The ‘very private’ Penelope Cruz

"Sorry," she said, "but I’d rather not talk about my private life."

With that, Penelope Cruz at once made it clear that the interview would have to revolve only around her career and the movie at hand, Gothika, a joint venture between Warner Bros. Pictures and Columbia Pictures, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, in which she co-stars with Halle Berry, Charles S. Dutton and Robert Downey, Jr.

The plot of Gothika goes this way:

A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (Berry), is an expert at knowing what is rational, what is logical and what is sane.

Under the direction of her husband (Dutton), the chief administrator of the psychiatric ward at the Woodward Penitentiary for Women, Miranda treats dangerously disturbed patients like Chloe (Cruz), an intensely charismatic murderess whose confessions of satanic torture are dismissed by the judicious doctor as the psychotic meanderings of a paranoid mind.

But Miranda’s comfortable marriage and stable life are thrust into terrifying jeopardy after a cryptic encounter with a mysterious young girl leads to a nightmare beyond her wildest imagination.

When Miranda awakens from the horrific incident, she is shocked to discover that her husband has been murdered – and the bloody evidence points directly at her. Unable to fathom having committed an unmotivated act of such sheer brutality against a man she loved and admired, Miranda suddenly finds herself confined to Woodward alongside the highly unstable patients she used to treat with methodical detachment.

With no memory of the night in question except for fractured visions of the hauntingly enigmatic girl, the doctor’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Her claims of innocence are seen as the beginnings of a deep descent into madness by her former colleagues like Dr. Pere Graham (Downey, Jr.), Miranda’s sympathetic but skeptical co-worker who is wrestling with issues of his own.

Forced to rely on her instincts rather than facts, Miranda begins to believe that she has been possessed by a supernatural force determined to exact revenge at the expense of her sanity. As Chloe draws her deeper into her own personal hell, Miranda must determine if she is being driven to madness... or closer to the truth.

Very clearly, the Gothika role is a departure from the glamorous ones Penelope played in such films as All the Pretty Horses (with Matt Damon), Woman on Top, Blow (with Johnny Depp), Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (with Nicolas Cage) and Vanilla Sky (with her boyfriend Tom Cruise, a remake of her Spanish thriller starrer Abre Los Ojos/Open Your Eyes).

She showed up for the Gothika interview at a function room of the L’Hermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, with hardly any make-up and I tell you, she looked beautiful in her "natural-ness." When she talked, Penelope seemed to put you in place with her big, beautiful eyes (que bonitos ojos tienes, as the Spanish song aptly put it), reminding you without her articulating it that, no, "I’m sorry I won’t talk about my private life."

What a pity because I, and the rest of the interviewers I supposed, wanted to find out what the real score was between her and Tom Cruise after she sued an Asutralian magazine for printing what turned out to be fabricated letters Penelope allegedly written to an old lover (unnamed) saying she wanted out of her relationship with Cruise. The magazine settled the case and agreed to make a donation to a charity of Penelope’s choice.

Because of her reticence, Penelope can become an intriguing mystery to many people, but not to those close to her.

"She has a great sense of humor," claimed Salma Hayek, one of Penelope’s closest friends, in a magazine interview. "It’s always fun to hang out and discuss a movie with her."

"She’s one of the most sincere and generous women I’ve ever worked with, She will be my friend for a long time."

Penelope’s personal make-up artist, Whitney James, was quoted as saying that Penelope is the most stubborn person she has ever met.

"Penelope is the best palette," said James, also penelope’s close friend. "But she’s stubborn. When she puts her mind to something, she’s unstoppable."

Like when she decided to leave Spain and try her luck in Hollywood.

Already a top actress in her native Spain, 29-year-old Penelope was introduced to American audiences in the Spanish films Jamon, Jamon and Belle Epoque (Best Foreign-Language Film winner at the Oscars in mid-’90s). When she moved to Hollywood (her first English-language film was Hi-Lo Country, 1998), she was hailed as "The New Audrey Hepburn," a comparison that, according to Penelope during an interview in Singapore in 2002 for Vanilla Sky, "I find very scary," while admitting that Hepburn was her idol.

Excerpts from our Conversation:

You didn’t mind being "deglamorized" for your role in Gothika, did you?

"Not at all. Playing Chloe is an opportunity I simply couldn’t resist. This is just the kind of material I’ve been looking for – something that I haven’t done before and represents a risk for me as an actor."

Did you, in any way, identify with the character?

"Chloe lives in her own hell, one that is very real to her but nobody believes what she has to say including Miranda. That’s my worst nightmare – to be in a situation where you’re telling the truth but everyone thinks you’re crazy. It is so horrible when people don’t believe that your pain is real."

According to some accounts, you were badly affected by the character.

"That’s true. Chloe is the most intense character I’ve ever had to play. I would end up crying every day, thinking about how someone could be in a situation like hers. There were times when I just didn’t want to go there. It brought too much pain. This kind of material is very attractive for an actor, but it also hurts."

It’s your first time to work with Halle Berry. How was it?

"I loved working with Halle. From day one I connected with her. She made me feel so comfortable. She’s a very real woman who is smart and funny and honest. I just love her!"

You have homes in L.A. and New York (a loft), as well as in Madrid. Do you feel more at home now in the US?

"I miss at lot of things back in Spain, even the small things. I miss the long dinners I have with friends in Spain. My friends and I would spend five to six hours over dinner, with the owner of the restaurant threatening to throw us out. I’m thinking of putting up a place in L.A. with my friends so we can go and eat anytime and for as long as we want to."

Sorry for asking. But is it true that you have converted to Scientology (the religion with which Tom Cruise is devoted)?

"I was raised a Cathoilic. As a teenager, I got interested in Buddhism and all the good things it does. I feel the same way now about Scientology. I’ve been exposed to Scientology because of my relationship with Tom. It helps people, that’s what I see. I still appreciate the essence of Christianity in the same way that I will always have strong feelings about Buddhism. I’m not the kind of person who can be just one thing."

A trivial question: You have such a gorgeous body. Which part of it is your favorite?

"My feet – even if they are ugly. They are kind of deformed because of so many years of ballet. Every time I look at my feet, I recall all the bleeding and the dancing that I used to do. I feel that it’s worth it." (Adding with a laugh) "During the presentation for the Ralph Lauren perfume, my agent looked at my feet and exclaimed, ‘That’s the ugliest toe I’ve ever seen!’ He was right. The toe looks like E.T. It’s the one next to my big toe. I’ve earned that toe."

Another trivial question: Do you love shopping (like most women)?

"No, I’m not a shopaholic, but I could be if I have my credit card with me. When I was a kid, we were allowed to shop only twice a year. I remember I only had two pairs of shoes – one pair for the weekend and another for the rest of the time."

Aren’t you afraid of growing old?

"No, I’m not. Soon, I’m turning 30 and I’m not afraid. Neither am I afraid of turning 40. I’m also not worried about being a character actress. I can’t be a leading lady all the time. I take risks. When I’m 80, I see myself as still acting and learning something from somebody else. Acting is what keeps me alive."

Besides your looks and talent, what else about yourself are you proud of?

"I guess it’s my being hard-working."

You are so protective of your private life. How do you do it when you’re in such a very public profession as acting?

"I just don’t talk about my private life."

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