Banderas Big On Zorro Role

Once in a lifetime, an actor gets to play a role he's dreamed about his whole life.

For Antonio Banderas, it's playing the lead role in the new movie version of The Mask of Zorro, and he tells CBS 'This Morning' Correspondent Mark McEwen that he has loved the character of Zorro ever since he was a child growing up in Malaga, Spain.

An Interview With Antonio Banderas

Only six years ago, Banderas starred in his first English-speaking role, in The Mambo Kings (1992). Since then, the 38-year-old actor has learned English and has appeared in such films as Philadelphia (1993), The House of the Spirits (1994), Interview With The Vampire (1994), and Miami Rhapsody (1995).

Banderas is currently working on his directional debut, a film called Crazy In Alabama, which co-stars his wife, actress Melanie Griffith. He says he's excited about directing, having been in "51 movies in front of the camera."

After his good reviews for his role in Evita (1996), he is being considered for the title role in the film version of The Phantom of the Opera.

He says it was the Phantom project that prompted his withdrawal from a film about the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. But the infamous reputation of Ataturk led to intense protests by Greek-Americans, and, McEwen reports, many say that had more to do with Banderas' decision to pass on the film. The director of the Ataturk movie estimated that Banderas and Griffith received as many as 1,000 letters in objection of the $25 million project.

Reported by Mark McEwen