Penelope Cruz

“I love New York, but being there the whole year, it gets a little crazy with the speed and rhythm of things.”

“I want my son - and my kids, if I have more - to grow up in a way that is as anonymous as possible. The fact that his father and I have chosen to do the work that we do doesn't give anybody the right to invade our privacy.”

“Calcutta is like another world. People there are very special and grateful.”

“When I was 16 or 17, when I started, I never even considered not doing a project. I just wanted to work.”

“My first fear was about the devil, when I was around fire, something I saw in a movie. I think it's about pain, in whichever form it comes.”

“The discipline that ballet requires is obsessive. And only the ones who dedicate their whole lives are able to make it. Your toenails fall off and you peel them away and then you're asked to dance again and keep smiling. I wanted to become a professional ballet dancer.”

“When I start a movie, the first day, I feel like a duck.”

“When I read a script, I try not to judge the characters. I try to have an open mind and really see what it makes me feel.”

“I love the Italian culture - it's a beautiful culture. I love the language, the Italian people, their music, their attitudes... I just love it! Sometimes I think I'm an Italian trapped in a Spanish woman's body.”

“I don't know if I believe in marriage. I believe in family, love and children.”

“All those cliches, those things you hear about having a baby and motherhood - all of them are true. And all of them are the most beautiful things you will ever experience.”

“Maybe I'll make one movie a year, maybe two, but it's not going to be more than that because I have other priorities now.”

“It doesn't happen every day, but many nights my dreams are like a movie. I don't see normal movement - I see things in very complicated shots. That's why I do remember many of them.”

“My favourite actress is Meryl Streep. Oh, and Anna Magnani.”

“My parents owned a hair salon, so I learned a few tricks there. I can cut people's hair - if they let me.”

“I've worked myself to exhaustion before. I was so young, and I thought I could do everything; it was just too much for my body and my mind.”

“Unfortunately, I am very aware of editing and I look at the monitor too much. Sometimes the monitor can become your worst enemy because you can, consciously or unconsciously, start editing yourself.”

“I don't play comedy as comedy. That would be the biggest trap. I think about the characters and their situations. Then you don't have to worry where the laugh is going to be. But comedy is harder than drama.”

“I came to New York to study ballet and English.”

“I am living for every day and trying to have less fear, less worry. But I have always worried about everything; it's in my nature. It's the thing that makes me suffer the most.”