Banderas lends his voice to Puss in Boots

NEW YORK (AP) — A small cat is giving Antonio Banderas as much satisfaction as the very Zorro.

Antonio returns to the screen this weekend in Shrek Forever After as the voice of Puss in Boots, a Zorro-like feline that the actor says is the antithesis of the big heroes he usually plays.

The popularity of the little cat, which debuted in the second movie of the Shrek franchise, has landed Puss the title role in a separate movie for DreamWorks that could be released in 2012. Antonio already has begun working on the film with Salma Hayek.

Just prior to the world premiere of Shrek Forever After at the recent Tribeca Film Festival, Antonio spoke with The Associated Press about the movie.

Excerpts:

This is the fourth installment in the Shrek franchise — nearly 10 years of successes. How does the series stay fresh and what attracts people to watch it?

“I believe it’s fundamentally the possibility that the movie has to be liked by kids and parents alike, but most especially by the parents. There’s also something very important. We are absolutely not conditioned to say the lines in a specific way but they allow us to improvise a lot and I know that is not a method used in all animated movies.”

What do you see of yourself in Puss in Boots?

“Not of me. (But) Puss has given me the opportunity to laugh at myself and to laugh most of all about the great characters that I’ve played who are bigger than life, such as El Zorro, such as Desperado, such as The 13th Warrior. Heroic stories where I have depicted major characters.”

So this would be like their antithesis?

“Exactly! Suddenly all of it gets reduced to a little cat. It becomes an alter ego of some of the things that I’ve done, but not so much about me. I wish! I like the cat a lot, I would like to be as ironic as he is and have that certain mystery that he has.”

It won’t be Zorro, but the cat’s had so much success that they’re making a movie about him. What do you think of the fact that the Shrek film series began without Puss in Boots...?

“And now Puss in Boots has his own world!” (Laughs)

What can you tell us about the movie?

“What I can tell you, without giving away too much, is that it’s a film that is a bit separate of Shrek in terms of style, that it doesn’t go toward the counterculture so much and doesn’t laugh as much about pop but is more akin to an epic.”