Penélope Cruz talks to movie critic Peter Howell about fame, Pedro Almodóvar and why the camera focuses on her cleavage in Volver.
Penélope Cruz was in tears the day before she began making Volver with her friend, the writer-director Pedro Almodóvar.
"I was crying non-stop the day before we started shooting, from terror," the Spanish actress said in an interview during the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
"It's a good fear. I need that fear to do a good job."
This may seem an extreme way to prepare for working with a man you count among your intimates, someone close enough to go to the movies with on a Sunday afternoon and to chat with for hours on the phone.
She appears to be closer to him than to the actors she has been romantically linked with, including Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey and Orlando Bloom.
"This movie was so important to me and I really didn't want to disappoint him," she explains of her trepidation of working for a third time with Almodóvar. They'd previously collaborated on All About My Mother (1999) and Live Flesh (1997).
"It was a mixture of good emotions, a celebration of what was happening, and fear."
Cruz went out of her way to please Almodóvar. She packed on nine pounds for her Oscar-buzzed Volver role as Raimunda, a single mother who is haunted by a bothersome body and a ghost, the latter being the spirit form of her late mother.
Almodóvar wanted Cruz looking more mature, drawn and matronly, a stretch for a 32-year-old beauty whose legs go on for days beneath her mini-skirt.
She obliged him by strapping on a rubber tush to add more curves to her extra weight, which seems to have vanished completely. That's movie magic for you.
QYou really like working with Almodóvar, don't you? He helped launch you in North America with All About My Mother.
AMore than just liking it. I love what I feel working with him. I cannot compare it to anything else. I've had great experiences with some directors who I love, but Pedro is one of my closest friends for 10 years. I trust him completely. What I have with him is very special.
QHe seems fascinated with your bust. The camera stares at your cleavage.
AThe way he dressed my character has to do with what he needed from the character as an image that represented motherhood. So everything is chosen for that. I gained some kilos; I ate more. He wanted me to work so much, so I would look like somebody who is always tired, always stressed out.
QI also noticed the elaborate kisses that the women bestow on each other in the film. It looked like three kisses in one.
AYes, we started doing that in the rehearsals. I remember my grandmothers always did that. And I've always done that to them, to everyone in my family. I would never let go of that ritual. I do it all the time to my family. It's like the most intimate thing.
QIt's nice to see a movie where there are so many good roles for women. No wonder you all won an ensemble acting prize at Cannes.
AI know. We need more movies like that. It's great the characters that Pedro writes for women.
QHow was it to do the scene where you have to dispose of a dead body?
AThat was hard physically, because I was carrying the real weight. Pedro and I wanted to do it with the real weight. I love that he cares about things like that because I am the same way. Also with the shopping, the kilos of tomatoes and oranges, it has to be the real weight. Every take I had to do about putting the body in a refrigerator, my whole body was hurting like I had just come from the gym. But if you can do something the real way, it's always better.
QHow have you adjusted to fame? It's only been a short time in America where people have known about you.
AIt's been the same as it was in Spain. It happened in Spain since I was 16, a teenager. I feel I learned the lessons about fame then and now it's been in other territories. But it's really the same thing.
QIs there a type of movie you want to do?
AMore comedies, in English. Because I've done them in Spanish, but not in English. I love comedy, which I think is really tricky and scary and I love that. There's a romantic comedy that I might do. I don't know for sure if I will do it. We are developing it now.
QIs there any historical figure you'd like to play?
AYes, many. There is one that I really want to do, but I don't want to say whom. Maybe because of superstition. But it's like my secret ... I'll do it in maybe a couple of years. It's one that I've been obsessed with since I was a little girl.