Is the son of a Spanish mother and a Chilean father. His family moved back to Spain when he was 1 year old, and he grew up and studied in Madrid. He wrote, produced and directed his first short film La cabeza at the age of 19, and he was 23 when he directed his feature debut Tesis (1996). His film Abre los ojos (1997) was a huge success in Spain and was distributed worldwide. It was remade in Hollywood by Cameron Crowe as Vanilla Sky (2001), starring Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz (also the star of the original version) and Cameron Diaz. The Others (2001) is Amenábar's first English language film.
代表作：《黑荆棘》
贾维尔-巴丹的处女作是西班牙大导演佩德罗-阿莫多瓦尔1991年执导的《高跟鞋》(“Tacones Lejanos”)，他在剧中的表现，曾受到西班牙影视界的好评。他从影十年来，先后拍摄过的作品有二十五部，曾与多位西班牙知名导演合作过，著名导演约翰-马可维奇的处女作《The Dancer Upstairs》，就是启用他做主角。贾维尔在欧洲享有很高的声誉，是西班牙为数不多的国粹级演员之一。他第一次受到国际影坛的注意，是在1992年与西班牙著名导演毕格丝-鲁纳合作的《共妻共夫》(“Jamon Jamon”)，此片获1992年威尼斯电影节银狮奖，也使贾维尔一举拿下了西班牙演员公会颁发的最佳男演员奖，成为西班牙“奥斯卡” 哥雅奖的影帝，一炮而红。1995年、1996年连续两年贾维尔荣获了西班牙电影奖项的最佳男配角和最佳男主角的头衔。1997年贾维尔与佩德罗-阿莫多瓦尔二度合作，拍摄了惊慑片《活色生香》(Carne Tremula Live Flesh)，这是一部描写三男两女间的情欲纠割的影片。同年，贾维尔又以黑色影片《狂野双辣》(“Perdita Durango”)荣获柏林电影节最佳欧洲演员奖。
