She filmed several of them with Javier Bardem, who years later would become the love of her life. But by then the critics were voracious. And the filming, for others uncomfortable. In those days the Spaniard, today a true movie star, seriously considered not filming more
She lived a childhood in a typical family of the Spanish middle class. She did not have abundance, but she also did not lack anything in the first years of her life. She went through that stage between friends, sports and rigorous school attendance. However, as a teenager, Penélope Cruz felt that her place in her world was going to be in acting. Before that she hadn't even imagined it, but her dream came to her in 1989 after watching Tie Me Up.
Curiously, Penelope was 13 years old when Pedro Almodóvar's film was shown in theaters: she was not allowed to enter. But she managed by falsifying her identity document to get her ticket and get settled in the front rows. Already grown up and with fame on her shoulders, she commented that she had done it so as not to miss the premiere of the film of her favorite director.
Until then, her flirtation with her art was linked to dance. Classical dance ran through her veins, but she was overshadowed when she set herself the goal of not only succeeding in the seventh art, but also working with Almodóvar. With these two ideas fixed in her mind, she began to study acting and to present herself as soon as she found out about the casting.
A year later she would star in a video clip for Mecano, the Spanish band in fashion at the time. Almost at par, she was given the first chance to debut on the big screen. It was in The Greek Labyrinth, a film in which she had a small participation. Already inside the industry, she went for more. That young woman who was born in Alcobendas, a municipality of Madrid, was beginning to give life to that dream of hers.
Popularity and trauma
In 1992, at the age of 17, she stumbled upon a great chance, but nothing turned out as she imagined and she was about to abandon the career that seemed promising. Bigas Luna summoned her for the Spanish film Jamón Jamón. It was her first leading role and an initial flirtation with the awards that would come after her, thanks to her work. For the film, she was nominated at the Goya Awards in the leading actress category.
Cruz was just a teenager and she had to face several s-x scenes. The endless filming, episodes that she had to repeat over and over again while she was without clothes in front of a whole team, caused her - like other actresses - a great trauma. She went from joy to disappointment in the blink of an eye. What she wanted for her life had not started in the best way.
To make matters worse, she had to run into harsh criticism when the work was released: her explicit s-xual scenes threatened to pigeonhole her. The press of that time wondered how her career would continue, since films of that nature were not abundant. Even, there was no lack of voices that recommended, even almost maliciously, that she go to adult cinema. Penelope got tired... Was that what she was going to expect for the rest of her career? Would her entire artistic life be linked to that role? Too many questions and - not having so many weapons, being inexperienced - few answers.
Many years later, she, already consecrated, would talk about it in an interview with the British newspaper The Sun. A question about her first leading role opened an unexpected door. There, she confessed that her acting future hung by a thread, that she was about to slam the door and leave everything.
After hearing the question, she took a deep breath and blurted out, “I didn't take it well at all. It caused me a strong rejection of anything that had something to do with the s-xual or the sensual. I got a boyish haircut and didn't do any love scenes, not even kissing, for several years. I had a very bad time, I wanted to leave everything, my illusion of succeeding as an actress had gone to the ground”.
It was at that moment, when she was about to kick the board, that her mother, Encarna Sánchez, appeared to hold her and prop her up, so that she could continue with her longing. “Thanks to her I have always enjoyed being a woman and appreciated how wonderful we are. She supported me at all times. When she was a girl and said that she wanted to be an actress, she was the only one who supported me, when everyone looked at me as if she had said that she wanted to go to the moon”.
After each day of recording she would return to her house crying. And there was her mother with the right word from her, to calm her down, dry her tears. Thanks to that she was able to finish filming. She had resigned at that time, in her first leading role and at only 17 years old, surely it would have been an impossible hurdle to overcome.
In the film, she had several s-x scenes with Javier Bardem that marked her forever. Although she admitted that the actor was present at all times, taking care of her, nothing about her took away that suffering that paralyzed her. After a period, she understood that step as an apprenticeship. "Over time I have realized that Bigas Luna gave me a great opportunity and I am very grateful for it."
From anguish to happiness
The person with whom she lived the most complex scenes that she had performed up to that point would end up being her, over the years, her partner. Cruz and Bardem met on that shoot and the containment that the actor gave him was key. Those who participated in that project agree that the chemistry was spontaneous: everyone knew how they were going to end.
Almost 20 years after they met, they had two children, Leo and Luna. In 2010 they decided to give it a legal framework and got married. They did it anonymously, without a party or celebrities, celebrating love with a simple family reunion. "Today, a long time has passed, I am grateful to the film because I met Javier," says Penelope.
However, the romance would not start immediately. They stayed in touch after the movie over the phone, and not much else. Both were in a couple, but destiny was marked: they would cross paths again later.
When Penelope turned 20, she left Spain to move to Los Angeles, United States. Shortly after, she separated from the composer Nacho Cano and she began a love relationship with Tom Cruise that lasted two years. Later would come Matthew McConaughey, from whom she distanced herself in 2006.
Everything changed in 2008 when Cruz and Bardem were summoned by Woody Allen to star in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. There, unlike the previous occasion, time found them single. The relationship began during filming, but they made it public after the premiere. Today they are together, enjoying the family they forged.
As for her career, that dream that she had in full adolescence could be fulfilled and more than that. Not only did she have the privilege of meeting her favorite director and being part of several of her projects, but her affection was mutual. She became her fetish actress, an Almodóvar girl.
They crossed paths for the first time in 1997, when Almodóvar summoned her to give her a small participation in Carne trémula. From that kick until now they have coincided in six other works, such as All about my mother, Return and Los abrazos rotos. The seventh and last, just for now, was Pain and Glory, in 2019.
Today, more than the employment relationship, they are united by a great friendship. Pedro was her great mentor, the person who knew how to get the best version of her out of her. At her side, she was able to overcome bad experiences and consecrate herself as an actress.
