Javier Bardem repeatedly watched ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ for comfort in the wake of his parents’ break-up.

The ‘No Country for Old Men’ Oscar-winner, 54, who has two children with his wife Penélope Cruz, 49, was born to his actress mum Pilar Bardem and dad José Carlos Encinas Doussinague – who Pilar said in her memoirs had a “violent will” and once shot their front door before they separated shortly after Javier’s birth.

Javier told WIRED about how he dealt with the split: “I watched E.T. 24 times. My parents split up when I was little. My father was pretty much absent.

“I felt like a very abandoned kid in some ways. Beyond my mother's love and my brother and sister love, I felt there was a part of me that was no longer nurtured. I guess when I saw that movie, I was 14.

“I connected so deeply with Elliott and with ET, because he’s abandoned, as well.

“There are two abandoned souls trying to find love to hold together, to belong to a family.

“And at the same time, how hard it is for love to say goodbye to the other, for the better of the other, you know?... I cry every time I watch that movie.

“I cry to the point where my kids sometime put on the movie and I go, ‘No, I don’t want to watch it.’”

After his parents’ split, Javier’s mum raised him and his older siblings, Carlos and Mónica, with his dad dying from leukaemia in 1995.

Javier added to WIRED he admired Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Austin Butler for their “beautiful energy” while they filmed the upcoming ‘Dune: Part Two’ together.

He added about working with his acting hero Brad Pitt for an upcoming Formula 1 film: “I knew him a little bit, but not much. I grew up watching Brad Pitt, and I think he’s an amazing actor. We had so much fun.

“He’s so open, he’s so in the game. He doesn’t care, he is like, ‘Bring it on.’ “And we played tennis and it was fantastic… I mean, he’s 60 years old, and you cannot believe it.

“He’s handsome, but he’s more – of course he’s handsome, but it’s about – well, you know what it is? It’s the energy.

“The behaviour, the action, the feeling, the vibe. He comes to a set, and everybody’s comfortable. He made me feel relaxed, like, in a second.”

Read the full interview with Javier on WIRED.com.