An emotional Javier Bardem paid a touching tribute to his wife Penelope Cruz while being honored in Spain.
Taking to the stage to accept the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival on Friday, September 20, Bardem gushed over Cruz, whom he married in 2010.
“To a woman who I love and who I’ve shared a life with,” Bardem, 55, began. “I want to thank and give my deep gratitude for the human being you are and how you can be responsible for life, the life of your children, the life of your family, your mother, your friends, the life of others, the many people that you don’t know that you suffer for and you take care of — and undoubtedly the life of this gentleman who’s here, who loves you and thanks you very much for it.”
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Cruz, 50, was in the audience and blew kisses in response to the actor’s heartfelt dedication to her.
The famous couple have kept a relatively low profile since they began dating in 2007 after sparks flew while filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Bardem and Cruz had first met more than a decade earlier while filming Spanish movie Jamón, Jamón, which was released in 1992. Cruz was just 16 at the time.
“There was obvious chemistry between us,” Bardem told GQ UK in 2017 of their time together filming Jamón, Jamón. “I mean, it’s all there on film; it’s like a document of our passion. One day we’re going to have to show the kids – imagine! ‘Mommy, Daddy, what did you do in the movies together?’ – ‘Well, my children, you should celebrate this movie as you’re here because of it!’”
He added, “It was a very sexy film. It still is. Penélope’s parents were brave to allow her to do that film – if my daughter at 16 came to me with a script like that, I’d have said ‘no f—ing way!’”
Keeping their romance under the radar, the actors secretly married in the Bahamas in July 2010 before welcoming two children: Son Leo in January 2011 and daughter Luna in July 2013.
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In 2019, Cruz shared why she and Bardem keep details about their marriage and family so private.
“It was a really good decision for us, not to talk about our relationship,” she explained to the outlet. “It would feel very strange to do it a different way. I just couldn’t do it.”
For his part, Bardem made a rare comment that same year about family life, revealing how their dynamic had changed once the couple welcomed children.
“Life has changed. We have grown,” he told Vulture in February 2019. “Everything is different once you’re a family. That is the priority, as it should be. We’re no exception from that. We work as hard as we can, but we recognize how hard we can work depends on each other’s needs. It’s important not to be confused by fiction. Fiction is fiction, reality is its own thing.”
