Penelope Cruz's Quotes

I learned English kind of late. I remember when I got my first opportunity to work in America, I didn't speak a lot of English, so I only really knew my lines for the movie I was doing.

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 only drive in movies. I know that's very weird to hear for an American. I have a weird relationship with it. I know how to drive, but I never went to take the test.

I remember playing with some friends and being aware that I was acting as I was playing with them - I would think of a character and pretend to be someone else.

I remember when I got my first opportunity to work in America, I didn't speak a lot of English, so I only really knew my lines for the movie I was doing.

I try to look at the whole thing and say 'yes' to the projects that I cannot stop thinking about. If I read a script and the subject stays with me - then that's when I want to go to work.

I used to dance for seventeen years -classical ballet, which was very disciplined. I like yoga and Pilates, but I don't have the discipline to go to the gym.

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.

I want to be remembered as somebody that tried to respect her integrity as an artist and as a person. And I don't want to be in any box. I don't want to be one thing.

I'm strong and opinionated. Those qualities brought me a lot of problems since I was a little girl in school, saying 'I don't agree' and fighting with the children. It's part of my curiosity for life.

In my everyday life, I just wear jeans, t-shirts and trainers - if I can go barefoot, that's even better. But for the events I have a stylist, and in two hours we have selected a whole outfit.

Sometimes you will do a close-up for a scene in the morning where you are totally distraught, then shoot the rest of that scene seven hours later. How do you hang on to that feeling all day without burning up, without going so far that you have nothing left to give when the cameras roll again?

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.

There's so much more I want to do. I refuse to get to 50 and wait at home for the phone to ring. In Spain, actresses work until they are old. That's my plan.

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.

You can always keep learning with acting, because the school is life and yourself and your friends and your relationships. I'm fascinated by it! It's infinito!

I have stepped off the relationship scene to come to terms with myself. I have spent most of my adult life being 'someone's girlfriend', and now I am happy being single.

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

The most difficult thing in the world is to start a career known only for your looks, and then to try to become a serious actress. No one will take you seriously once you are known as the pretty woman.

One thing that I am proud of: I am really capable of laughing at myself.

The most important lesson I've learned in this business is how to say no. I have said no to a lot of temptations, and I am glad I did.

As a kid, I had a lot of energy; but the ballet lessons made me calm - this pleased my mother.

Awards are great, as you get to meet up with friends and colleagues from your industry - a sort of reunion.

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

I always feel scared and insecure on a film set. I don't know any other way.

I came to New York to study ballet and English.

I can cook a little bit. I can cook a few Spanish dishes. But, in movies, it looks like I cook much better than I cook.

I don't know why, but women in a hair salon share their deepest secrets.

I have a little bit of an addiction to work. So I'm always hiding in the bathroom with my Blackberry to work when I'm on holiday.

I have a strong personality, and I say what I think.

I have had a very singular kind of life since I started working so young, so I am very used to traveling, working, taking time for myself.

I like roles that people don't recognize me in.

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

I really like the Caribbean. Anyplace in the Caribbean. I get there, and I feel like a monkey - the perfect state.

I want to have babies one day but not right now. When I do it I want to do it really well. I want it to be my best project in life.

I was 11 when I first said I wanted to become an actress, and everyone looked at me as if I had said I wanted to go to the moon.

I was very superstitious when I was a teenager, and I had to fight against that because it made me feel anxious.

I won't go to places where you're going to find more attention. I go to the opposite.

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.

In Spain, actresses work until they are old. That's my plan.

It's great working with my sister, because we are very close as a family - my brother, my sister and myself. We have a great relationship.