Penélope Cruz, Sean Penn, Emma Stone.Photo:Amy Sussman/Variety via Getty
Amy Sussman/Variety via Getty
Penélope Cruz,Sean PennandEmma Stonewere among the stars in attendance atVariety’s Creative Impact Awards and 10 Directors to Watch brunch.
The event was held on Friday during the 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival in celebration of the most influential actors and directors working in Hollywood this past year.
“I’ve seen Penélope in English-speaking films, Spanish-speaking films, Italian-speaking films. I speak reasonable English, minimal Spanish, no Italian at all. And yet … I don’t remember looking at a subtitle once,” Penn said.
“I also remember having understood every word she ever said on screen … that sort of clues me into what it is about Penélope, because when she wants us to understand, we do, [and when] she wants us to feel, we feel because she lets us," he continued.
Sean Penn.Amy Sussman/Variety via Getty
In her speech, Cruz spoke of her early passion for acting and how she first found her way into it through ballet as a child.
“I feel very lucky to make a living out of acting,” she said. “… I was asking the teachers to allow me to play Carmen when I was four, they called my parents. Then it was through acting. I feel so lucky. Being able to stay a student for the rest of my life because that’s what we are.”
Cruz went on to thank Michael Mann for choosing her to “play such a complex character” as Laura Ferrari in the director’s latest film.
“[She] represents so many women out there, not only in the period of Ferrari, but in so many places around the world then and today with women living in the shadows of men, constantly being ignored and suppressed,” the actress said.
Penélope Cruz.Amy Sussman/Variety via Getty
Stone, 35, meanwhile, honoredPoor Thingsdirector Yorgos Lanthimos at the event.
The star, who plays Bella Baxter in the 2023 film, spoke about the honor of working with Lanthimos, 50, in a speech, praising the Greek filmmaker for telling stories that are “beautiful and grotesque and about how wonderfully excruciating it is to be human."
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Emma Stone.Amy Sussman/Variety via Getty
Other guests in attendance at the awards brunch wereMark Ruffalo(Poor Things), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon),Willem Dafoe(Poor Things), Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) andDanielle Brooks(The Color Purple).
source: people.com
