When we say that someone tiene ángel, duende, it means that person has an unexplainable aura of charm and charisma. It is a gift that also describes Antonio Banderas. Now, the Spanish actor has lend his voice and personal charm for the second time to Puss & Boots, in DreamWorks animated film Shrek The Third. According to Banderas, it was really fun to do it. “It is a wonderful character, tan canalla como siempre. Very well created. It was a pleasure to do it before and it is a pleasure to do it now. I’m very fond of him.” Many may recall that Banderas was also Puss & Boots’ voice in Shrek Two and soon will be appearing in a movie where the little scoundrel will be the main character, the hero.

How does an actor, a handsome actor, feels when all you can hear is his voice, but can’t see his face...? “To me is something totally new and fun to do. I must say that I was a lot more relaxed this time, since it’s the second time I do it. I had never done animation movies before. Imagine, I came to this country not knowing how to speak English, and now producers call me to use only my voice.” Many may have recognized Banderas’ voice which can also be heard as a wise bumble bee in a Nasonex commercial about allergies that have been running lately.

Doing animation movies has some hidden advantages. For one thing, actors don’t have to go through the rigor of make-up, costume fittings and changes. “But we have to time our voice with the character we represent. We have to look at a camera to catch the body language of our character and be able to match it as it walks, turns so we can make the character credible,” he said.

Shrek is a computer-animated film adaptation of William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book of the same name. It was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, a category introduced in 2001.The name Shrek is taken from a Yiddish word pronounced Shreck, meaning “fear”, “terror”, or (in its closest sense) “fright.” In German, “Schreck” has a similar meaning. The film features the voices of Mike Myers as a large, strong, peace-loving green ogre, Cameron Diaz as the beautiful but very down-to-earth and feisty Princess Fiona, Eddie Murphy as a talkative donkey named Donkey, and John Lithgow as the villainous Lord Farquaad.

The film was extremely successful on release in 2001 and it helped establish DreamWorks as a prime competitor to Walt Disney Pictures in the field of feature film animation, particularly in computer animation. Furthermore, Shrek was made the mascot for the company's animation productions.

Now Shrek the Third has Shrek and Fiona watching over their kingdom of Far Far Away, now that King Harold is a frog prince. When King Harold falls ill, Shrek and Fiona determine that if they can find a suitable heir to the throne of Far Far Away and bring him back, they can leave their current lifestyles behind and return to their swamp. The most promising candidates for the position of king is Fiona's younger cousin, Arthur (Artie) who proves to be much more of a problem than Shrek, Donkey, and Puss had bargained for.

According to Banderas the wonderful thing about doing animated movies like this one is that it’s suitable for the whole family. “Everybody likes it. Children like it, women like it, men also like it. My daughter, who’s my best critic, loves it. And that’s a very good sign,” he said smiling. “It’s refreshing to be able to do a fun movie where everybody comes out smiling. We live in difficult times and movies such as this helps you to forget the horrors and tensions that surround us, the wars... That’s why it’s good to provide people with moments of relaxation. People are tired of the tragedies. With a movie such as this, we only add a little bit of cream to heal the wounds, so people can have a pleasant time.”

Is Banderas partial to comedy? “Not necessarily,” he said. “Movies can fulfill many functions. I like all kind of movies. As an actor, I like to play them all. There are good social oriented movies, serious movies... They always carry a message. But comedies give us the opportunity to laugh and to get to know ourselves a little bit better.”

Antonio Banderas has been extremely successful. He began his career in Spain playing José Almodovar’s characters. He was born in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain to José Domínguez, a policeman in the civil guard, and Doña Ana Banderas, a teacher. Initially young Antonio wanted to play soccer professionally, but his dream ended when he broke his leg at age 14. As a young man, he traveled to Madrid in order to make a career in the Spanish film industry. He first gained wide attention through a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar, between 1982 and 1990. His breakthrough role was as the character "Ricky" in ¡Átame! (English-language title: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!), which was a minor success in the United States. He subsequently moved to the U.S. and began appearing in American films; some of his earlier roles included the 1992 film, The Mambo Kings, as well as a supporting role in the Oscar-winning film, Philadelphia.

He has also appeared in several major Hollywood releases, including a starring role in the Robert Rodriguez-directed film, Desperado and has frequently collaborated with its director, casting Banderas in the Spy Kids film trilogy and the final installment of the Mariachi trilogy, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, where he appeared with Johnny Depp. Banderas has received praise for being the first Spanish actor to portray the legendary Spanish swordsman, Zorro in The Mask of Zorro (1998) and its sequel, The Legend of Zorro (2005).

In 1996 Banderas married actress Melanie Griffith, whom he had met during the shooting of Two Much. They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith (also simply Stella Banderas), who appeared in the film Crazy in Alabama, in which her mother starred and her father directed.

At home, which language do the family speak? “I speak English with my wife and daughter. Spanish with the people that work for us. My daughter speaks Spanish fluently. We go to Spain every summer for two to three months to spend time with my parents, that are older. Stella speaks Spanish with her cousins, who don’t speak English, asi que ella tiene que ponerse las pilas,” he says smiling.

Banderas continues being true to his roots. “Malaga is a beautiful city, in a beautiful country,” he said. He has invested his movie earnings in business marketing Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and in the USA and he is a long time supporter of the Real Madrid Football Club.