PENÉLOPE CRUZ IS PERFECT
The Storied Actress Keeps Getting Hotter
OK, admit it. You’ve had fantasies about Penélope Cruz. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about — we’ve all been there. She is the definition of a screen siren. She captivates everyone’s attention in every movie. Directors can’t just put her in there as a side piece; she has to be the main event.
That raw sex appeal isn’t where her talents stop. Couple that with the most brilliant acting of the last three decades, and you have an undeniable force to be reckoned with.
Cruz is the only Spanish actress to win an Oscar. (She won for Vicky Cristina Barcelona). And, coincidentally, her husband, Javier Bardem, is the only Spanish actor to win an Oscar. It’s poetic, considering Cruz’s first breakout movie role was in the Spanish film Jamón, Jamón in 1992. From there, she embarked on a fabulous journey in the movie industry — one that occasionally included working alongside her husband.
“The idea of (working with my husband) every year is kind of scary. You never know if that might mix things up too much. My instinct is that it would. So I think it’s better for it to just be once in a while, even though they’ve been outstanding experiences,” she told Marie Claire. “Or if we do work together, we wouldn’t want to always play a couple. For instance, in Everybody Knows, they have a past, but they’re not together. In Loving Pablo, they are, but then they’re also a very different couple, which helps.”
Cruz has worked with some of the most prominent directors, actors, and more throughout her career, including Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. And, at 47, she shows no signs of slowing down.
Cruz is one of the leading women in the upcoming action film The 355. Look at this lineup: Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Sebastian Stan, and Edgar Ramirez. All the women play international agents, so you’ll get to see Cruz kick some serious butt.
The rest of her filmography seems more grounded and incredibly self-aware, perhaps mimicking her life now as a mother. L’immensita is an upcoming Italian film about a mother and her two children in Rome. Next, she’ll reunite with Almodovar for Madres paralelas, a film about two mothers who give birth on the same day. Then there is the Official Competition, where a director enlists a famous actress to make a hit movie. So again, you can see the parallels.
Cruz has been a dominating force in the international film industry for 30 years, and by the looks of it, she’ll continue that streak for another 30. So here’s to one of the greatest of all time.
