Antonio Banderas complains he received more attention as the voice of Puss in Boots in Shrek than he ever got playing the dashing vigilante Zorro. He exaggerates.
The Mask of Zorro made Antonio Banderas an international star, along with Catherine Zeta-Jones, who was better known then as Marietta Larkin from the UK TV series The Darling Buds of May. Also in the cast was Anthony Hopkins, who was already a star.
This 1998 action film with a budget of $95 million was directed by New Zealander, Martin Campbell, who only months before had made GoldenEye. Starring Pierce Brosnan, this Bond picture, the 17th in the series, featured Russian gangsters, chopper crashes and a fighter pilot named Xenia, who delighted in asphyxiating enemies between her thighs.
The Mask of Zorro on the other hand features acrobatics, bodice-ripping, death-defying horse stunts and swordfights. Banderas did these fights himself after undergoing intensive training with Bob Anderson, a fencing master who had doubled for Darth Vader in the Star Wars sabre scenes. (Because Zorro’s swords were aluminium, they produced a dull “clunk” whenever they collided, consequently every single clang and clash heard in the film was dubbed in post-production.)
The story of the masked avenger was first told over 100 years ago in a novel by Johnston McCulley. This inspired a plethora of comic books, films and television series based on a character named Zorro, Spanish for “fox”, who always rode Tornado, a handsome black Andalusian. In this 1998 version, four horses played Tornado, and none of them were Andalusians.
A BANDERAS TRADEMARK
Banderas, who trained daily for a month with wrangler Gordon Spencer, did most of the basic riding, as well as perfecting the trademark near-vertical rear. A Friesian stallion named ‘Casey’, complete with hair extensions, did much of the work in front of the camera, ‘Duke’ and ‘Fedde’ doubled for him as did a nameless black Mexican mustang. A mechanical horse was also used in various scenes.
Working with horseman Spencer was Bobby Lovgren, who went on to other major productions like The Lone Ranger, War Horse and Yellowstone. “It was my first big film,” he recalls, “and the most important thing I realised was to be very, very patient. There’s a big difference between being a regular horse trainer working with animals at home and having an animal trained for film on a movie set. You have to know how the camera works and what’s required. There can be as many as 200 people milling about. The horse must be able to do whatever he needs in order to work at liberty, in the midst of all those distractions.
“A technique I learnt is don’t confuse the animal with changes. A horse will have confidence in a trainer if he’s consistent. Successful training requires having the patience to ensure the horse understands exactly what’s to be achieved. The simpler I keep the training the easier it is for the horse to learn.
TRIVIA: After the The Mask of Zorro, ‘Casey’ worked on several other movies such as Avatar. He died in September 2013. ‘Duke’ became a dressage and show horse and died aged 30 in 2021.
“Some animals work for food,” continues Lovgren, “but I’ve found the biggest reward for an equine actor, after doing a job well, is to leave him alone. I’ve observed animals in nature and noticed when a mare gives her foal milk and she thinks the baby’s had enough, she’ll push him away. So when a horse does a behaviour properly, I pet him and go away.
“If a horse works for food when he isn’t hungry, he stops working. Keep things simple. Do your job and your reward is to be left alone so you can rest or play. That works with a horse’s nature too.”
Lovgren has a soft spot for Friesians, finding them agreeable and easy to train. “They’re kind, very willing to please and naturally calm and steady. Typically, they’ll look at something but they won’t try to run away from something silly.”
PALOMINO FOR ZETA-JONES
When teaching Zeta-Jones to ride, he used a child’s palomino – quiet, pretty and not too tall – an appropriate choice as the Welsh actress was very inexperienced. These days, judging by her Facebook posts, she is constantly in the saddle riding around her gazillion dollar estate; she recently featured a photo of her bowler-hatted self cantering while holding the reins upside down. And in 2018 she became the epitome of equestrian elegance when she was hired by a top-of-the-range riding wear company to model their overpriced clobber while sitting in a chair.
In The Mask of Zorro she learnt some of the basics and, according to her trainer, was able to find the horse’s rhythm because of her dance background. The director did shoot some action scenes where she engaged in a swordfight on horseback, but they ended up on the cutting room floor.
Banderas’s horse work features heavily in the picture but, contrary to the publicity department, he did not do all his own stunts. In one sequence Zorro transfers from the galloping Tornado on to a villain’s horse, then Roman rides two horses, jumps over a fallen tree and landing back on to the two moving horses. Viewers will not be surprised to learn that this was executed by Tad Griffith, a champion trick rider. “The horses have to work with you like a dance partner,” he once told an interviewer.
For this “gag”, as stunts are referred to in the film business, Griffith used his own horses, a matched pair of 15.2hh Morgan/TB sisters named ‘Black’ and ‘Blue’. (The scene was accomplished in one take after only a few rehearsals. The galloping was actually a controlled canter, which was then sped up in post-production.)
Where Zorro leaps from a balcony on to his horse, additional padding was used under the saddle; and the height from which the stuntman jumped was not as high as it appears on screen. But whoever does these breathtaking sequences and however they are executed, they make for exciting viewing and such scenes undoubtedly contributed to the film’s success, which went on to make over $250 million at the box office.
As one reviewer stated: “A great action film which relies on traditional effects and stunt work rather than computer graphics. Impressive choreography abounds.”
Available on DVD and via various streaming services. EQ
Next time in Equestrian Life’s Horse & the Movies, ‘The Equestrian’ (2015), a short dramatic film with a cameo appearance by Carl Hester.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Rudolph Valentino’s Arabian Affair – Equestrian Life, September 2022
The Little Grey Donkey That Could – Equestrian Life, August 2022
Inside the Horse Whisperer – Equestrian Life, July 2022
The Brilliance of ‘Breaker Morant’ – Equestrian Life, June 2022
Young Star’s Velvet Touch – Equestrian Life, May 2022
Spielberg’s Equine Epic – Equestrian Life, April 2022
The Last Duel: Lost if Translation – Equestrian Life, March 2022
When Harry Met Snowman – Equestrian Life, February 2022
‘Troy’ – Bigger Than ‘Ben Hur’! – Equestrian Life, January 2022
‘Seabiscuit’ Takes the Cake – Equestrian Life, December 2021
Redford Turns up the Voltage – Equestrian Life, November 2021
A Zebra Earns its ‘Racing Stripes’ – Equestrian Life, October 2021
The Magic of the Black Stallion – Equestrian Life, September 2021
It Takes a Village to Win a Horse Race – Equestrian Life, August 2021
Fury, A Stallion with Standards – Equestrian Life, July 2021
‘Concrete Cowboy’ Sets the Record Straight – Equestrian Life, June 2021
My Friend Flicka – Equestrian Life, May 2021
The Little Horse That Could (Jappeloup) – Equestrian Life, April 2021
Viggo Mortensen Saves the Day! (Hidalgo) – Equestrian Life, March 2021
Meet Phar Lap’s Double, Towering Inferno – Equestrian Life, February 2021
Black Beauty Rides Again – Equestrian Life, January 2021
The Secrets Behind ‘Australia’ – Equestrian Life, December 2020
From Roy Rogers to Saddle Clubbing, the Horses Starred – Equestrian Life, November 2020
Poetry Jumps to Life & Yes, Horse Can Talk! – Equestrian Life, October 2020
When Your Co-Stars Are Real Animals – Equestrian Life, September 2020
Horsing Around on the Big Screen – Equestrian Life, August 2020
