Penelope Cruz explains why she shares her political opinions
Movie star Penelope Cruz refuses to remain tight-lipped about politics.
Penelope Cruz won't shy away from political issues.
The 52-year-old actress stars in Bunker, the new psychological thriller film, alongside her husband Javier Bardem, Stephen Graham, Paul Dano, and Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Penelope feels it would be "very contradictory" to appear in the movie without discussing politics.
Speaking at a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, Penelope shared: "We don’t have to agree with our characters, we don’t have to agree sometimes with the story, but this involves so many aspects of where the world is right now — things that affect all of us, future generations.
"There are so many things in this film that it would be really contradictory to then be here and say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to talk about that.’ It’s impossible. And that’s why a situation like [this press conference] is sometimes more scary than, I don’t know how many weeks of shooting that we did. But still, I don’t think it would make sense to say, ‘I don’t talk about politics.'"
Javier, 57, shares his wife's perspective, observing that everyone has "the right to expose your truth on what you think is important".
The award-winning actor explained: "Obviously I have more resources to do it than a taxi driver, because I have this thing [the mic] and I have you guys listening to me. So the responsibility is a different one. And that’s what I think is important, to have a responsibility towards the world that we live in and I don’t take it for granted.
"But artistically speaking, this movie speaks about that, about how much we’re willing to see, feel, welcome the other, or fear based on what we imagine, our pre-judgments, our fears. Based on that, how much are we going to isolate and criminalise the other? And I don’t know the answer, but it’s a good question."
Penelope and Javier have worked together sporadically during their careers, and the actress has discussed the experience of collaborating with her husband.
She said: "We both really love this profession, but it’s true that there is a good balance in terms of how much you are speaking about work. Obviously if you are preparing a movie together, that is going to be very present in the conversations. But we haven’t done this very often. Naturally, it has appeared like, every five years."
