Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

I'm Jesse Thorn, it's Bullseye.

In his late 50s Antonio Benderes took on one of his most challenging roles. His friend

and frequent collaborator, director Pedro Amadovar, had a new script, Pain in Glory.

It's about a guy named Salvador Mio, his fonder, his character. He's a director, made

a handful of well-regarded sex colleagues in the 80s. He has a nice apartment in Madrid

and he's stuck. He isn't really making movies anymore. He hardly has the drive to leave

the house. He's beset by maladies, headaches, back pain, asthma.

And all of those things are things that the character share with Amadovar. Pain in Glory

is Amadovar's most personal, confessional film. And in casting Benderes, someone who's known

him for decades, he made the film all the more personal. Benderes' character wears Amadovar's

nose, has the same spiky hairstyle, lives in a replica of his Madrid apartment. And Benderes'

performance is beautiful. It isn't an impression. He doesn't channel Amadovar. Instead, he

personifies the director's pain. His need to create nonetheless, even in his winter years.

It's a beautiful film. If you have a chance to see Pain in Glory, I really recommend it.

For now though, let's get into my interview with Antonio Benderes.

Antonio Benderes, welcome to Bullseye. It's so great to have you on the show.

Thank you very much. And I also want to let you know for our listeners at home as well that you smell very nice.

Thank you. You smell great. Antonio. That's good.

A few years ago, I had Amadovar in here. And he actually, he doesn't like to do interviews in English.

He's embarrassed of his English, but his English is very good. And he and I talked about

Migraine. He suffers from migraine and I do too. And I felt like when I talked to him about it,

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