Penelope Cruz Times Four....

Cruz news 1: Brush With Death Changed Cruz' Life A mid-air brush with death changed PENELOPE Cruz' life and taught the actress to seize the day.The actress and pals Salma Hayek and Daya Fernandez were en route to the set of movie Bandidas in 2004 when their plane suddenly dropped 15,000 feet (4,572 meters).Cruz says of the experience, "It was to do with daring. I thought, have I, through insecurity, not said the things I meant to say, not done the things I meant to do? That was incredibly important to me and has changed my life."Cruz news 2: Allen's Cruz OBSESSION WOODY Allen was so infatuated with PENELOPE Cruz on the set of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, he was reduced to a stuttering mess in her presence.Allen wrote a part in the movie specially for Cruz after watching her in Volver - and was star-struck by her beauty.Scarlett Johansson - who also stars in the film - says, "Of course Woody was so unbelievably enamoured of her. He'd be like 'Uh-uh-uh P-Penelope, P-Penelope.' You'd think, 'You are such a stuttering fool, man. Just get your stuff together.' "But what can you do - he's an appreciator of fine things, and Penelope is quite fine."Cruz news 3: PENELOPE Cruz has accused the press of manipulating photographs to make her friendship with rocker Bono look like a romance.The pair were recently snapped holding hands as they walked along a beach - prompting speculation about their relationship.

But Cruz claims newspapers and magazines deliberately edited out the singer's family from the picture.

She says, "I went on holiday to Bono's house with his wife and kids. We were walking along, holding hands because we're very good friends, and do you know what the paparazzi did to us? They took photos and cropped out Bono's wife and children. So they made up a story about us being together."

Cruz news 4: Almodovar Plans Cruz Movie Series Spanish director Pedro Almodovar is planning to make a series of movies with muse PENELOPE Cruz to show the world the depth of the actress' talents.

Almodovar helped to propel Cruz to prominence with 1997 film Carne Tremula (Live Flesh), but insists audiences have only seen a fraction of what she is capable of.

He says, "There are so many things I'd like to do with her that I hope we can go on working together for the rest of our lives.

"If I were to make a period movie, I would cast her as a nineteenth century European. Then there's another side to her that has not really been developed, which is comedy. I see her as ideally suited to screwball comedy.

"The third kind of role is a darker character, a film noir heroine."

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