Penelope Cruz Reflects on Her Acting Career & Turning 50 in 2024

Penelope Cruz is reflecting on her career before she turns 50!

On Friday (January 5), the Oscar-winning actress was honored with the Creative Impact in Acting Award at Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch.

Ahead of her 50th birthday on April 28, Penelope reminisced about her distinguished career and looked ahead to her next chapter.

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“I’m really looking at it as the beginning of the second part of my life,” she told ET.

Penelope added that she isn’t “happy” with the emergence of AI in the film industry, but acknowledged that it could keep her around “much longer.”

The star’s best-known projects include films such as Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Volver, and Ferrari. Penelope spoke about what living her dream and earning accolades has meant to her.

“It’s actually always confusing to me because I grew up dreaming about acting. All that I wanted was to have a job, a profession that would be inspiring and creative. So I would pray for that, just to be able to make a living out of a job that I love. But I could never dream about extra things like this, you know, like it still feels very surprising and shocking,” she said. “But I don’t wanna lose that feeling, you know, like I never want to expect things like this.”

Penelope continued, “And for what it is, to do this profession [and] to keep learning — the fact [is], a profession where you always continue to learn, where you never get to a place where you have things under control [is] a very big blessing.”

See all the photos of Penelope Cruz and more stars at the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Festival!