Penelope Cruz says she’s ‘still learning’ after more than 15 years of marriage with Javier Bardem

Penélope Cruz said she is still learning about her relationship with husband Javier Bardem despite more than 15 years of marriage. Promoting her new film, she reflected on love, personal growth and the couple's enduring bond

Los Angeles: Hollywood actress Penelope Cruz has said that her relationship with husband Javier Bardem is a learning curve.

The actress said that she is “still learning” in her relationship with husband Javier Bardem after more than 15 years of marriage, reports ‘People’ magazine.

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The actress opened up about their relationship while promoting her new movie, ‘The Invite’. The actress, 52, said that she believes the comedy, which was directed by Olivia Wilde and centers on the relationship dynamics of two couples at a dinner party, is so relatable because so many people are still discovering new things about their partners, regardless of how long they’ve been together.

She told ‘People’, “I feel like I’m still learning (in my relationship), you know? And I am with somebody that I’ve known for 33 years. I really know that person, but it’s like, is there a day where you really get to know yourself? No. So the same with your partner”.

The actress and Javier Bardem, 57, first crossed paths in 1992 while filming the Spanish dark comedy Jamon Jamon. While later speaking about the experience with GQ, Bardem said that while there was “obvious” chemistry between them, “nothing happened”.

As per ‘People’, the pair didn’t form a romantic connection until they reunited for the 2008 filmVicky Cristina Barcelona. “Neither of us would make the first move”, he said while recalling their time on set of the comedy-drama. “I don’t know if we were shy or trying to be too professional. Anyway, it got to the very last day of filming and nothing had happened. So I thought, ‘F*** We better get drunk’. Luckily a friend of ours threw a wrap party and, well, the rest is history. Thank God”, he added.

In a 2024 interview with Gentleman’s Journal, Javier Bardem said that part of their special connection stems from the fact that they knew one another before they were famous.

“We met each other and knew each other before all of the noise, before success and before anybody saw us with different eyes because of who we now were, what we had become”, the actor said.

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, who are infamously private about their relationship, tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in the Bahamas in July 2010. They welcomed their first child, a son named Leo Encinas Cruz, in January 2011, followed by daughter Luna Encinas Cruz in July 2013.