Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz’s love story is something out of a dream! Apart from being incredible actors the reason behind their palpable chemistry in 2008’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona was the feelings they’d harbored since their first meeting in 1992.
In an interview with Gentleman’s Journal while promoting his recent Netflix release Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Bardem shared how his love story with Cruz began.
The couple first met on the sets of 1992’s Spanish-language film Jamón Jamón. “She was 17, and I was 22. It was her first movie; one of my first movies. A big movie,” Bardem recalled. They first met during the film’s wardrobe test, and “something happened” when they exchanged glances.
“Something that doesn’t have any explanation and goes beyond logic and reasoning,” the actor added. However, back then, they were in different positions and had different aims in life. “Yet, something was there — an energy, a chemistry, a way to rely on each other as human beings,” he recalled.
Even though they had never spoken to each other all those years, they kept that connection and yearning intact in their subconscious, and that’s what pulled them back together years later.
Their onscreen reunion in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona reignited their love. The couple soon made their first official public appearance together at the 2010 Goya Awards and were married later that year.
“We realized that the feeling was still alive. Very alive,” the Skyfall actor said. Coincidently, they were both single at the time, so things naturally fell right into place. However, the thing that connected them the most was witnessing each other’s rise to fame. They knew each other “before all of the noise, before success, and before anybody saw us, ” which became the base of their budding relationship.
“To rely on someone because you know them for real, and they know you for real. You see me, I see you. That’s important,” he added. Now, the couple share two children, son Leo, 13, and daughter Luna, 11, and have won several accolades in their respective works, including Oscars.
Apart from Netflix’s true crime story, Bardem starred in the blockbuster Dune: Part 2 this year, whereas Cruz recently appeared in the 2023 film Ferrari.
