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Glee: Why Hasn't Javier Bardem Shot Guest Spot Yet?

Oscar winner anxious to appear on musical show: "I want to do it. I want to do it!"

By Marc Malkin Dec 10, 2010 2:00 AMTags
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Dear Ryan Murphy,

You're a slacker.

I kid, but Javier Bardem tells me he's more than ready to shoot his much-talked-about guest spot on Glee. What's the holdup? Read on to find out...

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"I want to do it. I want to do it," the Academy Award winner told me with a laugh last night at a cocktail party in honor of his new film Biutiful. "I told Ryan several times I want to play this heavy metal rock 'n' roll star, but I don't think he has the guts to do it. No, of course he does—because I sing really bad. I think that's the whole point."

As our own Watch With Kristin told ya, Bardem is set to play a rocker who befriends Artie (Kevin McHale).

"We had a blast figuring out what I could be…but I haven't received any script," Bardem said. "So when am I appearing on Glee? I don't know." (FYI: I can attest to Bardem's questionable vocal chops—he belted out a high-pitched screech in the middle of the soiree to help prove his lack of singing skills.)

Glee is a far cry from Biutiful. In director Alejandro González Iñárritu's follow-up to Babel, the film is a drama about a father with cancer (Bardem) who is trying to get his life in order before he dies.

Even with Oscar buzz surrounding his performance, Bardem says he could never tell how a movie will be received while he's actually shooting it. "I've done movies where I thought it was going to get massive attention and they did s--t," he said. "When I was killing people with my cattle gun in Texas with that horrible haircut in the hand of those crazy brothers, I was like, Who in the world is going to watch this?"

As everyone knows by now, wife Penélope Cruz is pregnant with their first child. They'll spend Christmas with family back in Spain. "I'm not a shopper at all. My family knows it and they accept it," Bardem said. "I'll give them some jokes. Instead of gifts, I give jokes."