Both Antonio Banderas and the legendary painter Pablo Picasso were born in the city of Málaga in southern Spain. Now Banderas, 57, will be giving something back to his much-loved home by portraying a fellow son of Málaga in the role of Picasso in the Fox 21 and National Geographic series titled “Genius.”

Don’t expect to see the usual dashing and handsome Banderas, however, as he transforms himself for the role of Picasso and looks to me a tad like Adolf Hitler in the first trailer, but maybe that's just the hair.

The serialized life of Pablo Picasso

In season 1 it was all about Albert Einstein, but the upcoming season 2 of the series "Genius" documents the life of Picasso from his younger days and was filmed partly in Málaga itself, including the scenes of his childhood. As reported by EuroWeekly News, the clips in the trailer showing beach scenes were shot on Huelin and La Malagueta beaches in the Spanish city, which are intended to reflect the artist’s time spent on the French Riviera. Other shooting locations include Barcelona, Paris, and Budapest.

The trailer reveals Picasso as a tortured man, intent on womanizing with all of his many models. It also shows his difficult path through life as his work is criticized by a teacher who tells him he has talent, but clearly no discipline. Meanwhile, the painter can be heard to say he needs to see things in a new and different way and to smash all the previous rules of the art world.

Goldderby quotes from the trailer where Picasso notes that people call him a genius and that they believe it all came easily to him. The artist then revealed that the only route to becoming a true artist is by working day and night and losing yourself in the work completely.

Antonio Banderas a natural choice for the role

The National Geographic series was executive-produced by Ron Howard, who told Vanity Fair that Banderas as a natural choice to play Picasso.

Howard said that like the artist, Banderas has a "no holds barred approach" when it comes to life and this adds to the genuine feel of the character. He also noted Banderas’ range as an actor, which makes him ideal to portray the unconventional artist in the NatGeo series. While Banderas features as the older Picasso, his younger version is played by Alex Rich, who has previously starred in “GLOW” and “True Detective.”

As noted by Vanity Fair, some of the scenes in the trailer may seem a little over the top, but then the artist himself was said to be like that and when it comes to Picasso’s sex life, it seems this was way over the top all in itself.

When asked how many models the artist had slept with, a character says, “How many women has he painted?”

“Genius” premieres in the U.S. on April 24 and will also be screened on the Spanish National Geographic channel during the year.
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