Penelope Cruz - Volver

Hello, I'm Amber, and you're listening to bbclearningenglish.com.
　　Today, we listen to parts of an interview with film star Penelope Cruz! She
　　talks about her new movie, 'Volver', what she likes about working with
　　Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, and what kind of film she'd like to make
　　next.
　　Now, Penelope Cruz's acting career is certainly on a roll – if you say
　　something is on a roll, you mean it's very successful. Last year Penelope Cruz
　　stared in the Hollywood movie 'Sahara', and this year she's just picked up an
　　award at the Cannes film festival for her role in the Spanish language film
　　'Volver'.
　　'Volver' is directed by Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz has worked with
　　him before on other films. As you'll hear, she thinks he's a remarkably good
　　director, in fact, she says - 'He's the reason why I decided to become an actress
　　when I was a little girl.'
　　Notice too how she stresses Almodovar's courage when it comes to creating
　　characters and how true to life he wants them to be.
　　Also, she uses a word to describe Almodovar which she says she doesn't like
　　to use a lot, but she thinks it's right to describe him. What does she call him?
　　Now here is Penelope Cruz talking about why she thinks Pedro Almodovar is
　　such a clever director.
　　Penelope Cruz
　　'For me, I would say, truth is the mark. He really sees everything and is not afraid of
　　exploring it and he never judges his characters. He's completely brave, and for me, he's a
　　genius and I don't like using that word that a lot but with him, I really think he is. He's the
　　reason why I decided to become an actress when I was a little girl.'
　　Amber:  So Penelope Cruz describes Pedro Almodovar as a genius – a person with a very
　　great and rare natural ability. And she says he 'never judges his characters'. If you
　　don't judge people, you let them be the way they are and don't try to influence
　　other people's opinion of them.
　　'Volver' – which means 'Return' in English – is very funny and extremely sad.
　　The film is the story of a rural Spanish family moving to Madrid, and Penelope
　　Cruz plays a woman whose husband has been murdered and her dead mother
　　returns as a ghost. As you listen to the next part of the interview with Penelope
　　Cruz, try to catch how her character is feeling and why.
　　Penelope Cruz
　　'My character has big regrets about not having solved a lot of things with her mother but her
　　mother comes back to life as a ghost and she's able to solve a few things!'
　　Amber:  So Penelope Cruz's character 'has big regrets' – if you have regrets about
　　something you feel a sadness about them and wish they could have been
　　different and better. Her character is struggling with problems she didn't
　　solve with her mother when she was alive, and the film explores what it's
　　like to be haunted by family secrets. It's also about the importance of family
　　love.