Penélope Cruz criticizes that the word feminism has been “distorted” and assures that her mother is her “greatest reference”

With the Oscar nominations just around the corner and many ballots to be a finalist for best actress for ‘Parallel Mothers’, Penélope Cruz premieres ‘Agents 355’, a spy film that subverts the canons of the genre and shows that united women can also save the world.

The actress from the Madrid town of Alcobendas, who in the film forms a team with Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o and Bingbing Fan, believes that the word feminism has been “distorted” and “misunderstood” a lot, but she does not hesitate to consider herself a feminist and mentions her mother as the highest reference.

“My mother is a strong person, she had me when she was only 21 years old, I have seen her in many situations in life and her reactions have always been inspiring to me, of great self-respect, has been a great teacher and if I had to choose a reference, of course it would be her,” she told Efe during a telematic interview.

“We are feminists by nature but it’s not something we talk about,” she added, “For me, feminism is the way she lives her life and what she transmits through her actions, I grew up watching her, so if someone asks me if I’m a feminist I’d say yes, sure, of course, but it’s a word that has been distorted and misunderstood a lot.”

Under the direction of Simon Kinberg, producer of sagas such as ‘X-Men’ or ‘Deadpool’, ‘Agents 355’ arrives this Friday in Spanish cinemas after having received mixed reviews at its premiere in the United States and several Latin American countries.

It is about a group of spies who work for the governments of different countries but who skip the hierarchies and join forces with the common goal of preventing a super-destructive technological weapon falls into the wrong hands.

“Until now it has been rare to see a spy movie with women as protagonists saving the world and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to do it“, stressed Cruz, who plays a Colombian psychologist who accidentally finds herself involved in the first line of fire.

The Spanish tells that she had an active role in the conception of her character. “There was no script yet, Jessica and Simon asked me what role I would like to play and I told them that I have always missed seeing the fish out of water in these types of movies, a character with whom the viewer can feel identified, that upon seeing him they would think, I would be the same, I would want to run away and leave the mission”, he explains.

Cruz expresses the possibilities of a role that is tailor-made for her, with her comedic side included, and says that she shares her fear of weapons. “I am very similar in that, security on set is very important”, comments after the recent fatal accident with a gun that went off on a set of Alec Baldwin.

“It would be interesting to know what happens with Graciela (her character) if things go well and there is a sequel, I imagine she will want to stay in the group but I don’t know how, it makes me very curious“, he adds.

Regarding the facet of psychologist, the winner of an Oscar for ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ He says that he has worked with many throughout his life intermittently. “And I will continue to do so, it is very positive when you find someone good,” he says.

‘Agents 355’ was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 and its arrival in theaters was scheduled for 2020 but it has been delayed until now due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Cruz continues to garner praise for her role in Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Mothers Parallels’, which has so far earned her the Volpi Cup for best actress in Venice and Los Angeles Critics Award, working his way up to his fourth Oscar nomination. The finalists will be announced on February 8.