-Our first guest tonight is an Academy Award-Winning actress
you know from her work in films such as
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona," "Volver," and "Nine."
She's received her fourth Oscar nomination for her performance
in "Parallel Mothers,"
which is in theaters and On Demand now.
Let's take a look.
[ Speaking Spanish ]
Please welcome to the show, Penelope Cruz, everyone.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Hello, Penelope. Welcome. -Hi.
How are you?
-I'm wonderful. It's so lovely to see you.
-Great to see you, too. Thank you so much.
-So, this is so exciting.
Not only is it your fourth Oscar nomination,
but your husband, Javier Bardem, also got nominated for an Oscar.
I'm wondering, on the day, were your children --
how do they react to the news that both of their parents
are Oscar-nominated?
-Well, they found out later, because when we saw them,
they -- when we saw it live, it was 2:30 P.M. here
and they were in the school.
And then when we told them later, the only question
that my daughter asked me was if there was going
to be any cake to celebrate. [ Laughter ]
That was the only comment,
and I think that's a very healthy reaction.
[ Laughter ]
-How long -- how long was the gap between
when one of you found out you were nominated
and the other one found out they were nominated?
-It was, like, probably like five minutes.
I mean, you know, a huge surprise to hear one name,
then to hear the other one, too, is really,
really something to celebrate.
A part of me still doesn't believe it.
-This is also -- must be extra special.
This is your seventh film with Pedro Almodovar,
who you first worked with when you were a teenager, correct?
-Yeah. I met him when I was 18 or 19.
He called me when he saw my first two movies.
And when he called me, I thought it was a joke,
because it was my dream in my childhood
and my teenager years to meet him,
to thank him for all the work that he did
and maybe one day to work with him.
So, yeah, when he called me,
it was like an instant connection.
We felt like already we knew each other,
and we decided to keep working together,
and we've done seven movies together.
I hope many more.
-And this is a story, "Parallel" -- "Parallel Mothers"
is based on a story that he told you about decades ago, correct?
-Yeah, he told me the first time maybe like 20 years ago,
when we were doing press for "All About My Mother,"
and then he never mentioned the story again for so many years
And in the middle of the first lockdown -- COVID lockdown --
he called me and he said, "I'm writing this for you,
and this is the story."
And I told him that I remembered every detail
because he shared with me so long before.
-And your first film with him, is it true that you did a scene
with your future mother-in-law?
Yes, yes, with Pilar Bardem.
It was kind of a rehearsal of real life.
I mean, thank God I didn't have to give birth in a bus.
Like, that's what happened with my character in the film.
But, yeah, yeah, destiny had like a lot of plans for us.
It was a my first movie with Pedro,
and it was the opening of the film.
It was like only 10 minutes of the film,
and I was giving birth in a bus for those 10 minutes.
[ Laughter ]
-Pedro really likes using you as a mother character.
I think that that's safe to say.
-Yes, he always saw my very strong maternal instincts.
-Yes. -And all the movies
that I've done with him, I was either pregnant
or I was a mother, except for one movie
called "Broken Embraces."
All the other films, he has really taken
advantage of that maternal instinct.
-And now, your mother was a hairdresser.
And I'm wondering, did you ever pick up any of those skills?
Did they come in handy during this pandemic,
when none of us could go get our hair done?
-Well, that's funny that you say that,
because I'm always looking for victims, you know?
Like, people that let me cut their hair or do waxing
or all the things that I learned there with my mother,
but I always try to cut people's hair, always.
And, yeah, it's true that during those times,
I cut everybody's hair, so I was happy about that.
And a lot of friends of mine, like my friend Salma Hayek,
she has trusted me doing her hair and makeup,
waxing, all kinds of things, so...
-Well, you must be good at it.
Has anyone ever -- I mean, even though it's a free haircut,
has anyone ever demanded their money back?
-No, they haven't. They haven't complained.
I mean, you can try once.
If you want, you're more than welcome.
-Sign me up. -[Indistinct]
-I gave Javier a hard time the last time he was here.
I didn't really give him a hard time.
I said one of my favorite haircuts in any movie
is his in "The Counselor."
And I asked him what you felt
about it when he had this hairstyle.
Will you tell us what your take was when you saw?
[ Laughter ]
-I was kind of used to it already,
because I've seen things like, uh,
"No Country for Old Men," like, you know...
-Yeah.
I guess that -- "No Country" might be
the least-sexy haircut in any film, ever.
-Yeah, but he was so great in the film,
and, yeah, that was a really strange character
to the one in "The Counselor," but he was great also.
He's always so good. He's such a great actor.
-You were both great in that film.
I want to ask, you know, in these final days,
is it a stressful time, or is it just exciting
to be nominated for an Oscar?
-It's just exciting, and it just makes me think about
all the people that have been there,
you know, from the beginning.
Obviously, about Pedro, because he has trusted me
so much from day one, and he gives me
all these incredible characters.
When I hear my name in a nomination like this,
and it's the first time I think --
I feel very grateful for my peers,
my colleagues, the people that are voting for me,
and for all the people that keep giving me, you know,
great characters and good films and the opportunity
to make a living out of this profession, out of this job.
It was my dream all my life, growing up, to be an actor,
and when I said it to my parents,
it sounded like I wanted to go to the moon
because we didn't know anybody in our neighborhood
or family or friends, anybody that could make
a living out of anything related to the arts.
So it just makes me think of all of them.
Also about my parents, that they didn't laugh at me
when I said to them, "I want to be an actress."
So, yeah, I feel very, very grateful, very grateful.
-You're very lucky to have that support,
and it really is a beautiful film.
I really want everybody to see it.
I don't want to give anything away talking about it,
because it is really something to see.
It's well-earned.
Congratulations, and thanks so much for being here.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Thank you. Thank you so much.
-Penelope Cruz, everybody.
"Parallel Mothers" is in theaters and On Demand now.