Penelope Cruz: In Conversation
Jason Solomons talks to Penelope Cruz about her iconic career, her love for Italian cinema, and new film L'immensita
Penelope Cruz is one of Europe’s great screen actresses, and it’s probably no exaggeration to say she’s the most successful actress in the history of Spanish cinema. Her eight film collaborations with Pedro Almodovar are a fruitful testament to a very healthy director-muse relationship—one which has led her to two Oscar nominations for Best Actress for Volver and for Parallel Mothers—although her Supporting Actress win came for Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
At the major festivals, she won at Cannes for Volver and is the current holder of the Volpi Cup at Venice, leading from the front with her superb work in Parallel Mothers which opened proceedings on the Lido last year. Cruz, whose Hollywood forays include All the Pretty Horses, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Vanilla Sky, Blow and even a Pirates of the Caribbean, has for over two decades balanced a globally-recognised movie career with modelling assignments, celebrity status (she is of course married to equally well-known Spanish actor Javier Bardem), a family life, and continued international success with Spanish, Italian and English-language films, boosting art house titles with her star wattage, beauty and her magnetic, committed performances.
As if to illustrate her continued appetite for work, Cruz, who had two films at Venice last year in Parallel Mothers and the recent UK release Official Competition (a comedy about a film in a festival), returns to the Lido in 2022. Perhaps she won’t have to hand back the Best Actress trophy she won last year, because she’s now starring in another two titles: Italian film L’immensità for director Emanuele Crialese (Respiro, Terraferma) and Spanish thriller On the Fringe (En los márgenes), which she also produced for first-time director Juan Diego Botto. To discuss a stellar career which has seen her navigate a path from European sex-symbol to stunning beauty, to thoroughly respected actress and industry figurehead, Jason Solomons put The Rabbit’s Foot questions to the fabulous Penelope Cruz.
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Penelope Cruz: In Conversation
Jason Solomons talks to Penelope Cruz about her iconic career, her love for Italian cinema, and new film L'immensita
Penelope Cruz is one of Europe’s great screen actresses, and it’s probably no exaggeration to say she’s the most successful actress in the history of Spanish cinema. Her eight film collaborations with Pedro Almodovar are a fruitful testament to a very healthy director-muse relationship—one which has led her to two Oscar nominations for Best Actress for Volver and for Parallel Mothers—although her Supporting Actress win came for Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
At the major festivals, she won at Cannes for Volver and is the current holder of the Volpi Cup at Venice, leading from the front with her superb work in Parallel Mothers which opened proceedings on the Lido last year. Cruz, whose Hollywood forays include All the Pretty Horses, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Vanilla Sky, Blow and even a Pirates of the Caribbean, has for over two decades balanced a globally-recognised movie career with modelling assignments, celebrity status (she is of course married to equally well-known Spanish actor Javier Bardem), a family life, and continued international success with Spanish, Italian and English-language films, boosting art house titles with her star wattage, beauty and her magnetic, committed performances.
As if to illustrate her continued appetite for work, Cruz, who had two films at Venice last year in Parallel Mothers and the recent UK release Official Competition (a comedy about a film in a festival), returns to the Lido in 2022. Perhaps she won’t have to hand back the Best Actress trophy she won last year, because she’s now starring in another two titles: Italian film L’immensità for director Emanuele Crialese (Respiro, Terraferma) and Spanish thriller On the Fringe (En los márgenes), which she also produced for first-time director Juan Diego Botto. To discuss a stellar career which has seen her navigate a path from European sex-symbol to stunning beauty, to thoroughly respected actress and industry figurehead, Jason Solomons put The Rabbit’s Foot questions to the fabulous Penelope Cruz.
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