Penélope Cruz shares important message about women's health as she details brain aneurysm 'scare'
Greg Harris
Featured Image Credit: Gilbert Flores / Contributor / Getty Images
Penélope Cruz is opening up about the brain aneurysm scares she has faced in recent years, using her experience to emphasise the importance of prioritising your health.
The actress, 52, says her recent health issues have prompted her to put her health and wellbeing first.
Earlier this year, Cruz spoke openly about experiencing brain aneurysm symptoms while filming The Black Ball. While attending the film’s premiere at Cannes in May, she revealed that a doctor told her about the health issue before one of her night shoots.
She is now reflecting on that moment. “I have had many scares like that,” she shared in a new interview with Net-a-Porter. “Fortunately, I’m fine, it was a false alarm.”
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She added: “I worry about staying healthy, taking care of myself. “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I really don’t party. Without health, we have nothing. You talk about real equality? Why don’t we start with health?”
The mum-of-two argued that women’s health doesn't get as much research compared to men.
“It’s shocking that over decades, we’ve stuck to the same information about how women’s bodies work,” she added. “Look at funding for investigation into any illness that affects only women — we don’t get even half the investment. It is a level of control or suppression.”
Cruz portrays a cabaret performer in The Black Ball, a Spanish film about the lives of three gay men at different times in their lives.
The actress recalled the moment a doctor informed her about the time when she was informed about the health issue.
“We’re about to go out, I was putting on my wig, and they said, ‘Oh, apparently you have some brain aneurysm. I thought I was about to die. This is something that was totally surreal in my life,” she told Variety.
Cruz said she took the rest of the evening off and was eventually medically cleared by a doctor to continue filming.
“I thought, ‘It’s a total miracle,’” she reflected. “I have to, I must have this in me.”
The star said that the experience made her performance in the film, and her connection with the film’s crew, even stronger.
“You experience these things together, yet despite all this, despite the hardship, you can move forward in life,” she said.
Cruz shares son Leo, 15, and daughter, Luna, 12, with husband Javier Bardem.
Known for films including Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Volver and Parallel Mothers, she became the first Spanish actress to win an Academy Award for acting for her performance in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Outside of acting, Cruz has frequently spoken about family, ageing, beauty standards, motherhood and maintaining a balanced lifestyle.