The Mask of Zorro - Cast

Cast

• Antonio Banderas as Alejandro Murrieta / Zorro: Despite claims made by several media outlets and Antonio Banderas, Banderas is not the first Spanish actor to portray Zorro; Spanish actor José Suárez portrayed Zorro in the 1953 film La montaña sin ley, and in the 1960s-70s Spanish actor Carlos Quiney (aka Charles Quiney) portrayed Zorro in three films: Zorro Il Cavaliere della Vendetta, Zorro Il Dominatore and Zorro la Maschera della Vendetta. Banderas was paid $5 million for the role. His character in the film is Alejandro Murrieta, the fictional brother of the real-life Joaquin Murrieta, making the character Banderas portrays either Mexican or Chilean. To prepare for his role, Banderas practiced with the Olympic fencing team in Spain for four months, before he studied additional fencing and swordsmanship with Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The three were trained by Bob Anderson during pre-production in Mexico, spending 10 hours a day for two months specifically on fight scenes from the film. During interviews for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Anderson rated Banderas the best natural talent he worked with. "We used to call him Grumpy Bob on the set, he was such a perfectionist," director Martin Campbell reflected. "He was incredibly inventive, and also refused to treat any of the actors as stars. They would complain about the intensity of the training, but having worked with him there's nobody I'd rather use."

• José María de Tavira portrays a young Alejandro Murrieta.

• Anthony Hopkins as Don Diego De La Vega / Zorro: Hopkins was cast in December 1996, one month before filming began. Hopkins, known for his dramatic acting, took up the role over his enthusiasm to be in an action film.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Eléna (De La Vega) Montero: The actress signed on in November 1996, when Spielberg saw her performance in the Titanic miniseries and recommended her to Campbell. Despite being a Welsh actress portraying a Latina character, Zeta-Jones discovered similarities between her "volatile" Celtic temper and the Latin temperament of Eléna. Izabella Scorupco, who worked with Campbell on GoldenEye, and Judith Godrèche both screen tested for the part. The actress credits The Mask of Zorro as her breakthrough in entering A-list recognition.
• Stuart Wilson as Don Rafael Montero: Armand Assante had initially been cast in the role, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with The Odyssey. Stuart Wilson, who Campbell previously directed in No Escape, was cast in Assante's place four months after.
• Matt Letscher as Captain Harrison Love
• Tony Amendola as Don Luiz
• Pedro Armendáriz, Jr. as Don Pedro
• Victor Rivers as Joaquín Murrieta
  • Diego Sieres as Young Joaquín Murrieta
• L.Q. Jones as Three-fingered Jack
• Julieta Rosen as Esperanza De La Vega, Don Diego's beloved wife and Élena's mother