Spanish actress Penelope Cruz found love at work. Her colleague and compatriot Javier Bardem became her husband. The couple are raising two children - son Leo and daughter Luna. Despite the public status of both spouses, they lead a rather closed lifestyle and avoid the attention of the press. The actors adhered to this tactic from the very beginning of the relationship, when they hid their romance for a long time. Their wedding was also held in secrecy, and photos of their beloved children never appear on the personal profiles of Penelope or Javier on the Internet.
Love affair at work
Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are the most famous Spanish actors of our time. They first met back in 1992 on the set of the film Ham, Ham. In the story, the actor was courting his 18-year-old colleague on the screen. However, it took them about 15 years to transition to real-life relationships. In 2007, the paths of the Spanish stars crossed again in Woody Allen's film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. In the past, Penelope had high-profile romances with Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey. Javier, at the beginning of filming that fateful film, was suspected of having an affair with another partner - actress Scarlett Johansson. However, the arrival at the site of her real lover - Ryan Reynolds - put an end to speculation on this topic.
The love affair of Cruz and Bardem was first talked about in October 2007 after the publication of pictures of kissing actors who were on a joint vacation in the Maldives. Then the new couple was caught on a date in Los Angeles. However, on the tour, organized to promote their shared film, Penelope and Javier behaved with restraint, not betraying their mutual affection. The next wave of evidence supporting the two stars' secret romance came on Christmas Day 2009. The actors again rested together in Brazil. In addition, observant journalists noticed that Salma Hayek, a close friend of Cruz, invited Bardem to her wedding in Venice, although they did not maintain close acquaintance. Apparently, she called in the Spanish actor because of his affair with Penelope.
Well, the first official publication at Cruz and Bardem took place in 2010 at the Goya award ceremony - the Spanish version of the Oscar. The actors looked happy and in love as they posed together in front of the cameras.
Penelope also came to support her lover at the premiere of his new film "Beautyful" in Cannes. And although they did not pose together on the red carpet, Javier, having received the award for Best Actor a few days later, thanked his girlfriend from the stage and confessed his love to her. True, he did not name the chosen one, but Penelope's face at that moment was so radiant with happiness that this little secret was obvious to everyone present without words.
New stage
The final exposure of the novel of the two celebrities took place at the 2010 Oscars. A year earlier, the couple also arrived together for the ceremony, but avoided the attention of the press and refused to pose together. Well, that time, Bardem and Cruz were finally inseparable. Even the result in her nomination for Best Supporting Actress, the actress was waiting, holding hands with her lover. And the loss did not seem to spoil her mood too much.
In mid-July 2010, a spokesperson for Penelope confirmed reports of her secret wedding. In the fall of 2009, the actress was seen with a wedding ring on her finger, after which there were rumors about the engagement of two celebrities. However, Cruz and Bardem continued to remain silent until they entered into a formal marriage. The ceremony took place at the home of a mutual friend of the couple in the Bahamas. The celebration was attended only by family members. The wedding dress for the bride was created by her longtime friend - designer John Galliano. Naturally, the couple's fans never saw any photos of that important day.
In the new status of legal husband, Javier appeared next to Penelope on April 1, 2011, when she received a personalized star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Earlier, at the end of January, Cruz gave Bardem a son, Leonardo. It turned out that she was already getting married while pregnant. Two years later, another replenishment took place in the family: in July 2013, the couple had a daughter, Luna.
Star spouses
Having created a large and friendly family, the actors became more willing to communicate with the press on the topic of personal relationships. Moreover, after the wedding, they already managed to work together twice. First, the couple played the main roles in the biographical drama "Escobar", which tells about the life of the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. In 2018, they presented their new joint project in Cannes - the psychological thriller Everybody Knows.
Cruz and Bardem enjoy working together. “The fact that we know each other well and so trust each other only helps,” the actress admits. The director of their fourth film together, Asghar Farhadi, also shared his impressions of the collaboration with the family duo: “I really admired how Penelope and Javier shared fiction and reality, life and work. They are an example of a happy couple and it was good to see how deeply they respect each other."
As for ordinary life, here the spouses are confidently holding the line, protecting their children from undue attention. Since their heirs are still not old enough, the spouses manage to hide their popularity and world fame from their son and daughter. In addition, they are sharply negative about the publication of pictures of their children, taken by the paparazzi. “You will never see a photo of my children on Instagram. I will never do that - I feel like I am responsible for protecting their privacy,”says Penelope Cruz. Fans respect the position of the actors and continue to follow their creative union, since family life is constantly out of reach.
