Javier Bardem is officially feelin’ the magic…
The 53-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor has joined the voice cast of the animated film Spellbound.
Led by West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler, the recently expanded voice cast also includes Bardem’s Being the Ricardos co-star Nicole Kidman, John Lithgow, Nathan Lane, Jenifer Lewis, André De Shields and Jordan Fisher.
The upcoming musical from Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation will have Kidman voicing Ellsmere, the kind and just, yet hyper-precise Queen of Lumbria, with Bardem as Lumbria’s boastful yet big-hearted King, Solon. Together, they are the parents of Princess Ellian (Zegler), who they join on her daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms them into monsters and threatens to cover Lumbria in darkness forever.
Lithgow and Lewis will voice Princess Ellian’s royal advisors, Minister Bolinar and Minister Nazara Prone, with Lane and De Shields as The Oracles of the Sun and Moon that Ellian seeks out to break the spell on her parents and the kingdom.
Additional characters aiding Ellian throughout her journey include the young nomad Callan, voiced by Fisher.
Academy Award winner Alan Menken is providing the film’s original score and songs, with song lyrics by Glenn Slater. Chris Montan is serving as executive music producer.
Bardem, who landed his fourth nom for his portrayal of Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, recently appeared in Dune and Fernando León de Aranoa’s comedy The Good Boss.
His upcoming projects include Columbia Pictures’ adaptation of the children’s book Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid and Dune: Part Two.