Today, we listen to parts of an interview with film star Penelope Cruz! She

talks about her new movie, ‘Volver’, what she likes about working with

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, and what kind of film she’d like to make

next.

Now, Penelope Cruz’s acting career is certainly on a roll – if you say

something is on a roll, you mean it’s very successful. Last year Penelope Cruz

stared in the Hollywood movie ‘Sahara’, and this year she’s just picked up an

award at the Cannes film festival for her role in the Spanish language film

‘Volver’.

‘Volver’ is directed by Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz has worked with

him before on other films. As you’ll hear, she thinks he’s a remarkably good

director, in fact, she says - ‘He’s the reason why I decided to become an actress

when I was a little girl.’

Notice too how she stresses Almodovar’s courage when it comes to creating

characters and how true to life he wants them to be.

Also, she uses a word to describe Almodovar which she says she doesn’t like

to use a lot, but she thinks it’s right to describe him. What does she call him?

Now here is Penelope Cruz talking about why she thinks Pedro Almodovar is

such a clever director. 

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Penelope Cruz

‘For me, I would say, truth is the mark. He really sees everything and is not afraid of

exploring it and he never judges his characters. He’s completely brave, and for me, he’s a

genius and I don’t like using that word that a lot but with him, I really think he is. He’s the

reason why I decided to become an actress when I was a little girl.’

Amber: So Penelope Cruz describes Pedro Almodovar as a genius – a person with a very

great and rare natural ability. And she says he ‘never judges his characters’. If you

don’t judge people, you let them be the way they are and don’t try to influence

other people’s opinion of them.

‘Volver’ – which means ‘Return’ in English – is very funny and extremely sad.

The film is the story of a rural Spanish family moving to Madrid, and Penelope

Cruz plays a woman whose husband has been murdered and her dead mother

returns as a ghost. As you listen to the next part of the interview with Penelope

Cruz, try to catch how her character is feeling and why.

Penelope Cruz

‘My character has big regrets about not having solved a lot of things with her mother but her

mother comes back to life as a ghost and she’s able to solve a few things!’

Amber: So Penelope Cruz’s character ‘has big regrets’ – if you have regrets about

something you feel a sadness about them and wish they could have been

different and better. Her character is struggling with problems she didn’t

solve with her mother when she was alive, and the film explores what it’s

like to be haunted by family secrets. It’s also about the importance of family

love.

 

Penelope Cruz is unusual because she is a successful Hollywood actress

and, as ‘Volver’ shows, she’s also a successful arthouse film star. An 

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arthouse film is made for artistic reasons – not commercial ones. So will she

keep moving between Hollywood and arthouse films? And what does she

look for when she considers new scripts or ‘material’?

Penelope Cruz

‘I think it’s fun, you know, for me. And I learn about both sides of the industry and it’s really

interesting. In the future, when I’m 50, 60, will I plan to still be working? Well, actually the

same as now, just looking for material that means something, and maybe different things will

mean something for me at that moment, but trying to find something that feels new.’

Amber: So Penelope Cruz likes learning about ‘both sides of the industry’. And she looks

for ‘material that means something’ and ‘feels new’.

Here again is the language we focussed on in today’s programme and then,

Penelope Cruz again.

to be on a roll, never judges his characters, a genius, to have regrets, arthouse

Penelope Cruz

‘For me, I would say, truth is the mark. He really sees everything and is not afraid of

exploring it and he never judges his characters. He’s completely brave, and for me, he’s a

genius and I don’t like using that word that a lot but with him, I really think he is. He’s the

reason why I decided to become an actress when I was a little girl.’

‘I think it’s fun, you know, for me. And I learn about both sides of the industry and it’s really

interesting. In the future, when I’m 50, 60, will I plan to still be working? Well, actually the

same as now, just looking for material that means something, and maybe different things will

mean something for me at that moment, but trying to find something that feels new.’