Penelope Cruz

Penelope Cruz shines in darkly funny 'Volver'

Spanish writer-director Pedro Almodovar's sly, humorously macabre "Volver" opens, fittingly enough, in a graveyard. As a relentless wind whips dust and leaves around, dozens of scarf-headed women busy themselves sweeping and polishing the rows of stone crypts in a small country town in Spain. We're told the women outlive the men in the region, so that explains the flock of frumpy widows.

Orlando Bloom And Penelope Cruz Get Close Again!

Orlando Bloom is reported to have struck up with a romance with Penelope Cruz after she joined him for his Birthday celebrations. The couple fuelled speculation about the affair in October when they were spotted holding hands but both denied it at the time. According to the Sun the pair were inseparable when Orlando truned 30 recently even when he was surrounded by other women on the dance floor. They also attended Justin Timberlake’s recent concert at the Staples Centre together further giving credence to the romance rumours.

Penelope Cruz jumped at the chance to film 'Volver'

Yes, that sounds like an old joke, but it's what Spanish director Pedro Almodovar thought he needed to do to the gorgeous Penelope Cruz for his fabulous film, "Volver." Cruz has the central role of a mother facing many challenges. Almodovar considered Cruz too slender at the hips. He wanted the actress to convey a rustic maternal look, not unlike Sophia Loren in her early Italian classics, like "Two Women" and "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." "We talked about it," Cruz remembers, "And we tried it in a costume fitting, and we liked the way it looked, and the way it made me walk. It was very simple." And, she adds, despite the references to Sophia Loren, Dustin Hoffman's fake derriere in "Tootsie" was "a reference point." Almodovar also gave Cruz a large mass of dark, luxuriant hair, which becomes increasingly messed to parallel the messes in the character's life. But there's much more to the mother in "Volver," and that's all from Cruz. It's a mature performance of complexity and rich humanity, which has already earned her a Golden Globe nomination and should also make the cut when Oscar nominations are announced on Jan. 23. As we talked at the Toronto Film Festival, the nominations were still months away, but the buzz had already begun. By returning to her Spanish roots and to her favorite director, Cruz has vaulted into the top echelon of international actors. She's no longer just the world-class beauty who's been eye candy for an international audience, and arm candy for a string of movie stars, including Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, and Matthew McConaughey. "Now I can play a woman, where before I played the girl." Born in Madrid in 1974, Cruz studied dance throughout her childhood and early teen years. But then films beckoned. "When I was a teenager, I became interested in movies; because I liked the way they made me feel. I decided to try to act, and I went to an audition, and I got the part I auditioned for." It was a major role in the 1992 sex comedy "Jamon, Jamon," which became an international hit. "I went to the Venice Film Festival, and I was nominated for the Spanish version of the Oscar, and I was only 16." Five years later, she made her first Almodovar film, "Live Flesh," and then ran off a string of American films, including "The Hi-Lo Country," "All the Pretty Horses," "Blow," "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," "Vanilla Sky," and "Sahara," before making her triumphant return to Spain and Almodovar for "Volver." (The title, coincidentally, means "to return.") Next up for Cruz is "Manolete," a portrait of the famous bullfighter (played by Adrien Brody), an English-language film, made in Spain. It'll debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May. But Cruz's desire is to return again and again to work for Almodovar. "Pedro is very special to me, my favorite director," Cruz says, "We've known each other for 10 years, and that's make the trust easier."

She also loves Almodovar's movies, which are among the most distinctive, individualistic, and artful of any in the world.

Orlando Bloom and Penélope Cruz inseparable at weekend party

Orlando Bloom was reportedly inseparable from Penélope Cruz during his 30th birthday celebration on Saturday night. The two have been rumoured to be dating since they were spotted holding hands in October but spokespeople for both sides denied the rumours. However an onlooker at Teddy’s revealed they stuck close together on Saturday night: “She was never further than arm’s length from Orlando, even when he was surrounded by other women on the dance floor.”

Salma Hayek Persuades Penelope Cruz To Get Ugly

Salma Hayek has persuaded best pal Penelope Cruz to guest on an upcoming episode of her Golden Globe-winning Tv comedy Ugly Betty. Hayek, who appears on the show as a vampish magazine writer, has been trying to find Cruz the right role since the show started last year (06). The actress, who is also a producer of the series, says, "We're going to do something with her, but maybe later.

Penelope Cruz says she will never give up making movies in Spain

BEVERLY HILLS, California: Penelope Cruz says that no matter how high her star rises in Hollywood, she will never stop making films in her native Spain. Cruz, a Golden Globe nominee for best actress in a dramatic film for "Volver," said she likes "going back and forth" between English- and Spanish-language films. "I feel very privileged that I'm able to work in all these different places and different languages," the 32year-old actress said, speaking in English, as she arrived for the Golden Globes awards ceremony on Monday. "I feel that I don't have to choose one. I will never leave my country. I will never stop working there, but I feel very grateful for the opportunities here also." Cruz said she was inspired to become an actress as a teenager in Spain after becoming "obsessed" by the movies of "Volver" director Pedro Almodovar, with whom she has now made three movies. "I've done 35 movies. All of them mean a lot to me for different reasons, but I feel this ("Volver") is the most important movie of my career until now," Cruz told an interviewer for the E! cable television network.

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