Penélope Cruz has reflected on filming Zoolander 2, sharing the painful experience that brought her especially close to Ben Stiller during production.
In a recent interview with PORTER, Cruz said the bond grew out of a period of overlapping grief for both stars while they were making the 2016 comedy, which also featured Christine Taylor, Cyrus Arnold, Ariana Grande and Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton.
Although the sequel was a commercial disappointment and remains one of the more divisive entries in Stiller’s filmography, it clearly left a deep personal mark on members of the cast.
For Cruz and Stiller, the project came at an incredibly difficult time, with both actors dealing with the recent loss of a parent while working on set.
In an interview with PORTER, Cruz explained that her father died in the early hours of a Saturday while she was in the middle of a night shoot.
“He died at two in the morning. Really young, a heart attack out of the blue. I remember being so close to passing out from the shock,” the 52-year-old said.
She went on to describe how quickly she had to return to work despite the shock and grief she was carrying.
“On Monday morning, I had to be on set again, trying to make people laugh, shooting a comedy.
“Two weeks before that, the same thing had happened to Ben Stiller with his mom. The film couldn’t stop for him, or for me. Every time I see Ben, I think, “Wow, what we went through.'”
Stiller, who directed and starred in Zoolander 2, also spoke about his own loss in 2016 during an interview with Parade after his mother, Anne Meara, died in May 2015.
“Honestly, it happened so recently that I’m still processing it,” he told the outlet.
“It affects me constantly. You know, you’re going through your life, everything is great and then like, Pow! She’s not here. It’s hard for me.”
More recently, Cruz also discussed a separate health concern after doctors initially feared she may have had an aneurysm, a condition that can be life-threatening and may cause bleeding in the brain.
She later learned that the situation had been a false alarm.
She added to PORTER: “I have had many scares like that. Fortunately, I’m fine, it was a false alarm, but 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?”
Cruz also raised wider concerns about the state of women’s healthcare and research, saying she believes too little has changed over the years.
“It’s shocking that, over decades, we’ve stuck to the same information about how women’s bodies work.
“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.”