Manuel here. Every once in a while I like to check in on actresses I’ve been missing and see what they’re up to and what’s next. Last week, for example, I singled out Michelle Williams and was glad to see she has two promising films landing at Sundance. This week, I wanted to see when I’d get my next Penelope Cruz fix. Sadly, it looks like she’ll be spending 2016 doing press junkets for two comedies I have no real interest in.
Disjointed thoughts on these films, Cruz, and the actress’s post-Oscar career follow after the jump...
In Zoolander No. 2 she’s playing Valentina (“I’m with Global Interpol: Fashion Division”) and from what we see in trailers and posters alike, the comedic potential of the role begins and ends with her looks. And boobs. I will say I love her red motorcycle pantsuit which is giving me Britney meets The Bride vibes.
“I was a swimsuit model. I was never able to transition to your world because of THIS!”
In The Brothers Grimsby, the new Sacha Baron Cohen film about a pair of estranged siblings — one a professional assassin, one an idiot — Cruz plays the villain of the piece. At the very least she’s seen barking orders in the trailer, showing off a not very flattering haircut, so I assume/hope she'll be the Blofeld to Mark Strong's Bond-like character.
Watch the trailers below (and marvel at Kristen Wiig's wigs in the Ben Stiller film and see Cohen give Rebel Wilson a chance to play... another Rebel Wilson-like character):
These two high profile gigs give this actressexual pause as they flash me back to not so happy memories of Sahara/Gothika/Women on Top Cruz. You know, back when Hollywood didn’t seem to know what to do with the Spanish beauty.
It took an Almodovar vehicle and an Oscar nomination to turn Cruz into a respected actress. She followed this with a string of prestige pics that showcased her talent, earning a well-deserved Oscar for her work on Vicky Cristina Barcelona. There’s a Sliding Doors world wherein Cruz ended up starring in Lars von Trier’s Melancholia(a project she helped develop with the director) rather than appearing in Rob Marshall’s Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, but alas. I’d say she’s lost her groove since but then I’m sure motherhood has just taken priority and that may explain why we’ve seen so little of her since 2011.
Thankfully she may yet find herself back to projects that give her a chance to show off her dramatic chops. She’s set to reprise her role of Macarena Granada in La Reina de España, an unlikely sequel to Fernando Trueba 1998’s The Girl of your Dreams, which earned Cruz her first Goya award, and she’s signed on to play journalist Virginia Vallejo in Escobar alongside her spouse Javier Bardem (might it be their own Mr. and Mrs. Smith?). Then again, perhaps I’m being too hard on these two 2016 projects and on Cruz’s career choices, but I just like her gee-nee-uss to be on full display; maybe Pedro can write her another film soon?