Despite turning 50 next month, Penélope Cruz is undeniably glowing. Any one of us could only pray to look half as good at her age. And this isn’t her first rodeo. Cruz has been knocking magazine cover photoshoots out of the park for months now. Elle Spain is just another pitstop in her ever-growing portfolio. And her 7M Instagram followers would agree.
Time for us to pick our jaws up off the floor. Cruz turned heads for the cover of Elle Spain, sporting a revealing leather Mugler corset that hugged her curves, all while staring down the camera through a sea of messy brown waves. She finished off the ensemble with earrings from Chanel and nude-colored nails and lips. Naturally, fans fell in love all over again.
“Penélope, the divine beauty. She’ll be an icon of beauty forever,” one wrote.
“The most beautiful woman in Spain,” another said.
For her April 2024 Elle Spain cover shoot, Cruz worked with photographer Xavi Gordo and modeled multiple outfits from Alaïa, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Mugler, Versace and more, all styled by Sylvia Montoliu.
Cruz Tells Elle about Her 50th Birthday Plans
In Cruz’s Elle interview, she spoke briefly about her 50th birthday plans, simply stating that she’ll be spending time with loved ones. She also reflected on her career in the translated interview, saying, “I, with each decade, with each moment, take advantage of it and I never think that ‘it was better before’.”
“And I’m not referring to the fact that [people] often ask me how the passing of the years affects me, but rather how I feel about myself, knowing each other and the security or tranquility that the experience gives you.”
She continued, “But if you ask me what my relationship with myself was like now and the one I had when I was 20 or 30, I honestly prefer the one I have now. Because of how I feel, there may have been other moments where I wouldn’t have said it. Although all the work is never done…”
“The only thing I am clear about in the present is that it is here. And what happened before has formed you, it has helped you answer some questions, but others are still up in the air,” she added.
“So everything I have learned so far or all the mountains I have had to climb – some of which have not been easy, and I am not talking about anything that has to do with success or that part of the job – are part of my learning diary.”
The ‘loved ones’ with which she’ll be celebrating her milestone birthday include her husband of almost 15 years, Javier Bardem, and their two children, Leo Encinas Cruz, 13, and Luna Encinas Cruz, 10.
Cruz began dating Bardem in 2007 and the pair married four years later. She had a brief three-year relationship with Tom Cruise after they appeared together in Vanilla Sky, but called it off in 2004.
The couple prefer to keep a low profile, which is miraculous given that Cruz’s face appears on almost every magazine cover (not that we’re complaining).