'Every time I see her, I run to hug her': Penelope Cruz can't wait to work with her 'number one hero' Meryl Streep
LONDON, UK: Penelope Cruz harbors a single unfulfilled desire – the opportunity to collaborate with Meryl Streep, a 21-time Oscar nominee.
During a recent BAFTA Life in Pictures event in London, the acclaimed actress expressed her utmost eagerness to collaborate with the iconic 'Kramer vs Kramer' actress.
“Meryl Streep. I’m always begging my agents to take me to her set, just to bring her coffee or anything,” Cruz said on a funnier note.
“Every time I see her, I run to hug her. And she’s so patient because every time I act like this is the first time I do it," she added
Cruz's sentiment harks back to the moment she "could not believe it" when Meryl Streep mentioned her in a speech while accepting an Icon Award at the 3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles.
The award is designed to "[celebrate] an artist whose career has had a significant global cultural impact," as stated in an Academy press release.
The 46-year-old added, "And I watched [Streep's speech] twenty times to make sure. It was like she knows that I exist, you know? She is my number one number one hero and would love to work with her.”
Streep showed up at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures for the gala ceremony on Sunday, December 3, with her four children with ex Don Gummer, son Henry Wolfe Gummer, 44, and daughters Mamie Gummer, 40, Grace Gummer, 37, and Louisa Jacobson, 32.
Cruz stars alongside Adam Driver, Shailene Woodley, and Patrick Dempsey in her upcoming racing biopic ‘Ferrari.’
The movie is based on the life of Ferrari automobile founder Enzo Ferrari in 1957. She plays Ferrari's wife Laura.
"She was a woman that had lost a child out of an illness and that had also broken the relationship, and I saw that there was no compassion for her," she said of the role during the BAFTA event, as per Deadline.
She added, "Probably because she was involved in the business and that was not welcome. It was in those years very difficult for a woman to have a voice in a company like that…But I’m sorry, I feel it’s still today the case in so many places around the world."
When asked by the outlet about advice she would give to young actresses, Cruz responded, "When somebody your age asks me for advice, I get very nervous because I feel like, who am I to give you advice?"
"But at the same time, you are asking for it, and what I’m going to say might sound strange, but from my heart and what I know, if I tell you one thing that I know you can't go wrong with, it is: don’t do drugs," she added.
She further added, "I think that is very good advice for a 17-year-old. Because then you can focus on your work. But don’t touch that shit. That’s my only advice to you.”
