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School crush
Penélope Cruz dazzles as the temptress who seduces her older professor in Elgy.
By Denis Seguin
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The movie, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, is attracting mixed reviews, but the critics are unanimously impressed with Cruz's performance. At 34, she has finally achieved in English what she has been doing in Spanish since starring in Jamón, Jamón when she was 16 through to her Academy Award-nominated turn in Volver.
Despite her lush Madrileño accent, her spoken English is perfectly clear - with some charming exceptions. "I learned English late," she says somewhat apologetically, as though speaking fluent Italian and French are mere Girl Guide merit badges. "When I did my first movie in English [the long-forgotten U.K. title The Man With Rain in His Shoes], I only knew my lines. I was always crying in the bathroom because I couldn't understand what was going on in the conversations during rehearsals. I don't like missing anything." The positive reviews for her performance in Elegy mean a great deal to her "after all those years of feeling a little lost with the language," she says.
Having mastered the ability to move seamlessly from Spanish to English, Cruz admits that she can't complain about the parts she is being offered, including a plum role in Woody Allen's next film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The film, which was shot in Spain, co-stars Cruz's rumoured boyfriend, Javier Bardem, and Scarlett Johansson.
During breaks on the set, she travelled to Madrid to film Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces. "It's a great adventure to work with two people who are so different," explains Cruz. "Pedro likes to rehearse; Woody doesn't. He lets you improvise all you want - and sometimes he does only one take or two. I'll scream 'Woody, please let me do one more!'"
With her crossover appeal, Cruz is often compared to Sophia Loren. Like the sexy Italian actress, she has succeeded in Hollywood with a decidedly foreign style. Cruz also carries herself with the chic élan of another foreigner who took Hollywood by storm: the Netherlands-raised Audrey Hepburn. Like Hepburn, Cruz is a trained dancer. All that hoofing will come in handy for her next project, an all-singing, all-dancing sequel-of-sorts to Federico Fellini's 8 ½, which will be directed by Chicago's Rob Marshall. "I did four auditions for the film," she admits, "so when I got the call, I was screaming in my house!" Although the film doesn't begin shooting until fall, she says that the regimen will be rigorous. "It will be a military camp. I've already started working out." And, presumably, cutting down on the smoking.
Image courtesy of Dominique Charriau/WireImage.com
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