Penelope Cruz shot Zoolander one day after her dad died
Penelope Cruz was one of the leads in the 2016 movie Zoolander, and was on a night shoot when she received the news that her dad Eduardo had passed away in the early hours of the Saturday morning.
Penelope Cruz only had one day off from shooting Zoolander when her father died unexpectedly.
The 52-year-old actress was one of the leads in the 2016 movie, and was on a night shoot when she received the news that her dad Eduardo had passed away in the early hours of the Saturday morning.
She told PORTER: “He died at two in the morning. Really young, a heart attack out of the blue. I remember being so close to passing out from the shock.”
Just a day later, on the Monday, she had to be back to work, which was especially difficult considering Zoolander was a comedy.
She sighed: “On Monday morning, I had to be on set again, trying to make people laugh, shooting a comedy.”
Penelope added that she and co-star Ben Stiller bonded over shared experiences after Ben’s mother died during the Zoolander shoot.
She continued: “Two weeks before that, the same thing had happened to Ben Stiller with his mum. The film couldn't stop for him, or for me.
“Every time I see Ben, I think, ‘Wow, what we went through.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Penelope - who is currently promoting new movie The Invite - spoke about how she and Javier Bardem are raising their children Leo, 15, and 12-year-old Luna.
She said: “As parents, you have to work much harder to create the right atmosphere at home.
“My parents had me so young that I grew up being able to talk to them about everything. I want the same thing in my relationship with my kids.
“To create a safe environment where they feel that they can ask all the questions and share whatever they need to. And I will listen without judgement.”
However, like many parents, Penelope is becoming increasingly concerned about what her kids are seeing and being subjected to on the Internet.
She explained: “It is so difficult to be a teenager right now. What the boys are being fed, what they are being tricked into thinking.
“It is a type of manipulation that confuses even adults. With teenagers or children, it is a very dangerous weapon.
“I remember puberty being a very challenging time for me. I don’t know what my life would have been if, in that time, I had been given a phone with all the horrors of social media.”
