Q&A With Javier Bardem – Hector P. Valenti in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile”

Javier Bardem plays Hector P. Valenti in the film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. A film based on the children’s book, about a crocodile living in New York City.

When the Primm family (Wu, Scoot McNairy, Winslow Fegley) moves to New York City, their young son Josh struggles to adapt to his new school and new friends. All of that changes when he discovers Lyle – a singing crocodile (Mendes) who loves baths, caviar and great music – living in the attic of his new home. The two become fast friends, but when Lyle’s existence is threatened by evil neighbor Mr. Grumps (Brett Gelman), the Primms must band together with Lyle’s charismatic owner, Hector P. Valenti (Bardem), to show the world that family can come from the most unexpected places and there’s nothing wrong with a big singing crocodile with an even bigger personality.

We were just talking about the movie and how much fun it is. Have you ever done anything like this before?

JAVIER BARDEM: Not really. Not like this family musical comedy, no. It’s my first time, and I really enjoyed the process.

So what attracted you to this project? Can you talk a little bit about what appealed to you?

JAVIER BARDEM: What appealed to me were many factors. One is to be in a movie that is out of my comfort zone and playing this openly comic, funny character that happens to dance and sing, which is something that I’m not used to doing. And to have a beautiful, beautiful relationship with a crocodile. But mostly I guess it was the fact that I was very interested in making a movie for my kids to watch and for all children as well. So, they sit down and have a great time and enjoy the story because it’s moving. It’s a nice, moving, fun story to be part of.

A lot of times with kids’ movies it’s either a message of “be yourself” or it’s all funny and no message, but this really does do both things. It feels balanced in that way.

JAVIER BARDEM: Yeah, it is balanced. I think this movie speaks about the importance of really allowing another into your life and not being afraid or having some prejudgments about what the other is going to be like and just be open to what that person is going to offer you.

Tell us a little bit about Hector P. Valenti. He’s quite a character.

JAVIER BARDEM: Yeah. Hector P. Valenti is, as he calls himself, a star of stage and screen, and he’s a man who really wants to make a living out of his performances. And he understands that, for that, he needs a partner, and he finds in Lyle the Crocodile the best partner. And he teaches him how to dance and sing. Then all of a sudden he needs to go away and leave him behind, and that’s a breaking point in the story. But there’s a happy ending, of course.

How does the relationship develop? Because when Hector discovers him, he thinks “Lyle’s going to save my career,” and then it really develops into a little bit more than that.

JAVIER BARDEM: Yes, because then Lyle meets the family of the house that he’s living in, and this relationship between Lyle and the family puts Lyle a bit out of Hector’s reach. The only thing that my character tries to do is to really get close to Lyle and seduce him into being part of the show that Hector needs to put on in order to make some money. But all of that is told by lots of comedic moments and musical moments and nice, touching, loving moments as well.

Will (Speck) and Josh (Gordon) talked so beautifully about this heightened reality. That’s not unusual for Hector, right? He lives in that world of magic and delight.

JAVIER BARDEM: Yeah. What I like about the character is that there are no boundaries. He really is the kind of person that – in a way – we would all like to be for at least one day in our lives. He doesn’t care. He’s just that person and he is proud of being himself and helping or asking Josh, the kid in the movie, to be brave enough to be himself. And playing that character is very liberating because, really, you can do anything you want since there are no laws and there is no agenda.

There’s something about this man’s wardrobe. It’s so much fun and welcoming. Can you talk about his appearance and style?

JAVIER BARDEM: Yeah, I think his appearance was a very key point to find, and thanks to the amazing work of the Wardrobe Department and Hair and Makeup – and of course Josh and Will, the Directors – we found this way of looking and creating an appearance that is between the old times and the new times. You can really put him in a certain era, and it’s just something that he made up and that he proudly shows, anytime he’s onscreen. It was fun to really embody that person with that look, knowing that the way he’s dressed and the way he moves speaks volumes about who he is.

And he’s standing next to a singing crocodile. Can you talk about Lyle, the singing crocodile?

JAVIER BARDEM: Well, Lyle is a character who comes from the books, and it’s funny because he’s a crocodile that sings – he doesn’t talk, but he sings beautifully of course. With the voice of Shawn Mendes, no less. He’s an adorable creature that also has to find his way into a world where people are afraid of him. People have ideas of what he represents. And he’s kind of pushed away. He wants to be part of the society and part of this family, and the story is about that. The story is about how much we really allow the other to be who he is instead of putting some judgments on top of him, in this case a crocodile, because it’s a fairytale.

The great thing about a musical is that the songs happen because it’s the only way to express something, and these songs do feel really organic. Can you talk about the musical numbers?

JAVIER BARDEM: Absolutely, and I think Pasek and Paul are really geniuses at creating these songs. They are very known for creating very long songs, which is kind of tricky for someone like me, who is not a singer. “Take A Look At Us Now” was a challenge, but I love the lyrics. I love the rhythm. I love the composition of those songs. Also, they come out naturally and it plays beautifully in the movie because when the characters are singing, it’s part of the story that you are buying into.

You are immersed in this musical and of course they’re going to sing and the songs are so related to the moment and to what they’re going through. I think they are beautifully done.

There’s a lot of physical humor. Can you talk about the visual sort of hilarity and physical comedy?

JAVIER BARDEM: Absolutely. That’s what I like the most in the overall story, the physical comedy, the fact that the characters – especially Hector P. Valenti, my character – is very much about what he does and how he reacts and how he behaves and how he relates to the other. His mannerisms and reactions make him funny. They make him a unique kind of character – the directors and I were aiming for that – and that’s very well put in the movie. He was a fun part to play. The dialogue was great, but there was also so much creativity put into creating that body language and that behavior. It was fun to watch and fun to experiment with.

I imagine you haven’t worked with a crocodile before digitally. When you got to see the film, what was your reaction?

JAVIER BARDEM: It’s amazing because sometimes you are working with an actor dressed with many things on their face and the skeleton of a crocodile, and you have to react to that. And sometimes you’re working on your own. There’s nothing there, you’re just looking at a cross on a wall, but it’s supposed to be the crocodile. And sometimes – especially when he was tiny – you work with a little toy. You try to be organic with those things, and when they do the job and add Lyle digitally, it’s amazing. Everything falls into place. It’s like “wow!” It really helps me, in this case, when I saw the movie, to imagine their relationship better, and see how connected they were, my character with Lyle. It’s amazing work that they do and, and I really bought it. It’s fun, it’s moving, and it’s very beautiful to see how it makes sense.

Let’s talk about the unlikely friendship that Lyle forms with Winslow’s character, Josh, because there’s something really sweet about that. How does Lyle sort of grow with Josh?

JAVIER BARDEM: Josh’s character is a kid who is very insecure. He’s scared of going outside and having interactions with others. And then, in his life, this crocodile shows up and it’s a beautiful, simple story about how that creature that happens to be loving and caring and fun and creative, teaches him how to be comfortable in his own skin and be able to relate to himself and trust himself and think of himself as enough.

That part of the story I think is the most moving. It’s beautifully put together, and Hector tries to intervene in that relationship because it doesn’t help him to get as much money as he would like, but in the end he surrenders to it because he understands that it’s the most important thing that Lyle can ever do to really help the character of Josh to trust himself.

Lyle has an interesting diet. Hector very clearly trained this crocodile to have a refined palate. Talk a little bit about that.

JAVIER BARDEM: Hector is a character that thinks of himself way higher or more important than what other people might see in him, but he doesn’t care what other people think, which is a good thing for all of us. It’s a thing that he teaches Lyle and Lyle teaches the kid, to not really pay attention to what other people think of you, which is something that nowadays is so important with social media. So Hector teaches Lyle how to eat at the highest level, with the best food, but you have to look for it in the dumpsters of the best restaurants in town because those are the things that they throw away. That is where you have the best food like caviar or good fish, good meat. He teaches Lyle to get in those places and eat that food and Lyle develops a refined palate, for sure.

This movie feels like a big screen experience. Why is that?

JAVIER BARDEM: It is a big experience. It’s a musical, with great songs, great musical moments like dancing numbers, and that is always very welcome to be seen on a big screen. Also, it looks like we are moving towards a more stable situation with feeling safe in a movie theater, and we have to enjoy that. We have to rediscover the pleasure of sitting down in a theater and sharing an experience with our fellow friends or family and people that we don’t even know, but we still share something with them.

And especially when it’s a comedy, when you see it with an audience, it makes you feel better because you are part of the laughter… That community laughter that happens because the movie is fun.

You make a great point about seeing this with family, because as a parent sometimes we go to things that we do not want to sit through.

JAVIER BARDEM: Oh, let me tell you, I have two kids, 11 and 9. I go very often to see kids’ movies and they are by far some of my favorite movies because they are smart, smartly written, amazingly done, and some have very deep messages that the adults can relate to. They put it beautifully in the movies so their little audience can also digest it in a nice, loving, caring way. This is the case. So, adults and kids are going to enjoy the movie for different reasons.

And the humor works on a lot of different folks. It’s also an iconic New York story. Tell us about that.

JAVIER BARDEM: The family lives in a brownstone house on the classic New York streets of Manhattan, and it’s funny I said to the directors, Josh and Will, I’m so happy because finally I have one scene where I walk and talk in the streets of New York. I’ve wanted to play a scene in New York, walking and talking, and now I have that. I have that with a crocodile, which is something very unique and strange. Also, we go to Central Park, and it looks so good. It helps the story to be bigger. It was very exciting to be part of that, shooting in New York, which is something for me that I’ve never done before on that scale.

But it’s also a New York where nobody cares that a crocodile is walking on the streets.

JAVIER BARDEM: Let me tell you, I was in a hotel and dressed like a Gator’s fan and it was very flamboyant. And I walked to set because it was right there. Nobody looked at me. And I was wearing the cap and the mustache and the hair. Nobody cared. That’s what I love about New York.

Are there any specific songs in this movie that have stood out to you or that you just can’t stop listening to?

JAVIER BARDEM: We open the movie with, “Take A Look At Us Now,” and it is a great song that has different melodies throughout it. It’s moving but also has great rhythm. And it’s intimate but also a movie opener. I found it was the most challenging moment for me as a singer and as a dancer. So, I would choose that one. And just to share that with the great Shawn Mendes, it’s an honor.

Will and Josh are geniuses, obviously, but can you talk a little bit about what makes Shawn Mendes perfect for this?

JAVIER BARDEM: He’s perfect because his voice… his quality as a singer, it’s outstanding. But also, he’s very young and he has that energy and he played beautifully the innocence of this creature that happens to be a loving, caring, nice, fun crocodile. And he put that innocence and the strength of it into the voice. As a singer, he can go and do whatever he wants. So, he really played with the tonalities, with the music, with the words, with the breaths, with everything to a point where you see the crocodile. You hear this young crocodile.

It’s a cool project.

JAVIER BARDEM: Yeah, it’s a hit.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile opens 28 October 2022 in South African cinemas.

Interview with Shawn Mendes