Javier Bardem is proving once again that he is not just a movie star with good taste in music — he is a genuine metal lifer. The F1 and Skyfall actor opened up in a new Kerrang! interview about his deep love of heavy music, making it clear that metal is not a phase, not a mood, and definitely not a side hobby.
Bardem said he “can’t live without” metal and explained that it follows him through the day, whether he is driving, being driven, or winding down at night. He then delivered the line that instantly made the interview go viral: “I listen to Slipknot to go to sleep!” He followed that up by saying metal is “a way of living” and “a way of feeling,” adding that it also gives him a sense of belonging to a community.
He also made it clear that his love of heavy music has only grown stronger with age. Bardem said he enjoys the classic giants — including Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath — but also still keeps up with newer bands like Slipknot, Pantera, Bad Omens, Sleep Token, and Falling in Reverse. In another recent interview cycle, he said the music that really makes his heart beat is metal and hard rock, even though he respects all kinds of music and musicians.
This is not a sudden or manufactured image either. Bardem has been publicly showing his metal fandom for a while now. In 2025, a video of him rocking out at a Judas Priest concert went viral, and he later explained that he simply loves live shows and will go whenever he can. That same year, he also talked about his love for newer heavy bands, including Sleep Token and Bad Omens, which reinforced that his taste is not frozen in the past.
He kept that momentum going at the 2026 Oscars, where he told Vanity Fair that if he were DJing the night, he would play “hard rock,” then narrowed it down to thrash rock and speed metal. He named Bad Omens, Metallica, AC/DC, and Motörhead, joking that Lemmy’s voice is the kind of thing that helps him relax. That answer fit perfectly with the way he has been talking about metal for years: with total enthusiasm and zero irony.
Bardem’s comments also line up with other moments that have made his fandom impossible to miss. A 2025 appearance on The Tonight Show saw him talk about seeing Bruce Springsteen with Brad Pitt after being invited by Bono, and he again named a long list of hard rock and metal favorites, including Pearl Jam, Metallica, Slipknot, Pantera, and Bad Omens. The pattern is clear: Bardem is not performing metal fandom for attention — he genuinely lives in that world.
What makes this interview fun is that Bardem does not frame metal as something rebellious or ironic. He talks about it like a daily need, something grounding and personal. That is why the line about Slipknot before bed hits so well: it sounds absurd on paper, but completely normal coming from someone who clearly means it.
