Penélope Cruz Talks Passion and Empowerment

Yesterday our brand muse Penélope Cruz joined Women in the World’s Tina Brown for an intimate conversation at Studio 525 in Manhattan. Guests were greeted by a candlelit hallway then entered a space where natural elements and botanicals were infused throughout.

Cruz recently returned from the San Sebastian International Film Festival, where she received the Donostia Award. The youngest female recipient of this lifetime achievement, Cruz is using her platform to affect positive change for women—a theme that rang throughout her talk with Brown at last night’s event.

“We have a responsibility to speak for all the women who will never have access to a microphone. There are still problems to be solved,” Cruz told Brown, upon noting her involvement in the Time’s Up movement.

In an age of oversharing, knowing when to take the proverbial microphone is a skill that Cruz has mastered, leading an otherwise concealed personal life with her family in Madrid. “I always felt like I had the right to be private. I never felt like I needed to apologize for that. And especially since I became a mother.”

While motivation runs high amongst actresses like Cruz, it’s her balanced passion for work and family that arguably sets her apart. Referring to her late mother and father, Cruz credits them as her fuel for inspiration and desire to give back.

“My passion is to be a good mother and try to keep learning with my job. I feel like I could be here at 80 and still learning. Every movie is like starting from zero: a new character, a new person, a new life.”

Perhaps we can all take a cue from Penélope Cruz.