Penelope opens up on the language barrier between her and co-star Javier Bardem while speaking to director Woody Allen and said, “He gave us the script he wrote in English, and he gave us the freedom to translate and improvise. Woody told me recently that he still doesn't know if we are talking about the atomic bomb. And it's the same thing in To Rome With Love–he doesn't speak Italian. I translated my lines. So he still doesn't know what I am saying.” Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott/Courtesy of W magazine
On her first meeting with director Woody Allen, Penelope says, “[It was] fast. Very fast. We sat down for 30 seconds. He had seen Volver, and he thought I would be right for this character. And that was it. I never spoke to him again until we were shooting.” Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott/Courtesy of W magazine
On whether she read the script before saying yes to playing the part she said, “No. I had no idea who I would be playing. After I said yes, he [Allen] sent the script with this man who knocked on my door and said, 'I will come back and pick it up in an hour.' I had to read really fast and it was in English. It was the same thing with To Rome With Love–A different man but the same behavior. This time, I asked for two hours [laughs]. People ask Woody, 'Do you spend a lot of time with your actors?' In front of all of us he says, 'No–I try to avoid the cast. They come to me with all these strange questions that I either don't know how to answer or I don't want to answer.' Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott/Courtesy of W magazine
When asked about her scene in Almodovar's Broken Embraces where she thinks her husband has died during sex she says, “I love that scene: It's hard to invent a new way to shoot a sex scene, but Pedro has done it so many times. During the shooting, Pedro was giving my character thoughts. She's kind of happy that her husband's dead, but Pedro kept saying to me: “What are you going to do with the body? Why are you putting on lipstick? The whole crew was laughing to hard, but a man had just died. That tension between tragedy and hilarity is why Pedro is a genius.” Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott/Courtesy of W magazine
Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott/Courtesy of W magazine
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 14: Robert Pattinson and David Cronenberg ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 14, 2012 in New York City. (Twitter)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 14: Robert Pattinson and David Cronenberg ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 14, 2012 in New York City. (Twitter)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 14: Robert Pattinson and David Cronenberg ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 14, 2012 in New York City. (Twitter)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 14: Robert Pattinson and David Cronenberg ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 14, 2012 in New York City. (Twitter)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 14: Robert Pattinson and David Cronenberg ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 14, 2012 in New York City. (Twitter)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 14: Robert Pattinson and David Cronenberg ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 14, 2012 in New York City. (Twitter)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 14: Robert Pattinson and David Cronenberg ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 14, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)
