Alejandro Amenábar

Birthday: 31 March 1972, Santiago de Chile, Chile

Birth Name: Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos

Is the son of a Spanish mother and a Chilean father. His family moved back to Spain when he was 1 year old, and he grew up and studied in Madrid. He wrote, produced and directed his first short film La cabeza at the age of 19, and he was 23 when he directed his feature debut Tesis (1996). His film Abre los ojos (1997) was a huge success in Spain and was distributed worldwide. It was remade in Hollywood by Cameron Crowe as Vanilla Sky (2001), starring Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz (also the star of the original version) and Cameron Diaz. The Others (2001) is Amenábar's first English language film. Show less «

[on Abre los ojos (1997)] I started developing the idea in the middle of a fever. I had a cold and s...Show more »

[on Abre los ojos (1997)] I started developing the idea in the middle of a fever. I had a cold and spent a few days in bed and it was there that I started developing the idea. Show less «

I don't consider myself a dark person. I just like to play with dark characters.

[on Vanilla Sky (2001)] I felt very honored and very excited. It's been weird because watching the s...Show more »

[on Vanilla Sky (2001)] I felt very honored and very excited. It's been weird because watching the same story done with a completely different tone, it was so weird. I remember when I saw the film for the first time, I kept thinking, "Well, I would have done this differently." But then I realized, "Well, of course, I've already done it!" So that's the point that's interesting to me. He [Cameron Crowe] really made his film. It's like the same song with two different voices. That's what I appreciate about it. Plus the buttload of money. Show less «

My movies are not movies of answers but of questions.

In Hollywood you always feel a bit like a hake. The publicists march people up and down in front of ...Show more »

In Hollywood you always feel a bit like a hake. The publicists march people up and down in front of you and they interview you ... You feel like the turbot and the sea-bream go by, and you're the hake. Show less «

I don't dream too much, or I don't remember what it is I dream. But I guess that the world of percep...Show more »

I don't dream too much, or I don't remember what it is I dream. But I guess that the world of perception, and the world of perspective, and the world of desire, interests me. And that has to do with dreams. And actually, going to the movies is like dreaming, isn't it? Show less «

Alejandro Amenábar

Alejandro Amenábar's FILMOGRAPHY

Feedback about this page?