Spanish-born Penelope Cruz embraces 30, looks forward to riskier roles
http://www3.cjad.com/content/cp_article.as...ws/e090321A.htm MONTREAL (CP) - Some Hollywood actresses fear getting older means they're out of the running for top billing in movies, but not Spanish-born actress Penelope Cruz.
Cruz, who turned 30 this year, said a lack of leading roles would be the last thing on her mind. "I've always been open to all kinds of characters - the riskier they are the better," Cruz said at a news conference at the Montreal World Film Festival.
"I'm looking forward to playing a mother. I love working and studying."
For Cruz, getting older doesn't mean the end of a career but rather a greater variety of roles and more time to study her craft.
"As actors, we can learn every day from people around us and what we see in the streets. I love that about acting.
"That's what's going to make me do it for the rest of my life. I still see myself when I'm 80 playing in theatre, in film."
Cruz was in town with director Sergio Castellitto to discuss the Italian-language Non Ti Muovere (Don't Move) in which Cruz plays a desolate woman who falls in love with a physician played by Castellitto.
"This film is a homage to life," she said. "It makes me want to go home and demonstrate how much I love my friends and family. This film has that power. That's a very rare thing."
Later this month, Cruz heads the Toronto International Film Festival for the screening of Heads in the Cloud in which she stars with Charlize Theron.
In it, Cruz plays Mia, a cabaret dancer studying to become a nurse, who falls in love with Theron's character against the backdrop of the Second World War.
The actress quickly brushed off a reporter's question about the kiss her bisexual character shares with Theron in the John Duigan film.
"Charlize and I are going to get asked that question about this movie," Cruz said with a wave of her hand. "But we don't want to give it an importance that it doesn't have.
"The movie is not about that, it's a love story."
Cruz became a star in Europe for her roles in All About My Mother, Open Your Eyes and Jamon, Jamon.
She made her English-language debut in Vanilla Sky, the 2001 remake of Open Your Eyes, starring with Tom Cruise.
The two had a highly public three-year relationship that ended this year.
Since then, she has been linked with actor Matthew McConaughey, her co-star in the upcoming film Sahara.
Cruz has also appeared in Blow with Johnny Depp and Gothika alongside Halle Berry.