Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem stars in the new movie Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, featuring Shawn Mendes as the voice of the titular reptile. Bardem says Shawn's involvement was definitely a selling point for him to take the job -- once his kids weighed in.
Bardem tells ABC Audio he wanted to make a movie that his kids could see for a change. He says, "When I told them about making a movie with a crocodile that sings and dances, and that I walk around the streets of New York with him, and that it's done with the voice of Shawn Mendes, they were like, 'What are you waiting for? I mean, just go there and do it, dad!'"
"We all love him!" Bardem says of Shawn.
In the movie, Bardem plays Lyle's owner, Hector P. Valenti, and sings a duet, "Take a Look at Us Now," with Shawn.
So, did Shawn give Bardem, who sang in the Oscar-nominated movie Being the Ricardos, any vocal tips?
"No! I mean, it's impossible to give me any tips!" Bardem laughs. "I mean...there is nothing that can really help me to sing better!" He notes that when it came to his and Shawn's duet, "It took me a while to bring the song together, while he could do it in a second, you know what I'm saying?"
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is in theaters Friday. The soundtrack, which is available now, features a new original song by Shawn, "Heartbeat," plus songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Oscar and Tony-winning duo who brought you the tunes in La La Land, The Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen. Classics including Elton John's "Crocodile Rock," Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" and The Gap Band's "Steppin' Out" round out the album.