INTERVIEW MAGAZINE: PENÉLOPE CRUZ BY MARION COTILLARD

Although she has made quite a few questionable choices in her career, it is definitely all about Penélope Cruz in Hollywood right now.  The Madrid-born actress' winning streak started in what is arguably her career-best performance in Pedro Almodóvar's Volver (2006), followed by her Oscar-winning turn as emotionally unstable artist Maria Elena in Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008).  She currently can be seen in theatres currently in Rob Marshall's NINE and Almodóvar's latest work Broken Embraces where she once again is just absolutely stellar.

In the December/January 2010 issue of Interview Magazine, Cruz is interviewed by NINE co-star Marion Cotillard.  We learn that upon making her first American film The Hi-Lo Country in 1998, she could barely put together a sentence in English. She never had the chance to visit a cinema until 1990 having to lie that she was 16 years old in order to gain entrance.  Prior to that, she would rent movies in Beta-Max format.  The first film she ever saw in the theatre was in fact, Almodóvar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!  Her obsession with his films has become reality as she has become his current muse.  

Cotillard questions Cruz on how she researched for the role of seductress Carla in NINE and we learn that Cruz was in fact channeling Pink Panther the whole time which she kept a secret.  Cruz feels that most successful actors require some degree of insecurity - every actor needs an ego, although their ego can also be their worst enemy.  She mentioned also that she believes there is no greater actress today than Meryl Streep.

Watch Cruz channel her inner Pink Panther in this clip of her performing A Call From the Vatican from The Weinstein Co.'s NINE: 

In the same issue of the magazine director/screenwriter Almodóvar is also interviewed by director Paul Thomas Anderson.  We learn that Cruz often requires ten tries before Almodóvar has a take he is fully satisfied with.  He knows that he can push her to the limit and demand more from her because she always gives more.  In his words, "she is a warrior, a survivor, someone who can overcome".   A warrior indeed.  Cruz is rapidly becoming one of my favourite actresses and she will be seen next in the sequel to Sex & The City: The Movie, in theatres this May.  

To read Cruz's interview and see some gorgeous photos photographer Mikael Jansson got of her, click here.