Javier Bardem has called Alejandro González Iñárritu one of the greatest directors of all time.
The pair have collaborated on new movie Biutiful, which has been screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which sees Bardem back on the big screen for the first time since Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008.
Speaking to Digital Spy the Oscar winning actor said: "I've been always blessed by the fact that Alejandro is one of the greatest directors of all time.
"I know that as a performer you'll always be protected by him," the actor told reporters at the festival.
"He knows how to take very good care of the delicacies, the subtleties, of the performances. So I knew that the person behind the camera knew a lot about what the actors were doing."
"The process has been very intense, but it's also been very rewarding in the sense of going to places where an actor has to grow up as a professional."
We haven't seen Onarritu in the director's chair for a while either shooting his last full movie back in in 2006, which was the critically acclaimed Babel.
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