You.

Will. Your cameras tilted a little down and I'm noticing your. Your legs. You're wearing some shorts today.

Why? By the way, first of all, let me just say 40 degrees outside. Thank you so much. Why do you wear shorts? Compliment.

Have you not been outside the house to do drop off at all today?

Thanks again. I just want to say for me, hard to take so much credit. Obviously, the man upstairs scalped of these babies.

But wait, you live in a duplex?

Ah.

Welcome to smart list.

Smart litis. Smart litis. Smart art.

Fucking will. Dude, that looks badass.

Doesn't that look good? Can't hear us yet.

Damn.

Will, audio Shawnee joining.

Willie. I think that looks fucking badass.

Do you?

Yeah. Go.

Any, lad.

We are rolling. Surprise guests, give us a little clap, if you don't mind.

All right.

There we go.

Jewelry.

I might do it. I was doing a little test for this new thing I'm doing, and I might do it. I might do it. I might keep it. I don't know.

I think that's the winner right there. It's all about bone structure. How do you get fucking bone structure with a haircut?

I don't know, man. I guess it's just. Hang on. I looked at it before. Genetics.

Genetics.

Sorry. It was really good.

Fucking great.

Really good. I love seeing you, JB. In the full vest, in the down.

Vest, coming off the slopes.

No, this is just carpool drop off, whatever you call it. School drop off. What are these kids. What are my kids names?

Yeah, I know.

What's the young one?

Tell me the young one's name.

Maple is the name.

That's Maple. That's your drop off?

Fresh back from drop off. Yeah. This is post drop off, pre shower, pre g four. Handsome golf outfit.

So you do have golf.

So you're going to take a shower before.

I will be taking a shower, yes. Getting it all nice and powder dry clean.

You know our buddy skip Bronson?

Skip Bronson. Saw him yesterday swinging it over there.

He claimed that we're the visor twins.

Because you and I. I do like a visor. Yeah, I like a visor because I feel like this big dumb head of crazy hair can't fit into a cap nowadays.

I like your new look, by the way. We were talking about it, Jay. Your new look is sort of rugged.

They were both trying on some new looks for parts coming up. I'm supposed to be looking like an ex drummer, drug addict loser. And I'm really kind of nailing it with this stupid long hair.

I look like I'm playing a hooligan. Like a soccer hooligan.

Yeah.

What do I look like I'm playing now?

You look like you're playing like a.

Be nice.

Well, like a 53 year old Illinois house husband.

Yeah. It's a family after school special about a 50 year old that's going back to elementary school because he just get fifth grade.

Right. And body swaps. There's going to be a body swap.

Right. I love a body swap.

JB, he's got a lunch pail.

Yeah.

I did a body swap movie. Me and Ryan Reynolds pissed into a magic fountain. And you know what happens?

And then you decided to do a movie. Happened.

This guy, he's really on me today. He's getting.

You get. You got some text coming through. Sean, you want to just take care of.

I'm trying to find the photo with my shaved head. I can't find it.

Are you advertising for Brentwood Country Mart? What are you just saying? This is where I like to eat most.

Hey, welcome back to Hashtag relatable. This week we're going over markets.

Anybody can go to the Brentwood country Mart. It's fantastic.

Is that their tagline? It's fantastic? Boy, they didn't put a lot of thought into that.

It's terrific. It's dynamite. It is very good. What do you got today?

I want to speak about dynamite, because our guest today is dynamite. Well, nothing short of dynamite. Let me just say that much. And I'll tell you why she's explosive.

We do know it's a she. I heard a giggle and I heard some jewelry on the clap.

Oh, you did? Yeah.

I heard a gig.

Yep. You heard a gig, too. Where is everybody hearing all these gigs?

Well, we've got actual headphones on. You've got two snazzy earbuds.

I don't know, man. I don't know how I missed the gig. Anyway, this is something. Oh, man. This is so good. Yeah.

Take your time.

Well, I was just going to say. So we get a lot of. We get.

To it.

She is ready. She's a singer. I'll tell you why she's ready. Because this is somebody who's got. We've had award winning actors and actresses and performers and directors, but imagine being nominated for four Academy awards and winning one.

Imagine it.

Imagine being nominated for two baftas and winning one. Imagine being nominated for. God damn it. Emmy, four Golden Globes, five SAG awards. Yeah. Are you starting to get what I'm throwing down, you guys?

Yeah.

You starting to get that? Because this person has done some of the greatest, biggest films of all time, some of the most cool independent films, thought provoking films. She's done it all. She is somebody that I have admired for a long time. Me and the rest of the world. I don't know how else to say other than to say, guys, it's Penelope Cruz.

Wow.

Can you believe it?

Look at her go.

What an amazing presentation. I don't think I deserve that, but thank you.

Oh, my gosh. It's absolutely true.

Hello. All of it's true.

Nice to meet you.

Morning. Yeah, really nice to meet you.

Thank you for joining.

Wow. We're not in your bedroom. We're in a hotel room, are we not? Where are we?

This is actually not my bedroom. That this is a room where they brought me to do the interview.

Where are you?

You're doing some press.

We are in a hotel for a couple of days here in LA.

Yeah. And going back home, Penelope, and correct me if I'm wrong, you're here doing press for Ferrari, your new film that you've done with Michael Mann. Is that true? Yes, which is fantastic. And we had the pleasure of meeting one of your co stars, Adam Driver. And we're very excited for Ferrari.

I can't wait to see it.

But I'm really excited to talk to you, Penelope, about just what an incredibly diverse career that you've had, that you've carved out. And I kind of want to touch on something. I'm so excited you're here, by the way. I want to talk about.

This is wild.

There's a story that I picked up on. I saw an interview you did with Terry gross on fresh air, and it really piqued my interest. And, guys, I don't know if you know this, and I'd love for you to speak to this. You talk about, you were a big fan of Pedro Almodovar, right? Fantastic fan. The great spanish filmmaker. And you would tell your friends you were putting yourself in a position to see him. You're not necessarily waiting outside his house, but you would go to restaurants also.

I did.

But you did wait outside his house.

That's something.

A couple of times.

A couple of times. And then would go to bars and restaurants and wait. And your friends thought you were insane. And you said, believe me, I have this connection and it will happen. Can you talk to us a little bit about that?

Wow.

I know for a lot of people it can sound weird. And also, it sounded crazy to him when I told him for the first few years, he didn't believe me. And then a lot of things like that started to happen between him and I. And I think by now, like 30 years later, he believed me. We have a very special connection. And I was a huge fan of his work. I didn't have a theater, a cinema near where we lived, because we lived outside Madrid. And I developed love for movies and different actresses and directors through the Betamax machine that my father and my mother bought when I was like a kid. You remember how heavy and big the Betamax was. So I asked them to give me a copy of the card for the video store. And I was there every afternoon after school and after my homework and my dance classes. What I wanted to do is be alone and watch a movie. If I liked a movie, I would watch it 20 times in a row, like really study that film. And that's how I discovered Pedro and Spielberg and Scorsese and Billy Wilder.

So what were some of those movies that you would watch 20 times that you loved?

Love, loved.

As a kid, I mean, I always knew I wanted to act, but I had no. Apart from the couple of hours that I spent doing classical ballet, that was like, very hardcore. But at the same time, it was a way of acting and a way to release that need that I had of visiting and investigating different ways of being and different realities. I think I would have been very damaged if I didn't have that. But then I discovered that that was like a window to the world. I could dream about what that life would be like or this or that and put yourself in somebody else's shoes. And I felt like, this is what I want to do in my life. I don't know how. I didn't know anybody related to the business, anybody that could make a living out of something related to arts. When I said that to my parents, it was like saying, I want to be an astronaut. It was very surreal for them. I just appreciate that they didn't invalidate me. They didn't laugh. They said, you can try if that's what you want. You will pay your dance classes and then your theater classes, but have a plan b, because probably this won't work.

So through that Betamax machine I started, mean, imagine that.

I mean, you say that, right? It's like saying to your parents, I want to go live on the moon. You grew up in a small town outside of Madrid. You don't even have a theater. And all your connection to films is through renting. Then you. But you have this dream, and lots of people have dreams that I want to do this I want to do that. But the follow through is so precise to the point that you're like, you identify well. Sean had asked, what were the films that really inspired you? And I do want to get to that. But you identify specifically as you get older that you know that you want to connect to Pedro. Yes. And that you're like the follow through. And like you said, for some people it might seem weird, but you knew that there was something there.

You thought you were pretty confident that once he meets me, I know we're going to have a connection. He seems like the kind of guy I would get along with. And you just put yourself in front of him.

Yeah. Not because I thought I was good, just because I thought that he saw the world in a very similar way to the way that I saw it since I was a little girl. And actually I got into one of the sets without permission when I was 14. And he was doing. No. When I was like, 1516, he was doing high heels, and he was shooting with Victoria Brielle, one of my favorite actresses. And I just walked in. Nobody stopped me. I sat very close to the monitor. Nobody said anything.

Oh, my God.

And he looked at me and I said, oh, my God, he's going to say something. He just looked at me for a few seconds. Do I know you? We know each other. That was enough for me for that day, to be able to spy and be there for a couple of hours. But then, because he was the one, like you said before, such a specific dream, he was the one that I wanted to meet, to thank and to be able to maybe one day work with him. So when I did my first two movies, I got that phone call. My two first movies were very different from each other. Belly poke and Hamon. Hamon. And I was very lucky to have that presentation card because the characters were like, day and night, and that was important to start that way. And somebody said to me, almodova is on the phone. And I was drawing my hair, preparing for classes, and I said, yeah, right, almodova is on the phone. And it took me, like, five minutes to react because I thought, how can. Is it for real that dreams so specific can become a reality?

And he was there, and his voice was like, oh, this old friend that I haven't seen for a long time. And the connection was instant. I lied to him about my age. We did the casting for the movie. It was not appropriate for my age, the movie. So the casting was just a conversation about, like, really, how old are you? I know you are lying to me. So I said, yeah, actually, yes. I'm like, at that point, I think 18. He said, this character has to be at least 25 or 30, but I will write a character for you in my next film. And he did. Jesus.

And this is edge getting that call. Sean, it would be like you, if they're like, Sean, kraft macaroni and cheese is on the phone.

And you'd be like, dreams come true.

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is not like.

If you have a specific.

Penelope, what about when you filled him in on this, that you've been following him around? Was he charmed by that? Did he laugh?

Did he remember you being at the monitor when you were 15?

No, not that. But then I told him, look, one time at the cinema, I told my friends that I was going to find you that day, and it was just a random cinema by the time that I was able to go to the cinema alone when I was older and my friend couldn't believe it because by the end of the movie, we came out and he was there in the street and a lot of things like that. At the beginning, he was looking at me like, yeah, right. Okay. You are very young and you are believing all this, but now he does. You can ask him. And now he does. These things happen between him and I.

That's cool. So how many films have you done with him now?

Seven. And I hope many more. I just talked to him this morning.

That's amazing. He's one of the greatest.

He's one of the loves of my life. He's much more than a director I work with. He's family.

Sure, of course.

Hilarious. And you have to invite him. He will make you laugh so much.

It would be like a dream come true. He's one of the great directors, and he's one of the great imaginations, one of the great storytellers. And then the guys know I don't use that term lightly. Wow. But before you worked with him, you had done two films, right? Before you worked with Pedro?

Yeah.

What was it like at that point? What were the opportunities like in Spain for you at that point in the spanish film industry? Was there a lot going on? Was it robust? Was it difficult?

It was like a miracle that I found my agent. When I found my agent, she's now 83, and we've been together since I was 1415. The first time I went to see her, she sent me home. She said, what are you doing here? You're too young. Please go away. I came back the week after. She said, the same thing to me. I came back the week after, and then I asked her to let me do an improv where I could just play somebody that was very angry. And in my improve, I was actually an actress that was talking about her dreams, that was asking for an opportunity even if I was young. And then I was the only person that she picked that year to be represented. And out of 300 people, and we are still together. And I love her so much. She started to send me to cartoons. And to my surprise, I got a yes as an answer. I could not believe it. It was a big surprise.

Penelope, all the dreams that you had about, I hope it happens. I want to meet Pedro. I want my career to take off. All the dreams you had, all the aspirations that you had, you now, I would assume, have them even bigger than you even dreamed back then. Is it what you thought it would be? What's your favorite part about what has become and what part of it did you not anticipate coming? And you could kind of do without that part. I didn't think it would be bad like that. What's your favorite part? What's your least favorite part?

My favorite part about this profession and the one that gives me a real happiness that can last and that is based on hard work and the values that I think my parents taught me, is the part that each time you are starting from zero, you never get to a place where you feel you have things under control. You are like a constant student. You're never going to do the same role twice. Maybe you will, but that's a different story. But you are going to be challenged each time and have fear each time. And I feel like we could have this conversation when I'm 90 and I would still feel the same way. And I feel that's good for me, it's good for my mental health. It keeps me sane, it keeps me humble, because it's about the learning process. It's about how we really are just one more piece of the puzzle when we are on the set, we cannot do this work alone. And this is amazing about my profession. And I realized is what attracted me to it from day one. The thing that I was surprised is that there was the element of attraction to fame.

When I was a teenager, I thought, like, wow, like, really me, they are saying this or that. So you get kind of a dopamine high from it, especially if you are very young, but that doesn't last. That goes away. And if you are evolving in a good way and you have a family around you, that is going to be telling you the truth and cutting all the bullshit. And on top of that, you become a mother, when, of course, you will never see yourself as the first of the line ever again. The priorities will change immediately for the rest of your life.

You're not the number one on the call sheet at home.

No, never. But for the rest of my life, I will never be, and I don't want to. And that's the biggest amount of happiness in my life, comes from that. And I realized that because I started so young, then, when I was, like, 20 something, I had already gone through a lot of emotions related to that, to, oh, what is it? To get that attention? And one thing is to get a feeling of satisfaction. If you're getting a good review or recognition from your peers, because you have worked on something and you were so scared about it, and you have connected, and that is a real thing. Okay. But the other thing that I was, like, flipping out about when I was, I don't know, 17, 1819, it doesn't last long. And in those years, I was surprised. Oh, how come I don't feel the same thing as I felt three years ago? That doesn't last forever. No, it lasts very little. Like a friend of mine, a psychiatrist friend of mine, was saying, it's actually one. Having. Being very exposed to fame at a very young age is one of the things that can put you on higher risk for depression.

Sure.

And it makes total sense, because at the end of the day, it's like when you are super addicted to a video game or gambling or it's like this high that will have a dramatic drop, and it's just dopamine. And it is like that.

Yeah.

And we will be right back.

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All right, back to the show.

I think you put it in the right place. When I remember telling my kids I have three boys and a stepson, so four boys in the house, it's crazy. And I remember saying, when my older boys were younger, sort of six, seven, and people want to take photos or whatever, and you're out. And I remember explaining that to them, and it was through explaining to them the idea of, these people don't know me. They think they do. They want my picture because they think something else. And when I said it out loud and put it in the right place, it changed everything for me. Once I actually said it out loud and it put it in a place that was much more acceptable and it stopped affecting. I've said this many times, as long as you don't peg your happiness to how other people think about you, then you'll be okay. And you can kind of keep that right sized. You know what I mean? Keep it in the right place. And I was also thinking about something else you said, penelope, which is interesting, and I don't know, I'm going to open this up to everybody.

Really?

You're talking about staying a student. And I've been thinking so much more in the last couple of years, now that I'm 53. I mean, I could play 48, but thank you. Sure. Maybe 40. Thank you. I really appreciate it. But one of the things I've been thinking about is this idea of staying. I was saying to somebody, I want to stay in the student section of life, not just in my work. I don't want to be an expert. And like all of us, I can talk like an expert sometimes about stuff and have a lot of conviction. It's so important in this life to stay in the student section, I think, don't you?

I agree. I agree. And I feel like when you have kids, immediately you are put in that place forever because it's such a lesson every day and so much wisdom that comes from just the total honesty that all the kids have.

Yeah, they don't care.

It's a great reminder that you know nothing until you learn it. You get to watch them learn things or get experience with things for the very first time. And we forget that moment for us. For instance, somebody sent us a gift yesterday, and there was like a cassette tape in it, one of those old audio cassette tapes. And my twelve year old daughter said, what's this? And I said, well, that's a cassette. She said, a cassette? What's a cassette?

I said, no way.

Well, it's a. I mean, how do you describe what a cassette is?

I said, wait a minute.

Same thing happened to me last month, and I was shocked.

She didn't know how to open up that cassette box. That clear, see through cassette box.

And you said, this is what Daddy used to put in his shiroco.

Exactly. I said, I used to have hundreds of these. These are what albums used to be on. She goes, really? There's music on this? I said, yeah. I said, open it up and put it in.

Put it in what?

Five.

How did you have a little.

There was a little like a walkman that came with the gift. No way. And it took her five minutes to open up. I finally had to take it from her. I said, let me show you how to open. She almost broke it. She didn't know how to open up the clear. Anyway, it's a great reminder that you just don't realize what you don't know if you don't keep up your radar that you're willing to learn.

Also, age helps. Age helps. Not giving a shit. Right? The older you get, you're just like, I'm too tired and old to care.

Well, you maybe start caring about things that are actually important and not the other things that are related about how you are perceived for sure by people that you don't know, which is different than, of course, if you have a job like the one that we have. At the end of the day, you are doing that to try to move energy in people, to try to. We make movies for that reason, not to change the world. But you want to connect with people.

Yeah, I want to go back to ballet. I had no idea you were ballet. That's crazy. Did you find that? How many years did you take ballet?

Like 1717 years. Do you still my life? Well, when I get the chance to, I might do a musical soon again.

Nine.

You were great in nine. Thank you. I loved making that movie and I went back to dancing for like six months or something like that. So I'm always looking for reasons to go back.

That's great.

Wow.

So you don't have the wear and tear on a person's body of 17 years of being on your toes. Do you have any kind of, like.

Your toes still hurt?

No, but I mean, I got used to that. When you are bleeding and your nails are like, you lose them, they get really dark and then they fall off and you have to keep dancing and smiling and the discipline that it gives you. It helped me a lot because I started to work as an actress so young, and I had the discipline from that. That was so much harder than anything I have done.

I'm sure you talked a little bit about sort of just to swing back to what's important and stuff. Both you and your partner are film actors and actors at the highest level and very much in demand. You've made lots of films and yet now you've started a family, and I presume that you still live in Spain. Yeah. Or that you move back. You spent very many years where you were doing, like, it seemed like you did so many films, and I listed off all the awards and nominations. And yet now do you find yourself, have you put that in a different place now, like, now that you've moved and you live in Europe and you don't live here in Los Angeles? And do you feel that you've been able to carve out a kind of.

A different, very different, very different, where the total priority, the number one priority is the family. Also, most of my family, mom and sisters and most of them are there in Spain. My brother and nephew are here in LA, and I miss them so much. But life always brings us here, like maybe in the summer, Christmas, or both, and come here for work. And I lived here for 15 years in LA. And I loved it, but we just wanted to be there raising the children, because family is very important for us.

Yeah.

What's the atmosphere like there where you live in Spain with respect to Hollywood and the media and fame and paparazzi and all that kind of stuff? Can you live a very sort of normal, in quotes, life there as opposed to here?

Yes.

Oh, good.

Well, when I was here, there was a way to do it. Also, it depends what kind of place you go to. You know how it is. And there I can do everything. I can go to school, go to the supermarket, go to a public gym, go to everywhere, everywhere. And this is where I want. I could not give up having a normal.

You can go to a public gym, of course.

And even if they do recognize you, do they treat celebrity with such reverence there like they do here? I think it's a little too big here.

No, I think it's not a surprise to see us there. And also, everything ends up being close to the area where I grew up. And it feels like if you knew all your neighbors, it feels very easy going, and people are very nice.

And is Javier from the same area?

He was actually born in Canary Islands, but he was raised more in the city, and I was raised more out of Madrid, but also in LA. I had no problems where I lived here, and I feel like it's more like choosing where you go to. If you're going to go to a place looking for attention, or you go to a place so you can leave your.

It's the vibe you put out, too, right?

It's also what you wear. You. If you look all great and fabulous, or if you look like you're trying to hide with a hat and big glasses, people, you stand out like a sore throne.

Draw more attention.

Yeah, but if you just, like, there's no hiding whatsoever. It's just a little sweatshirt or something.

Well, we had a guest on, one of our guests, who's a friend of the show, I won't name, but he had, years ago, I'd gone to his house, one of the biggest film actors on the planet, and we went to his house, and I was giving him a lift home, and we get to his gate, that was barely like a gate. And then he said, just punch in the code. I said, what's the code for the 2468? I said, come on, man. No, 2468. And then you could walk around it if you want. We get up to his house, and we walk in, and the front door is open. And I said, dude, what are you doing? You're crazy. I mean, this is. Guys like that. And he goes, I don't live like a prisoner.

Right.

And if I put that vibe out in the world.

Yeah, it's true. It's true. Probably take less attention like that, by the way.

Totally agree. I'm like, if somebody's going to get me, they're going to get me.

Well, why do you have that? You have that sign that says Sean Hayes lives here in front of.

Yeah, but I mean, you can hide some hedges.

Listen, Penelope, before we go any further, I want to ask you, and this is a tough question and you can feel free to not answer it. We can always cut it out. Real Madrid or Atlarico Madrid, you know.

I mean, I do. Because that's another thing that changes when you are a mother and suddenly you see they like football, but then you start loving football, too. I have a family that is from Atletico, family from Barcelona, club family from Real Madrid. And I think they're amazing teams, but I am loving everything more. Real Madrid, what can I love?

I'm a huge football fan and I'm obsessed. And actually like both those teams as well, they have great players.

We're recording this right around the holiday season. Are you a big holiday fan? Do you love Christmas or. I don't know what you guys celebrate? Do you guys go skiing? Do you like the beach? Instead?

It's just about being with the family. And since I have my kids, I get to experience again Christmas, like when I was little, and it's like having a second chance to experience that magic. And it's incredible. Of course, I love it again so much. For a few years, it was just like one more part of the year, but now it's a big deal. It's become a big deal.

My three year old this morning, he was saying that he wanted to get this truck. It was like a crane thing. And I said, okay, well, we'll see if Santa comes in. He goes, no, you buy it. And I said, no, we're going to see if Sandy goes, daddy, you buy it.

How old is he?

He's three and a half. Yeah.

Now, what do you think is too old to be still in the Santa world? I'm saying this gently because I don't know how young our listeners are.

I feel it's when they're ready.

Yeah. When they're ready.

When they're ready. When they're ready. And maybe your son is ready now, it's a little shocking, but when they're ready, they're going to in a different way.

He doesn't think that. No, no. He's just saying that he doesn't want to wait for Santa. Look at this guy. Look at this guy.

Adorable.

Was he on the potty there? I love it. He looks very excited about his movement.

Believe me. I asked him this morning also, I'm not going to get to it in the week, but I asked him, who's the boss? And he said, me. I said, you're not the boss.

Anyway, I remember in Christmas, like, my mom used to get us so much more in debt than we already were. Christmas was like, the number one thing in her life. She would max out her credit cards and mortgage the house just so we could have presents. And as I got older, I'm like, I don't know if this is the greatest business model for our home.

You're leaving us with another gift, too, mom.

That's debt, by the way. It's very much symbolic of the age that we live in. You watch these ads now on tv and they're all like, everybody's going to go to one of these big box stores. And they're like, well, dad needs a CD player. My son needs a new big screen tv. And I'm like, what kind of money do people have that they're spending? You know what I mean? Like, they're having these huge. It seems crazy.

Anyway, I also remember really quick, just while we're on the subject, my mom constantly with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, constantly, 24 hours a day, filling the stockings by the fire and then by the tree. That was real with her lit cigarette, just putting stuff under the tree.

That was my dad, too.

Really?

Yeah. Smoking in the house and doctors telling him, you have to quit. And he was saying to us, this is a complaot of the family. It's not true that I have to quit. You are all talking to the doctor. What a character.

How is the smoking in Europe? There's still a lot of smokers in Europe, correct?

Much less. I mean, I grew up spending time every day in a hair salon because my mom owned a hair salon. Everyone was smoking in front of all the kids. The combination of that plus all the toxicity of all the products, can you imagine?

You can smoke in the elevator. Over in it was ashtrays in the elevators.

When?

Yeah, when I was in Paris a couple of years ago, there were still ashtrays in the elevators.

I don't know.

Wait a second, Penelope, how many languages do you know? Everyone that lives in Europe knows like five languages.

Yeah, well, I speak Italian, Italian, Spanish, English with this accent that I don't know when I will get rid of. And I'm Petipi. Oh my God.

Okay. French.

It's not French.

How dare you listen to Penelope. Obviously I don't know you. It's such a pleasure to meet you.

You're so nice.

You're doing. No, I love it. This is so much fun. I could be here for 5 hours straight.

Okay, great. Well we have two. No, I'm kidding. Where are you going?

Believe me, Sean has 8 hours that he needs to fill today.

So this is perfect. If you could just stick around till seven tonight. No. It seems there's, there's certain points in my life that I can remember changed me and I grew from. Bless you.

You announce it.

That's our first ever sneeze.

I love that.

And sometimes I sneeze eight times in a row. Oh my God.

I hope not always three.

It's going to happen. I did it today. I did it this morning too. I think it's going around. I sneeze.

What about people who muffle their sneezes? It's my favorite thing to do. And people that stifle them. That's yourself. One of the greatest releases ever.

Yeah. That has to be bad for you.

Yeah. Sneeze edging is no good. All right, keep going, Sean, keep going.

My thing was, there are certain points in my life that I can recall changed me. Where I grew from them, where I learned and they were filling joke here. They were experiences that made me grow up quickly and realize and see things differently. And you seem like, not again, not knowing you. You seem like you have an amazing. No bullshit meter.

Oh, thank you.

You can call it out right away. Were there certain moments in your life that taught you that, that you can remember? You're like, you know what, because of this experience, I have now changed and I'm going to call you on that now so it doesn't happen to me again.

Yes. A few things like crucial moments in my life that I remember that were like a turning point in terms of made you say actually you can respect yourself that much and it's okay. No, and it's not just okay. I feel so much happier. And moments like this, I feel like if you get to live a long life, those things you remember before you go, I'm sure.

Yeah. Do you remember what some of those are or those moments if you want to share them?

For example, working with Michael was very interesting that way because he's very tough and I loved, we didn't have a lot of free time there. We were working really hard, nonstop. But sometimes if we had ten minutes between shots, I just wanted to talk to him about without calling it that in front of him. But it was about his toughness, about the reasons why he has no problem saying no, which is sometimes harder for me. And he answered something so brilliant. He said, you know, there is no free lunch. There is so much in that answer that I needed to hear.

There is no free lunch.

That advice. Yeah, there is no free lunch. Meaning like if, I don't want to give a specific example, but there are times in your life when, you know, you have to say no to something and so many justifications and all but this, but that will make you say yes. You don't want to hurt somebody's feelings. You don't want to, it's too complicated. But you feel like, what's the right thing to do? And he's very honest that way and has no problem saying.

And then you're like, oh, I didn't know that. It's okay for me to say no.

Yeah, well, that's a boundary thing, right?

A. It's boundary thing. Meaning there is no freelance. If you don't say no when you know you have to and you accumulate too many of those, one day you're going to explode.

I know because I had to learn that too.

Well, same here. Sean, you and I talked about with JB within the last year. Jason, I said to you, I really respect your ability to draw boundaries for gotten. You're really good. You really set a good example for me. I think it took me to get older to understand. And it is, Penelope, like you say, when you start to be able to say no or to draw a boundary and say, this is my boundary, it's so freeing because you take a little bit of power back and you're able to go like, yeah, that's not okay for me.

It's very difficult to learn that. Also as an actress starting very young, when you depend on others to say yes to you to work, and then you realize that, oh, maybe I have to say no, for example, to this project. And how can I allow myself to say no to that? That also was a huge lesson.

Thank you for saying that, will. But one of the things that I worry about is that I get meaner or that think people will no, but because he's being mean or that's you do, right, or he's crankier. And while that might be the case, to compensate for that, I have expanded my nice side. When there are moments that I feel I should be nicer or I should be generous in this moment or do that thing, I end up doing more of those things and being nicer when it is time to be nice.

I see you making that. I've seen you making the effort lately. I swear to God, I'm not kidding.

It's not about the no. It's about how you say the no.

Yeah, how you say it. And what you're saying, Jason, is you're just more honest. And that doesn't make you meaner. You're just more honest because behind a lot of yeses that you don't want to say no. There is no way I learned that lesson and I'm not going back to where I was.

Yeah. By the way, we are still owed seven more sneezes.

Yeah, I know, but it's not happening.

We'll wait.

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One of our friends gave us a good tip. They said, because someone will ask you, hey, next month, would you mind coming over to my place and helping me out with such and such? And you might say, sure, yeah, because it's a month away. And then the day comes and you're like, oh, I can't believe I said yes to that. This person said, here's what you do. You have to imagine that it's for tomorrow. If you don't want to do something.

Tomorrow, that's your answer.

Say no today. You just imagine that it's tomorrow. If you don't want to do it tomorrow, then go ahead and say no today.

Yeah, and you replace it with tomorrow. It's kind of a good I want to ask you, this is going to be sort of, I'm veering way off.

Topic, but it's going to ask you to do something in a few months and just pretend.

I'm just going to say no. Okay, let's see.

Okay. It's a bag with €30 million in it, but I guess. No, listen. No, I was going to ask you about. I love Madrid. I've been there a few times. I think it's really such a phenomenal city, and I really love Spain. And one of my great nights that I had in Madrid was with an old friend of mine who lives there, who's lived there for 2025 years. Different business, finance. Good guy to know. But he took me out, we went for drinks, then we went to an Atletico Madrid game, and then we went for dinner. It was a Sunday night, and we sat down for dinner at about 11:00 p.m.. Yeah, God, I'm out. And it was just starting to fill up. And the families. It was that very famous restaurant where everybody goes. I forget what it's called, but it's a very sort of fancy. And it was like. And I know that. I don't know if the prince or the king still goes there, but he used to. It was like one of the. And the families would come in, ten people in the family, the kids, everybody. I left at 01:00 that an early flight the next day, and I'm like, I can't believe.

Why is that? Why is it always so late?

It just sounds like a bunch of acid reflux.

That was my schedule before having a family. It was like normal to go to dinner at ten with your friends, with family, but not. I mean, schools in Spain start early, like here, like around 830 or eight, and you can have that schedule maybe sometimes in the weekend, but that's more for a single.

I've never been to Spain and I want to go.

Really?

Is that the country or this side of the world that doesn't get dark until like ten or eleven at night or something like that?

No, you got to go north in the summer. We have light until ten.

No way.

In the summer we do, but the.

Further north you go. Sean, beautiful. Lighter. It stays. Penelope, we're sorry. This is a little bit of charity hire.

No?

Yeah, he wanted to get into radio.

Wants to experience the light of Madrid in the Summer.

So, Penelope, now, here you are, you're here in America and you're doing all this stuff for Ferrari, which is phenomenal. First of all, Michael Mann, of course, one of the all time great directors. But you're here, you're in America and you're doing all the stuff that goes with that. Yeah.

This is what I love, the press.

Tour, which includes talking to us, I imagine. But what is that like for you? How do you sort of gear up for that with your life and everything that's going on with the kids and you got to go like, all right, I got to go do all the.

Junk, turn it on.

Yeah.

Do you like that stuff or is it okay?

As you know, it's part of it. And I just do very short trips. Like, went to New York for one day for the Gotham awards and then back home and then London one day and a half back home. Now we're here for a couple of days. I'd rather do it, like know than putting together a long trip.

Ideally, would you do one job a year or two jobs a know?

That changed a lot. I used to do like four movies per year and travel nonstop, and now I do like one per year. And if they're not too long and I can do one in Madrid while the school is happening, I maybe would do that one and one in the summer so we can travel all together. And this is like the. I feel very privileged and very lucky to be able to do it that way because I feel like all of those years working so hard have given me the opportunity to be able to choose what I want to do now and be a little bit like the owner, more or less of my own schedule. Even if you know how things always change, if they tell you you're going to start in March, probably you're going to start a month later. But even counting with that and knowing that that will always be the nature of our profession. Feeling like I kind of own a big part of my time is such a blessing. Such a blessing because, like I told you before, my priorities is raising my children. And I feel so lucky that I can combine that with my work.

Yeah, it's so cool to be able to shift that perspective from when you're younger and like you were saying, you're trying to make a mark, you're trying to do as much stuff as you can. You want to work with directors, you want to work on different projects, and then you get older and you're like, yeah, that stuff's not as important to me anymore. I mean, it's a luxury, obviously.

Yeah, it is. I mean, I don't take it for granted. And I also still love so much, like, preparing a character, the research process and being on the set and the creativity and how that makes me feel, like searching for answers. And I still feel like the little girl that was watching the Betamax.

Yeah. What was your first Hollywood film? What was your first big.

It was Stephen Freir's a movie called High Low country, and I was obsessed with him because of the grifters and dangerously so on. So that was also a phone call that made me so happy.

Can I ask you a dorky actor question because you're such a great actor? You're very.

You, too. Thank you so much.

No, you really are. I find myself, when I watch you play a character, I'm leaning in, I'm trying to read your mind. It's great. You don't help the audience. You're very internal, and that's my favorite kind. But I think sometimes that it would be hard for me to manage that kind of subtlety with an accent. I wonder if I would be. Is it easier for you when you're playing a character that's speaking Spanish versus English? Because oftentimes the difference between a good performance and a bad performance will be in the way in which lines are said in the meter in which you can say, I love you a million different ways, and an accent can change what an intention sounds like. I love you. I love you. I love you. And oftentimes an accent is that we're.

Going to go a different way.

The rhythm of something, do you have to manage that at all? Do you even think about it?

I think about it a lot because I feel very lucky that I'm able to do movies in four languages and a lot of different accents, for example, with spanish language, a lot of different accents. And I feel like sometimes I don't want to call it a disadvantage to have an accent because at the end of the day, for me, in my career, it has given me more advantages than the opposite, because really, it has opened so many doors to be able to play so many different nationalities. And I don't know that I could now get to play a character that has English as her first language. Maybe someday we could get to that. But would I change that by not being able to play an italian or French or all the characters that I can play in English that can be from so many nationalities? But like I said, maybe English is not their first language. When I'm working in Spanish, of course there's going to be, like, a freedom that you are not going to have when you are working in a different language. But it's not always that way. Because sometimes when I'm working with a different language or accent, I don't hear myself, I don't recognize myself and that already gives me a space distance between myself to create somebody new.

That actually is very helpful for me. I'm always with a dialect coach in my life. Lately, I work a lot with Tim Monic, who is, I feel like, incredible. And I've had so many teachers for all different languages and accents or go to the place and spend time there.

And you feel like you have as much control over your intention when you're reading a line, even though you might be working with an accent versus the kind of control you have when you're working in Spanish, you feel like it's equal enough.

I feel like if I put a lot of time into it so that I get to a place where I don't have to be thinking about it, I will have the advantages of having that distance between myself and the way that character speaks. I'm not recognizing myself when I speak, and I enjoy that very much. But, for example, I'm making a movie in the spring in English, and I start to work now in January, and it's going to be like every day, putting many hours into it so that I don't have to be thinking about it when I'm there. So you just can't become part of you.

And that character would have an american accent or spanish accent?

No, he will have a spanish accent, but we want it to be always.

As clear as possible so there's no gap there. So that it's much more immediate, is what you're saying.

Yeah. But the gap that is the accent or acting in another language sometimes helps so much to create that distance and.

Allows you to enter a different person.

Yeah.

Can I ask you, I think it was 2008, maybe, when you won Academy award for Vicky Christina Barcelona. Right? Was that 2008, something like that.

I think it was 2008, maybe 2009.

Something like that, for Vicky Christina Barcelona when you won, because this is always, like, sort of a trippy thing. It's kind of like you win the great Academy award. Did you feel that kind of. Was it euphoric in the moment? Was it a letdown? Did it change anything? Or did you go, what was that sort of.

Was the moment as you imagined it?

Yeah, it was the first one of the night.

Oh, God.

I was happy about that because my heart was going so fast. I don't know how I could have gone through hours of that, but it was incredible to be able to hug my mother there. I was sad my father wasn't there because they were not together as a couple, so they would take turns. And he came to some awards. He came to others and all their family and friends were there. The thing is that I only remember, like, 30% of it because the adrenaline was so high. And I remember right after winning, calling my father and calling Pedro.

Pedro's like, oh, this girl will not leave me alone.

Exactly. And I remember going after the ceremony, we went to in and out, of course, with the gown. And then we went to Gaio Siri's house, who is a very good friend of mine. And I'm sure you've been in that party. I walked in and I looked to my left and in a sofa together, there was Jack Nicholson, Scorsese, harvey Catel, Robert de Niro, al Pacino. And I was like, oh, can't handle that. And I was the other way. I got so nervous. That image was like, oh, I should have taken a picture of that image. All of them together.

Guy can pack a house.

Yeah. I was going to ask you a bit ago, but that's a perfect segue. You said you lived here for 15 years, but when you come visit, what are some of the things you look forward to eating, like in and out or seeing or experiencing? Like, do you miss anything that you get excited about here?

I have a group of friends that we get together and we play wolves. Wolves and villagers. You know the game, right?

Of course.

And I know some of the players. Oh, my God. And, you know, everyone ends up so angry with each other for weeks because you just have to lie and betray other people in this game. And it's a really good game for actors and it's one of the things that I try to do when I come back to LA, like get together with the wolf players that I have here. And we play a lot in Spain also.

You can play it on Zoom, too. You ever played it on.

Zoom?

Yeah, you can do it on, I think, over Covid, there was a lot of mafia on.

Interesting, really? I have a team of players in Madrid, like many friends, that are obsessed with the game, like I am. And then other team of players here.

There's a show based on it, Penelope, called Traders, and it's based on that. A UK version, an american version and an australian version.

And now a friend of mine did a spanish version of the show.

Oh, really?

Yeah. Sergio Perismancetta.

It's interesting.

What's something that people don't know that you do, like a sort of guilty pleasure, something that you, like? Do you like watch bad? Reality is, I feel like, Jason, I'm getting into your territory with this question.

We love this question.

We love this question, what do you do? Are you secretly a golfer? Do you play tennis? Do you have some obsession? I don't know.

You like to doodle?

Well, knitting. I love a good massage, I have to say.

Oh, my God. Wow.

That's one of the best.

Every day. I would like to. Every single day. Do you get a massage once a week?

No, but I don't know. Once a month maybe. Once a month. Once. But I love it.

I hurt my back in the shower actually, the other day.

How are you doing?

Yeah, just like trying to wash my feet. Just reaching down and out it goes. So I got a massage last night. It was so deep and so painful. I hurt more today than I did yesterday. But it's all different. I'm just sore from. So sometimes it can be a little too hard. Yes, Penelope.

I don't know. I don't know. What can you call it? It's not a hobby. What can you call it? It's a treat. And I love knitting.

Oh, you do?

Yeah. Starting to do that with my daughter because my grandmother taught me how to do that. And sewing. I love cooking because with my job, it's not that I can cook every day, but it's something that I really like. And I don't have a lot of actually, like a lot of social life. And I don't really go out. I don't drink. I have strange hobbies also. Or like, I don't know why I always end up talking about this in interviews. But I love reading about medicine.

I do too.

Why are you hypochondriac? Used to.

I'm obsessed.

I'm obsessed.

I love when I find somebody that can describe. I'm like, oh, best friend.

Sean is on a vip program. This is not a joke at Cedars because he's so obsessed with his. I'm not. He has his own entrance.

You and I, best friends.

Yes, I'm obsessed.

But do you both worry about mortality? Do you feel like it's not about.

Mortality, it's about suffering?

Yes, it's about suffering. I don't want to catch it. Tell me, how did you get it? How do I avoid it?

Were you both very nervous about COVID when Covid was around? Were you both nervous about that?

I was more nervous for other people. For people that were older or for children, obviously. We didn't know what was going to happen and I was worried for my mom.

Did everybody get Covid?

I did. I did. Got Covid.

Sean, did you get.

You still haven't had it, right, will?

I've never had it? No.

Oh, my God. But, Penelope, I'm more worried about if my stomach hurts or my eye hurt. I'm like, oh, my God, I have cancer. I'm going to die, or whatever. I go from zero to 100 and then I have to read all about it.

But why should be scared? You've got an extra eye, don't you?

The thing is that you have to know where to read it. And when you do this, you end up knowing where to go. Doesn't it happen to you? Like, if you go to the doctor with the right questions and they tell you you're not one of those, that is reading everything on Internet and it's like, well, depend if you go to the right places, you actually can come here with the right questions. It doesn't mean you go to the doctor with the answers, but you go with the right questions. Sometimes they don't like that.

That's right. My doctor is like, yeah, look it up online. He always says that.

Does he really?

Yeah, he does.

Sounds pretty lazy.

Or take a picture and text it to me.

That's what he. That. Well, listen, Penelope, we have taken up way too much of your time. It's such an honor having you here and to join us.

Yeah.

I love this. You said earlier to me that I need to experience the light of Madrid, and I think I just did.

Yeah.

No, I had so much fun talking to you. Right. I feel it's too short.

You shined your light on.

It is too short.

I had so much fun in this conversation.

We'll continue it in Madrid. Next time we're down to Madrid, we're going to look you up.

We're going to have an 11:00 p.m. Dinner on a.

You're going to cook for us?

Yes, I will if you want.

I would love that.

We'll do it.

Well, listen, continued success, really, and congratulations. Enjoy your trip, your holidays. Get back to the.

I can't wait for Ferrari.

Yeah, we're looking forward to that.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Yeah, we're such.

You're being really kind. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Penelope.

Thank you. Bye bye.

Bye. Fuck. I'm fucking. Look at this.

Oh, look at. So Penelope was so great. You're sweating.

I know. That was. I mean, gosh, right? Penelope Cruz.

I'm such a fan. I've never met her or anything and I didn't know what to expect. And now I'm like a bigger fan. She's really fun and easy.

I was hoping that she was going to be as charming and as wonderful as she seems to be, right? Don't you ever play that game where you watch people on talk shows and stuff like that and you're just a fan of theirs and you feel like what she was saying about Pedro Almotovar, she could just tell, boy, if we ever met, we'd really get along. I played that. Sometimes I look at people, I was like, you know what? I bet she'd be awesome.

I think a lot of people do think that sometimes in the general public, and they're, like, psychotic a little bit. But she's not because she's actually legitimately.

Or you are getting a psycho vibe.

When you'd watch not from her. I'm saying that there are people who watch movies and go like, I would be best friends with Jason Bateman. I will go and wait for him. I will wait for him and we will be, you know what I mean? But, Sean, you kind of said it like, it's a little different when it's, know, she shows up and you're, um. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Feel free to hang out. See that movie. I know. I want to see Ferrari so bad. I know. Me love.

I like Adam. I like her. I like Michael Mann, and I like, mean, I don't know if I'd ever be able to pull off owning one, but I do.

Ferrari?

No. You kind of got to have a certain thing to be able to own a Ferrari.

Hey, will, you ever owned a Ferrari?

Funnily enough, I have. But the point is an old one. An old one. Not like. No, I don't like. Not like one of these douchebags who drives around LA in one of those. Sure.

Yeah. I've never been in one. I've only seen them drive by.

Oh, by Shawnee. Snuck it right through.

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Slash survey Academy is a new scripted podcast that follows Ava Richards, played by HBO's industries Maihala Harold, a brilliant scholarship student who has to quickly adapt to her newfound eat or be eaten world. Ava's ambitions take hold and her small town values break in hopes of becoming the first scholarship student to make the list. Bishop Gray's all coveted academic top ten, curated by the headmaster himself. But after realizing she has no chance at the list on her own, she reluctantly accepts an invitation to a secret underground society that pulls the strings on campus life and academic success. If she bends to their will, she'll have everything she ever dreamed of. But at what cost? Academy takes you into the world of a cutthroat private school where power, money, and sex collide in a game of life and death. Follow Academy on the wandery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Academy early and ad free right now by joining Wandery Plus.