Penélope Cruz says it is up to her children if they want to become famous.
Penélope Cruz says it is up to her children if they want to become famous
The Oscar winner, 49, is fiercely private about and protective of the two children she has with her 54-year-old actor husband Javier Bardem – Luna, 10, and 12-year-old Leo – and said it is not her place to talk about what their career ambitions may turn out to be.
She told Elle magazine about her kids: “It’s for them to decide if they are going to have a job that is more exposed to the public or not. They can talk about that when they’re ready.”
The actress’ Elle profile said her children do not have social media accounts, and also “don’t even have phones” according to Penélope.
She added to the publication about her hatred of the devices being given to children: “It’s so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming. And who pays the price?
“Not us, not our generation, who, maybe at 25, learned how a BlackBerry worked.
“It’s a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers.”
Penélope added she thinks her husband is an amusing enough alternative to phones, saying: “He sings and he’s a great dancer. And he does this amazing impression of Mick Jagger.
“He’ll imitate Al Pacino and De Niro talking to each other. It’s incredible.”
Penélope also said her regular director collaborator Pedro Almodóvar, 74, has always viewed her as a mother on screen.
She added: “At my age, 80 per cent of the characters that I play will be about motherhood or divorce or abandonment or characters who didn’t want to have children or couldn’t or who lost children.
“I’ve played mothers since I was very young. Pedro always saw me as a mother.
“We have known each other since I was 17. He would watch me going to talk to strangers just to see their babies.
“He always saw that strong, inevitable instinct in me, and I saw him see it.”
The actress added “ever since I was a little girl I knew I wanted kids”, and said: “But I knew I wanted them older. I wanted to wait until I felt I was ready.
“I was sure it would be the most important thing I would do in my life.”
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