Spanish actor Antonio Banderas was BOTD in 1960. Born in Málaga, Andalusía, he trained to become a professional football player before a foot injury at 15 ended his career. He began studying acting at the ARA Theatre School and the College of Dramatic Art in Málaga, eventually joining the Spanish National Theatre. He rose to fame in Pedro Almodóvar‘s 1982 comedy Laberinto de pasiones (Labyrinth of Passion), playing a devastatingly handsome closeted gay terrorist. He went on to become Almodóvar’s muse and onscreen object of desire, playing an array of closet cases, rapists and perverts in Matador, La ley del deseo (Law of Desire), Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Woman on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown) and ¡Átame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!). His international profile increased significantly after a brief appearance in the 1991 documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare, in which Madonna unsuccessful hit on him at a party, unaware that he was happily married. Capitalising on his fame, he moved to Hollywood, cheerfully taking on gay roles at a time when “playing gay” was considered career suicide for American actors. He had an attention-grabbing role as Tom Hanks’ lover in the Oscar-winning AIDS drama Philadelphia, and co-starred with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt as a horny gay vampire in Interview with the Vampire. He became Hollywood’s go-to Latin lover, starring in action films Desperado and The Mask of Zorro, playing a singing Che Guevara in Evita opposite Madonna as Eva Péron, and memorably voicing Puss in Boots in the Shrek animated film franchise. In 2011 he reunited with Almodóvar for La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In), playing an obsessive plastic surgeon who kidnaps his daughter’s rapist and turns him into his concubine. His role as Almodóvar’s avatar in the 2019 drama Dolor y gloria (Pain and Glory) was highly acclaimed, winning him Best Actor at the Cannes Festival and his first Oscar nomination. Banderas married actress Ana Leza in 1987, separating in 1996 to begin a relationship with American actress Melanie Griffiths, with whom he raised two daughters. Now divorced from Griffiths, he has been in a relationship with investment banker Nicole Kimpel since 2015. Though unquestionably straight, he earns Honorary SuperGay status for portraying all facets of human sexuality with fearlessness and passion, and for his services to gratuitous onscreen nudity.