• First and foremost, one of my favorite couples, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem have gotten married! The longtime couple tied the knot earlier this month at a friend’s home in the Bahamas, Cruz’s rep confirmed to E! News July 13, 2010. The bride wore a gown designed by pal John Galliano and only family members were in attendance at the small ceremony. Warmest congratulations to the happy twosome! ♥

• Penélope Cruz is one of the 30 star Hollywood stars, who will immortalized with a signature star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011. She, along with Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Will.i.am and The Muppets are the latest starred celebrities

• Penélope was photographed with a new tattoo early last month. The crucifix tattoo covers a large expanse of her right hand.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides News:
- Shooting has commenced for the film and the first images from the set of POTC have struck the net, none with Pe but still cool. To check them out go to: #1, #2, #3!

- Jerry Bruckheimer had this to say about Cruz’s Pirates character, who is not only his potential sweetheart but the daughter of his nemesis, Blackbeard (Ian McShane): “She’s so fiery and fun. I can just imagine how the screen is going to sizzle with the two of them on it.”

- A while back, Stephen Graham joined the cast. He will play a Sparrow sidekick, named ‘Scram’, this will be a reunion with Johnny Depp after they worked together on Public Enemies. Also added to the cast recently, Supermodel Gemma Ward as a talking mermaid (taking over the before mentioned Megan Fox rumored role)

I believe that about covers it. My apologies for the lack of posting these few months. My real life has been incredibly hectic. I will try to do better here but I don’t want to make any promises and jinx anything which seems to happen a lot, unfortunately! Trust me, I haven’t abandoned the site but there are some serious real life issues that have just been taking my priorities. Just please bare with me at times like this. – Webmaster

On the 9th day, May 20th, she also helped raise $333,000 for the earthquake-stricken nation of Haiti by auctioning off her designer dresses which aide the Jenkins-Penn Haitian relief organization. The Spanish actress stepped out in a gorgeous red wrap dress and silver shoes to mark the occasion. One celeb that really came up trump for the auction was Pe’s good friend, Salma Hayek who donated the first ever Gucci Couture dress, which she wore to day one of the Cannes film festival.

Although there is a good bit of paparazzi candids of her from Cannes, I obviously will not be posting these more intrusive ones as Penélope tried very hard at not being photographed so I wish to respect her privacy. I did however add a couple of shots I felt were okay.

Pe has now left France and is back in Madrid.

The photoshoot inside is nothing short of gorgeous; all the ladies – which are some of my favorite actresses – look beautiful in the black and white spread. I especially love the image with Kate Winslet and the one with Meryl Streep. Cruz’s solo shots are so stunning too! I only wish the article was not in French so I could read it too. But nevertheless, enjoy!

Cruz last worked with Castellito in the 2004 drama Don’t Move which did good business in Italy with over $10 million, but received a cold release in the states, making under $400,000 at the B.O.Don’t Move was also based on a novel by Mazzantini who happens to be Castellito’s wife. Though Castellito is still looking for partners to finance the film, he plans to start production in 2011.

Venuto al Mondo, which can be roughly translated as ‘brought into the world’, takes place during wartime torn Sarajevo during the Balkans 1990s conflict. Cruz’s role will be that of a mother who returns home with her adolescent son in search of their roots.

Venuto Al Mondo sold 600,000 copies in Italy and has also been released in Spain and France. The book will hit U.S. stores in 2011. The movie will be shot between Rome, Sarajevo, Belgrade and Croatia.

Cruz spoke about how she has remained friends with Castellito and Mazzantini since Don’t Move so when they sent her the Spanish translation of the book, which she read in one sitting, it left her enchanted. She just knew she had to do the film and tell the story to the world.

Source: One India

Today, Lancôme has announced that the Oscar-winning actress will be the new ambassadress for the company’s fragrance Trésor, starting later this year.

The campaign, directed by renowned photographer Brigitte Lacombe, has celebrities rattle off items that could be bought for 40 cents (the value of one day’s worth of life transforming antiretroviral medication). Penélope Cruz is featured as well as other celebrities like Bono, Javier Bardem, Julianne Moore, Claire Danes, Iman, Hugh Jackman, Orlando Bloom, Lucy Liu, Gabourey Sidibe, Kerry Washington, Bryan Cranston, Jane Lynch, Michelle Rodriguez, Gwen Stefani, Hayden Christensen, Don Cheadle, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ludacris, Common, Benicio Del Toro, Dakota Fanning and Christy Turlington.

The Lazarus Effect documentary will air on May 24 on HBO with director Spike Jonze as executive producer. Watch the PSA after the jump.

Currently, Kate Winslet and Julia Roberts are spokesmodels for the brand, I’m not sure what Penélope’s duties will be as a model or when her ads might start appearing but this is very exciting since her duties with Mango ended and I’m ready to see more regular Cruz ads, in addition to her L’Oréal stuff. Lancôme Paris is a luxury beauty brand. Owned by L’Oréal since 1964, Lancôme is part of the Luxury Products division, which offers skin care, fragrances, and makeup at higher-end price points.

After ending her involvement in Spider-Man film franchise, Kirsten Dunst has snatched another coveted role. She has just been tapped to play the major female character in Melancholia which is directed and written by Lars von Trier, so Deadline Hollywood mentioned.

Penélope Cruz was initially negotiating for the part, but she eventually dropped it allegedly to star opposite Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. There has been no further description on the character that now belongs to Dunst.

Production Weekly tweets that British actor Stephen Graham (Snatch, Gangs of New York and Baby Face Nelson in Public Enemies) has been cast as “Scram” in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Source: IGN and Ace Showbiz

As the current past Best Supporting Actress winner (Penélope won of course last year for Vicky Cristina Barcelona) she was the presenter for Best Supporting Actor at the 2010 ceremony. Christoph Waltz took home the award for his performance in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. A clip of this presentation, as well as red carpet vids (and captures) will be coming tomorrow.

Penélope Cruz wore a gorgeous couture duchess satin pleated gown by Donna Karan, Chopard jewels and carried a Haute Couture Folies Clutch with a black strass Swarovski buckle and black stripped ostrich feather work by Roger Vivier. If any of you would like to learn how to style your hair like Pe’s in this look, read a tutorial at BellaSugar.

Update #1) Penélope Cruz was just spotted on the red carpet wearing a red dress and an up-do! She was briefly shown on E!’s Live Coverage.

Update #2) Penélope Cruz stood next to her Supporting Actress nominees for the official red carpet on ABC before the big show, where she was gracious and even said even though she’s been there multiple times, she didn’t feel like a vet, that it felt like the first time and when she didn’t speak any English. She also said she is “so happy and proud to be in company of these amazing actresses.”

Update #3) The first (tagged) photo of Pe is available on our twitter, here!

Update #4) Cruz just presented Best Actor in a Supporting Role to Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds. He opened his speech with “Penélope Cruz and an Oscar equals a Bingo.”

Update #5) Penélope is wearing a ravishing red Donna Karan couture duchess satin pleated gown, Chopard jewels and soft updo.

Update #6) The first pictures of our girl are being added to the gallery as we speak. Keep checking back for lots more coverage!

Update #7) Penélope shown in the audience.

Update #8) Not surprisingly, Mo’Nique won Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Pe was shown holding hands in the auidence with Javier Bardem.

Update #9) Penélope is carrying an Haute Couture Folies Clutch with a black strass Swarovski buckle and black stripped ostrich feather work by Roger Vivier.

Update #10) Cruz shown briefly in the audience during the Best Score dance performances.

Update #11) It’s a wrap! Pe didn’t attend any after parties.

It’s for The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special, which airs tonight (March 3, 2010) at 10-11PM ET on ABC.

I hope you all got a chance to see the 20/20 special, from last night, there was some adorable footage of Pe shown. I haven’t been able to find it online yet though, but fingers crossed someone will upload a video somewhere. If so, let me know!

It seems, according to El Pais, Penélope has renounced Melancholia in order to star in the fourth part of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie saga. The site notes that Cruz’s character in Melancholia (which was written specifically for her) requires no special physical effort, but her Pirates character would of course require special skills, which would mean months of training, especially in fencing. Producer Buenavista locks down it’s cast especially for this.

Discussion of Von Trier possibly moving its project to filming September occurred but a scheduled appointment with the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, which will premiere Melancholia, and shorten the post-production digital effects overruled it. The final decision regarding the Von Trier movie: filming in June in Sweden, with a budget of around four million euros and the French coast in May 2011. Without Cruz attached to headline. The role is to be partly re-written. No casting announcements have been made as of this report.

Although Pirates 4 was announced some months ago with only Johnny Depp to star it was just recently reported Rob Marshall, Cruz’s Nine director would helm the movie (taking over the Disney franchise from Gore Verbinski.) Pe made several quotes that would definitely love to do another musical or work with Rob again which doesn’t surprise that she was eager to work with him once again so soon.

So ultimately it seems that Cruz tried to juggle the schedules for both films, but was forced to focus exclusively on the Pirates movie which will be due to begin shooting in Hawaii this July, seeing Cruz as a female pirate! Caribbean veterans Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley will no longer participate in the franchise. It’s been reported that the script is being tweaked because the press found it weak.

I’m honestly not surprised by this and while I definitely would have been looking forward to the Lars von Trier film, I’m actually more excited by the thoughts of seeing Penélope in a huge movie (since she hasn’t been in one in a while) from I franchise I am a big fan of overall. I’m also a bit more biased to her working with Johnny Depp again because I became a fan of Pe’s with their 2001 film Blow.

I’ll continue to keep you posted on all the developments regarding Pirates because it seems pretty official now! Can’t wait! What are you thoughts? Are you disappointed by the Melancholia news or happy?

Penélope looked exquisite in a vintage Gianni Versace ivory column gown with vertical signature Gianni Versace zippers in the back of the dress. It’s nice to see something other than black which she’s been choosing a lot here lately.

I have updated the gallery with over x128 pictures from the festivities. Watch a video of her on the red carpet after the break.

Scheduled for a release on May 20, 2011, the fourth installment revolves around the Fountain of Youth. Depp is reprising the role of Captain Jack Sparrow and Cruz’s character is expected to be “Sparrow’s foil and equal in many ways.”

The Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film was written by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot. Shooting will take place in Hawaii this summer.

Cruz starred in Marshall’s last film, Nine.

To be honest given the source I’m trying not to get my hopes up about this one, but I think it would be a lot of fun and totally awesome to see Cruz working with one of my favorite actors, Johnny Depp again! Especially if Pe played a sassy strong female character against Captain Jack!

Update Feb. 11: Variety has confirmed that Pe is in talks for the 4th Pirates!

Budgeted at around E5 million ($7 million), English-lingo film is set for a European 2010 shoot. The title refers to Planet Melancholia, an enormous planet illustrated on the press release that looms threateningly close to Earth. “No more happy endings!” commented Lars von Trier, who will direct from his own screenplay. “As a disaster movie, Melancholia will use some special effects, but nothing compared to Hollywood,” exclaims Zentropa Entertainment co-founder Peter Aalbaek Jensen.

Personally, I think it sounds like a really cool idea given the director. I know Penélope is now being very choosy with her projects and this seems like it could be very time consuming, but with Lars von Trier claiming to make it ‘anti-hollywood’, sounds promising! Only time will tell if this becomes a sure thing. I’ll keep you posted.

Penélope, last year’s Best Actress winner for Vicky Cristina Barcelona is up again this year for her supporting performance in Nine. She did not find out until about an hour after nominations were announced and “had 19 missed calls and 120 emails and text messages,” so she spent her day returning her messages. The actress is thankful for the support of her loved ones, saying, “It’s beautiful to talk to all the people that love you and care about you and get excited for you with something like this.”

Watch the video after the jump or on ET‘s site.

“I am completely surprised and elated. Rob Marshall is not only a genius but an absolute joy to work with. I woke up every morning excited to collaborate with this amazingly talented group of actors. Filming this movie was such a special experience and to be nominated for this role makes me so happy.”

Source: Hitfix

Penélope Cruz for Nine
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

A press conference held at 5:30 AM L.A. time was announced by Academy president Tom Sherak and one of last year’s nominees Anne Hathaway.

Nine received no other nominations in the major categories but it is nominated for Best Achievement in Art Direction, Achievement in Costume Design and Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures and Original Song (“Take It All”).

The 82nd Academy Awards will be broadcast March 7 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. To be hosted by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.

The Nine star scooped the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress last year for her performance in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and admits receiving the gold statue was one of the happiest moments in her life.

Penélope is proud to show off her prize at her home and once even took her Oscar to the beach.

She said: “My Oscar lives in my house, but it changes rooms all the time. I’m looking at it in different places to make the final decision. I even took it to the beach one day. It’s like being five when you finally get a toy you’ve been asking for.”

Since winning the prestigious prize, the 35-year-old actress insists she doesn’t feel any extra pressure when making her films, because she has always worked hard.

Penélope – who is believed to be engaged to Javier Bardem – added to Stylist magazine: “I’ve always felt under pressure and had a lot of insecurity, so that doesn’t change and I don’t want that to alter. I don’t want to get to the set and feel too secure. I’ve worked for so many years feeling a lot of respect and healthy fear of the work and I don’t feel I can change that now.”

Source: The Bosh

The Spanish stars joined British writer/director Paul Haggis at his Los Angeles home on Sunday (24Jan10) when he hosted a celebrity brunch for his charitable organisation Artists for Peace and Justice to raise funds for Haiti.

Cruz and Bardem were among 100 guests including Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Maria Bello and Gerard Butler at the event, where they were treated to a performance by Sheryl Crow, reports People magazine.

The brunch raised $4.5 million (£2.8 million) for the Caribbean nation’s relief effort – including Cruz and Bardem’s personal promises to support the country as it works to rebuild its school system.

Haggis, who has been doing charity work in Haiti for years, founded Artists for Peace and Justice with a group of friends last year (09) to improve schools and hospitals and help provide locals with access to clean drinking water.

The actress’ five-year pledge comes less than two weeks after the Nine beauty paid tribute to Haggis at the Golden Globe Awards, when she praised him for snubbing the red carpet to fly to Haiti and help relief workers.

She told E! News, “We are very lucky to be here, celebrating cinema… but it’s impossible to think about anything else than the terrible disaster that is going on in Haiti.

“Our dear friend Paul Haggis… is on his way there now… I encourage people to look at the website, Artists for Peace & Justice, and to do whatever they can because everything counts, everything will make a difference to somebody else’s life.”

Source: Contact Music

Earlier this week, Penélope joined Gerard Butler, Daniel Craig, and Charlize Theron for a fund raiser held at director’s Paul Haggis‘ house. She and Javier Bardem pledged $50,000 a year for five years to help rebuild schools in earthquake-torn Haiti.

Update 1) – Penélope Cruz was interviewed by E! on the red carpet. When asked if she does her own dishes and pumps her own gas in addition to holding her own umbrella, as she did at the Golden Globes. She replied “I’m not gonna tell you I do I do it three times a day, but I can do it!”

Update 2) Added the first photos of Cruz to the gallery.

Update 3) Penélope Cruz lost to Mo’Nique once more which isn’t really a surprise. However when the camera panned to Cruz and her Nine co-stars backstage (about to present) her friends embarrassed her by giving her “bunny ears”, it was a really adorable moment. I can’t wait to see it again!

Update 4) Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman and Kate Hudson showcased a clip from Nine which is in contention for Best Ensemble Cast.

Update 5) The Actor for Best Ensemble Cast went to Inglourious Basterds

Penélope Cruz ranked at #7 on the annual list. View her entry here. In a rather surprising outcome in my personal opinion, Emmanuelle Chriqui was number one.

Why She’s #7
Penelope Cruz once said: “The most difficult thing in the world is to start a career known only for your looks and then to try to become a serious actress. No one will take you seriously once you are known as the pretty woman.” Fortunately for Cruz, her biggest fear hasn’t been the case in terms of her career. A muse to famed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, Cruz has become just as famous stateside for Spanish language films like Volver, for which she won the Best Actress at Cannes, as she is for American films like Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. Look for Cruz at the Oscars again after her 2009 performance in Nine opposite Daniel Day-Lewis. The Spanish Academy’s Goya Awards have also nominated Cruz for Best Actress for her role in another Almodovar flick, Broken Embraces. To any woman who managed to get through this paragraph without hard feelings, congratulations! Here’s your prize: Penelope will also star in Sex and the City 2.

Note: Pe merely has a cameo in Sex and the City 2.

Update 1) – Although not really a surprise, Penélope Cruz did not win Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. That honor went to Mo’nique for her outstanding work in Precious. Nicole Kidman presented the award and Pe blew her a kiss to the stage.

Update 2) Kate Hudson presented the clip for Nine‘s entry in the Best Movie Musical or Comedy category.

Update 3) Several shots of Penélope in the audience, like during Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech.

Update 4) The award for foreign language film went to The White Ribbon and not Broken Embraces. Sophia Loren presented.

Update 5) Reese Witherspoon presented the award for Best Comedy/Musical to The Hangover, unfortunately Nine lost. Lots of shots of Miss Cruz shown in the audience again!

Update 6) Celebrities signed a Chrysler 300 Eco Style car for Stars for a Cause, view images of Pe here for now. I will add them to the site shortly. This Chrysler 300 is one of seven in existence.

Update 7) Penélope Cruz is attended the Belstaff The Weinstein Co. Golden Globe After Party. View the first photos of her and Marion Cotillard here.

Misc. Updates
• Nine‘s song “Cinema Italiano” lost to “The Weary Kind” (Theme From Crazy Heart).

• Stars are wearing ribbon pins on their outfits in support of Haiti.

• Pe gave a red carpet interview with E! News and when Ryan Seacrest pointed out she was holding her own umbrella, she joked, “I knew I would be holding my own umbrella. I’m not like Puff Daddy [Diddy], I hold my own umbrella.” She of course she was referring to Diddy’s infamous personal assistant and “Umbrella Holder,” Farnsworth Bentley.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Broken Embraces is up for Original Screenplay and Film Not in the English Language while Nine also sees longlist nominations in Costume Design, Sound, Music, Marion Cotillard for Lead Actress

Residents of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are able to cast their votes! The awards ceremony will take place in Dublin, February 20th, 2010.

The 2010 Goya Award winners will be announced on February 14 in Madrid. The Goya nominations were selected from 120 eligible Spanish and Latin films released in Spain.