Penélope Cruz has stunned in a black mini dress while on the red carpet at the New York Film Festival. The 47-year-old was all smiles on October 8 as her acclaimed new film Parallel Mothers closed out the world-famous festival. Her short black dress was adorned with sequins and featured a mesh overlay on her chest and at the hem. She paired the look with towering black pumps, a silver bracelet and matching silver drop earrings as she stepped out at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.
The A-lister, who is married to fellow actor Javier Bardem, 52, swept her brunette tresses back into an up-do, as she walked alongside the likes of Tilda Swinton, 60, and director Pedro Almodóvar, 72. In the film, she plays Janis, a woman who bonds with the much younger Ana (played by Milena Smit). The two single women find themselves together in the hospital, both about to give birth.
The movie marks the seventh collaboration between Penelope and Pedro, and she opened up on the red carpet about her close working relationship with her fellow Spaniard. “He’s like family to me. We’re really close. We understand each other. We can read each other’s minds. We can never lie to each other. We don’t even try,” she told People. “So, all of that — it just helps and makes it easy to work with each other.”
She continued, “However, on set we make sure to give each other space, so that we maintain respect for one another… It’s a good balance we have. It’s been like 30 years since I met him, and 25 years working together, and I hope many more. He’s really special.” The duo have previously worked on, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990), Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006), Broken Embraces (2009), I’m So Excited! (2013), Pain and Glory (2019), and now, Parallel Mothers.
“I feel he’s one of the only people to give me a lot of opportunity to do things. He imagines me in things he hasn’t seen me do, he pushes me to be dynamic. He’s the reason I decided to become an actress. Every time, he gives me material that is new, that allows me to try something new. It’s always different for me. So many complex roles. This [Parallel Mothers] is the most challenging one, but I say that with a smile on my face,” the actress explained.