Penelope Cruz - Volver

　　Amber 1:  Hello, I'm Amber, and you're listening to bbclearningenglish.com.

　　Today, we listen to parts of an interview with film star Penelope Cruz! She

　　talks about her new movie, 'Volver', what she likes about working with

　　Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, and what kind of film she'd like to make

　　next.

　　Now, Penelope Cruz's acting 3 career is certainly on a roll – if you say

　　something is on a roll, you mean it's very successful. Last year Penelope Cruz

　　stared in the Hollywood movie 'Sahara', and this year she's just picked up an

　　award at the Cannes film festival for her role in the Spanish language film

　　'Volver'.

　　'Volver' is directed by Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz has worked with

　　him before on other films. As you'll hear, she thinks he's a remarkably 4 good

　　director, in fact, she says - 'He's the reason why I decided 5 to become an actress

　　when I was a little girl.'

　　Notice too how she stresses Almodovar's courage when it comes to creating

　　characters and how true to life he wants them to be.

　　Also, she uses a word to describe Almodovar which she says she doesn't like

　　to use a lot, but she thinks it's right to describe him. What does she call him?

　　Now here is Penelope Cruz talking about why she thinks Pedro Almodovar is

　　such a clever director.

　　Penelope Cruz

　　'For me, I would say, truth is the mark. He really sees everything and is not afraid of

　　exploring it and he never judges his characters. He's completely brave, and for me, he's a

　　genius and I don't like using that word that a lot but with him, I really think he is. He's the

　　reason why I decided to become an actress when I was a little girl.'

　　Amber:  So Penelope Cruz describes Pedro Almodovar as a genius – a person with a very

　　great and rare natural ability. And she says he 'never judges his characters'. If you

　　don't judge people, you let them be the way they are and don't try to influence

　　other people's opinion of them.

　　'Volver' – which means 'Return' in English – is very funny and extremely sad.

　　The film is the story of a rural 6 Spanish family moving to Madrid, and Penelope

　　Cruz plays a woman whose husband has been murdered and her dead mother

　　returns as a ghost. As you listen to the next part of the interview with Penelope

　　Cruz, try to catch how her character is feeling and why.

　　Penelope Cruz

　　'My character has big regrets about not having solved a lot of things with her mother but her

　　mother comes back to life as a ghost and she's able to solve a few things!'

　　Amber:  So Penelope Cruz's character 'has big regrets' – if you have regrets about

　　something you feel a sadness about them and wish they could have been

　　different and better. Her character is struggling with problems she didn't

　　solve with her mother when she was alive, and the film explores what it's

　　like to be haunted 7 by family secrets. It's also about the importance of family

　　love.

　　Penelope Cruz is unusual because she is a successful Hollywood actress

　　and, as 'Volver' shows, she's also a successful arthouse film star. An

　　arthouse film is made for artistic 8 reasons – not commercial ones. So will she

　　keep moving between Hollywood and arthouse films? And what does she

　　look for when she considers new scripts 9 or 'material'?

　　Penelope Cruz

　　'I think it's fun, you know, for me. And I learn about both sides of the industry and it's really

　　interesting. In the future, when I'm 50, 60, will I plan to still be working? Well, actually the

　　same as now, just looking for material that means something, and maybe different things will

　　mean something for me at that moment, but trying to find something that feels new.'

　　Amber:  So Penelope Cruz likes learning 2 about 'both sides of the industry'. And she looks

　　for 'material that means something' and 'feels new'.

　　Here again is the language we focussed on in today's programme and then,

　　Penelope Cruz again.

　　to be on a roll, never judges his characters, a genius, to have regrets, arthouse

　　Penelope Cruz

　　'For me, I would say, truth is the mark. He really sees everything and is not afraid of

　　exploring it and he never judges his characters. He's completely brave, and for me, he's a

　　genius and I don't like using that word that a lot but with him, I really think he is. He's the

　　reason why I decided to become an actress when I was a little girl.'

　　'I think it's fun, you know, for me. And I learn about both sides of the industry and it's really

　　interesting. In the future, when I'm 50, 60, will I plan to still be working? Well, actually the

　　same as now, just looking for material that means something, and maybe different things will

　　mean something for me at that moment, but trying to find something that feels new.'

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