Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem lit up the San Sebastián Film Festival on Friday night.
The captivating actress, 50, and the dashing actor, 55, who have been married since 2010, stole the show as they held hands and graced the red carpet at the Kursaal Theater during the opening night gala.
In a breathtaking sheer white gown accented with a black bow at the neckline, the Oscar-winning actress embodied the essence of a glamorous movie star.
Her charming partner, also an Academy Award recipient, looked dapper in a timeless black and white tuxedo.
During the Spanish gala, Bardem became visibly emotional as he praised his wife while accepting the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award.
‘To a woman who I love and who I’ve shared a life with, I want to thank and give my deep gratitude for the human being you are and how you can be responsible for life, the life of your children, the life of your family, your mother, your friends, the life of others, the many people that you don’t know that you suffer for and you take care of and undoubtedly the life of this gentleman who’s here, who loves you and thanks you very much for it,’ he shared, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Bardem quickly expressed his gratitude for their two children, Leo, 12, and Luna, 10, as Cruz beamed at him while he playfully blew kisses toward her seat, per the outlet.
In January, Penelope opened up about their marriage in a candid interview with Elle.
She revealed how Javier keeps their family entertained with his funny impressions.
She said: ‘He sings and he’s a great dancer. And he does this amazing impression of Mick Jagger. He’ll imitate Al Pacino and De Niro talking to each other. It’s incredible.’
When he asked when he lets loose with his impressions and if they took place around the dinner table, she said: ‘Truly, any situation.’
The mother of two also talked to the fashion magazine about how she copes with the more ‘uncomfortable and painful’ roles she takes on.
Penelope discussed how she regulates the empathy she feels for her characters, admitting it is something she works on in therapy a lot.
‘It’s been one of the main things I deal with in therapy: how to work a balance so I can keep feeling those things without making those feelings my own… Sometimes [the characters I play] can be uncomfortable and painful.
‘It’s hard to let them go, but at the end, I always feel they made me a little bit more compassionate than I was two months ago. And with the safety net that you know this is not your reality. It creates less judging and more compassion in every area of my life.’
As well as protecting her own emotions, Penelope is also fiercely protective and private over her two young children.
She said: ‘It’s for them to decide if they are going to have a job that is more exposed to the public or not. They can talk about that when they’re ready.’
It should come as no surprise that her children do not have social media accounts, but they also don’t even have phones.
Penelope said: ‘It’s so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming. And who pays the price? Not us, not our generation, who, maybe at 25, learned how a BlackBerry worked. It’s a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers.’
