Penélope Cruz feared she would ‘die’ after brain aneurysm scare

Prior to shooting night scenes for the award-winning Black Ball, actress Penélope Cruz was warned that she could have a brain aneurysm.

The upcoming movie, which just scooped a prestigious Cannes Film Festival prize, sees the 52-year-old portraying Nené, a cabaret entertainer who performs for soldiers.

Cruz is said to have opened up about the ordeal during a Cannes press conference on Friday, May 23, after the film’s premiere at the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Whilst preparing to film late on set, Cruz was allegedly informed of a potential health scare.

“When we’re about to go out, I was putting on my wig, and they said, ‘Oh, apparently you have some brain aneurysm,” she recalled, as per Variety.

“I thought I was about to die,” she continued. “This is something that was totally surreal in my life.”

A brain aneurysm is defined by the NHS as ‘a swelling in a blood vessel in your brain’.

Cruz said the medical warning felt completely surreal at the time. (JB Lacroix / Contributor/Getty Images)

It has the potential to cause a subarachnoid haemorrhage if it bursts. Usually small with no symptoms, the phenomenon is often only discovered during tests for other conditions.

Causes include, but are not limited to: smoking, high blood pressure, injury to a blood vessel in your brain, or having certain genetic conditions, including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Despite the celebrity’s film commitments, Cruz elected to visit a doctor who informed her that she could continue singing and dancing for The Black Ball.

Since then, the Spanish icon said her perspective on life has somewhat changed.

“I thought, ‘It’s a total miracle. I have to, I must have this in me,’” she said, as per Variety.

She thanked the film’s production team for supporting her throughout the experience, adding: “You experience these things together, yet despite all this, despite the hardship, you can move forward in life.”

Cruz was preparing for night scenes when the warning came (Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Contributor/Getty Images)

The Hollywood Reporter wrote earlier this week that Netflix has closed in on a US deal for The Black Ball, a queer epic which also stars Glenn Close.

The wider cast also includes Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Lola Dueñas, and Carlos González, with the film due to be released in Spain on October 2 through Elastica Films.

It tells the story of three men in different time periods — 1932, 1937, and 2017 — all connected by the last works of the Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca.

The Black Ball premiered at Cannes with a 20-minute standing ovation, the longest of the festival, the outlet stated.

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s flick was in contention for the coveted Palme d'Or, but lost out to Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord.