Penelope Cruz talks equal pay, sharing screen with Javier Bardem at Cannes
'We don't take the characters home at the end of the day'
Penelope Cruz says she and her husband Javier Bardem were paid equally for the Cannes Film Festival opener Everybody Knows.
In the film, the Spanish-language debut of Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, Cruz and Bardem play former lovers dealing with the kidnapping of a daughter.
Asked Wednesday at a press conference in Cannes if they were paid the same, Cruz replied, "Actually, yes."
The couple, who first appeared together in the 1992 film Jamon Jamon, have similar working styles, Cruz continued. For instance, they "don't take the characters home at the end of the day."
Still, fans shouldn't expect to see them paired up onscreen from now on.
"It's not something we plan on doing every two years," she said.
"That will be once in a while, if we feel it's right. I don't think it will be too often."
Shortly after Everybody Knows opened the Cannes Film Festival, Focus Features acquired the film. The specialty division of Universal Pictures said Wednesday that it will distribute it in the U.S. and much of the world.
Farhadi has won two Academy Awards for best foreign language film, for A Separation and The Salesman.
Producers said they will also aim for the Oscars with Everybody Knows.