Hitting Cruz control
She may be an Oscar-winning actress, married to the talented Javier Bardem, and best friends with Salma Hayek — but, as Victoria Hall discovers, Penelope Cruz is no ordinary celebrity. In fact, she’d be happy working in a beauty salon...
When I meet Penelope Cruz tucked away in a garden room in the very chic Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera, the 43-year-old actress looks every inch the glamorous Hollywood icon. Her red Alaia dress hugs her petite yet curvaceous figure and, as you’d expect from a former ballerina, her posture is perfect. Only the tiny lines around her eyes, as she smiles and invites me to sit down, give a nod to her age.
In the age of social media — where, with a quick Instagram scroll, you can discover what Gwyneth Paltrow is doing on holiday with her kids, or how the Beckhams are celebrating their daughter’s birthday — Penelope represents a very different type of celebrity: one who likes her private life very private. When she started dating her now husband, Javier Bardem, while the pair were filming
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, they managed to go undetected for months, with rumours circulating about Bardem and co-star Scarlett Johansson instead.
They now have two children, six-year-old Leo, and Luna, who has just turned four. While Javier has continued to make films, Penelope has taken a step back. “My priorities have really changed over the years. I want to raise my kids, and I don’t want to be away from them,” she explains. “The first question I ask about a film is where in the world is it being shot; the next question is when; and then I look at the project. I don’t want projects that would represent that challenge, in terms of not being able to be together.
“This year, I’ve started to work a bit more, but my rhythm is never going to be the same as when I was 25, when I was doing four films a year. Because that’s not the rhythm I want in my life. I want quality time with my family, and I’m very lucky that I have a job that I love and I can combine both.”
Unsurprisingly, she’s fiercely protective of her children’s privacy, and her two-million-strong Instagram following shouldn’t expect to see a family snap any time soon. “You will never see a picture of my kids on Instagram. I will never do that. I feel like I am responsible to protect that privacy,” she says sternly. “I might post a picture with a friend, or a picture with Mert and Marcus [fashion photographers] here and there, or my best friend, who’s also an actress [Salma Hayek]. But there is always a line.” Keeping things separate This strong stance of keeping her personal and professional lives separate has served the actress well and created a sense of mystery and allure around her. She switched from dancing to acting when she was 15, and starred in the Oscar-winning Belle Epoque in 1992, but it wasn’t until 2008 that she won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. To some, though, she’s better known for lighter, more mainstream roles, such as secret agent Valentina Valencia in Zoolander 2, or as pirate Angelica in Pirates of the
Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. True to her word, Penelope is working more. This year, she has two films due to be released: Escobar, in which she stars alongside her husband, and the latest adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.
When we get on to the topic of Lancome’s Tresor fragrance, of which the actress is the face (together with its new Advanced Genifique Serum), she is equally passionate. “When I’m making movies, I don’t wear my own perfume. I choose scents for my characters. Sometimes it could be a baby perfume, or a fragrance that nobody knows that I find in a market somewhere, or it could be a body oil. It’s whatever I think the character will smell like. But it’s never Tresor — that is mine, and it’s for the special moments in my life.” Such as her wedding, at a friend’s Bahamas home in 2010, for which she wore a dress by John Galliano, another friend. Unsurprisingly, no magazine was invited.
Penelope’s affection for the beauty industry goes back to her childhood. “My mother had a salon that did hair, nails, waxing. I’d go there after school and pretend to do my homework, but would be watching the women and the way they related to my mother. They would sit there and share all their deepest secrets about their love life. Getting a little time for themselves was so therapeutic
— it was more than just a haircut. For me, it was more than just a salon, it was my first acting school.”
She still enjoys pampering women. “I like my career, but I love getting people ready for something, because it’s a part of me. I can cut anyone’s hair no problem. I can do a blow-dry; I can put in rollers; I can wax somebody’s legs. I could have another job.”
In fact, she cuts some of her family and friends’ hair, and Salma Hayek can testify to her waxing skills. “The power had gone at Salma’s house and her make-up artist couldn’t come, so she called me and said, ‘You have to get
“Of course I believe in medicine, but I think good food is preventative medicine and it’s incredible what happens when you eat well”
me ready for this premiere’, and I lit some candles and did her hair and make-up, too. No one noticed that it wasn’t done by a professional, so I was very proud of that.”
While she enjoys getting other people ready, Penelope has little patience for pampering herself. “When I’m in hair and make-up at work, I’ll either be studying a script, or reading a book, or checking my emails. I’m always using that time; I always have to be doing something.”
Incredible
Her off-duty make-up and hair is pared back and simple. While Penelope is a huge advocate of Lancome’s products and believes it’s one of the few brands that really does deliver on its packaging promises, for her, nutrition is key. “I love food, and I am really becoming an expert on nutrition. I study it constantly,” she says.
“Of course I believe in medicine, but I think good food is preventative medicine, and it’s incredible what happens when you eat well.”
However, don’t expect Penelope to be writing a book on nutrition any time soon, or to be lecturing you about what to eat. “Everybody is different. What is bad for me might not be bad for you. For example, I have a gluten intolerance but you might not, even though it has been proven not to be the best thing for inflammation. Sugar is another thing I avoid, but that doesn’t mean I don’t eat dessert. I just use other things, such as honey or coconut sugar. You find new ways to eat what you want; you just have to have the right information.”
There is one tip that Penelope would happily promote, and that’s not to eat less. “I eat a lot of good things, but I never look at the amount. I never think, ‘Oh, I should eat less of this’. I have never been on a diet. I just know what to eat.”
In that case, we’ll have what she’s having...
Penelope Cruz is the face of Lancome La Nuit Tresor fragrance, see lancome.co.uk