby World Cup LIVE &#8211; England referee change as &#8216;illegal move identified'[LIVE] <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/69\/590x\/secondary\/Javier-Bardem-Rugby-World-Cup-5026768.jpg?r=1697994914645\"><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a prop, believe it or not, a small prop, number three (tighthead),\u201d Bardem added. \u201cMy brother Carlos and I, we were called \u2018Los Mendrugos\u2019, which is the hard part of the bread. When I played, maybe if I was lucky I touched the ball three or four times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c36 phases Ireland played at the end of the match [against New Zealand]! I was so nervous \u2013 \u2018Don\u2019t drop the ball!\u2019 It was one of the most amazing rugby matches ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bardem also highlighted the respect element of the sport that has often been praised, as a reason behind his fandom. \u201cIt\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.\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ethics of rugby are amazing. I don\u2019t like lately that people are whistling when the players are kicking. We are better than that. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Buy all of your Rugby World Cup 2023 programmes here.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/rugby-union\/1826768\/Rugby-World-Cup-news-James-Bond-Javier-Bardem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dame Judi Dench discusses her painting from James Bond set Spanish actor Javier Bardem has graced the big screen with iconic performances in James Bond and No Country for Old Men, but has since revealed that he grew up loving rugby and even played for the junior national team. Before pursuing a career that would&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rugby World Cup fans astonished as James Bond villain lifts lid on rugby career - Tell My Sport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/rugby-league\/rugby-world-cup-fans-astonished-as-james-bond-villain-lifts-lid-on-rugby-career\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rugby World Cup fans astonished as James Bond villain lifts lid on rugby career - Tell My Sport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dame Judi Dench discusses her painting from James Bond set Spanish actor Javier Bardem has graced the big screen with iconic performances in James Bond and No Country for Old Men, but has since revealed that he grew up loving rugby and even played for the junior national team. 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