Penelope Cruz will be lending her voice and money to a very special project that aims to shed more light on child marriages.
The 47-year-old actress will be teaming up once again with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar for the docuseries Not A Bride, which will be streaming on Paramount Plus internationally.
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Cruz Is Pedro Almodóvar's Muse
Cruz and Almodóvar have a long-standing working relationship and have collaborated eight times.
In a press tour for one of their recent collaboration Parallel Mothers, which comes out on December 24, the duo gushed about their mutual admiration for each other.
“I feel like the luckiest girl in the world getting to work with him for so many years,” Cruz said.
“I’m a very demanding director and she gives me everything I ask her to give me. She’s very beautiful and comes out beautifully in a film," Almodóvar explained.
Highlighting Women's Stories
Most of Almodóvar and Cruz’s collaborations highlight women’s stories and bring to light important women’s issues.
In Parallel Mothers, the movie tackles the challenges of being a single mom. Cruz has said that it has been her most challenging role to date.
“It is a very difficult character,” Cruz said. “I think it’s one of the most difficult characters I’ve interpreted. But I never felt like I was alone.”
The movie was a huge success, hailed as the director’s best movie since All About My Mother in 1999. It also won Cruz a Best Actress Award in this year’s Venice Film Festival.
'Not A Bride' Docuseries
The upcoming documentary series marks the ninth time this creative duo will be collaborating. This time, Cruz is an executive producer and Almodóvar co-producing.
Penelope will also be narrating the four-part series. Written and directed by Dario Troiani, the show will be uncovering misconceptions about the social problem.
"’Not a Bride’ will harness the power of storytelling to address the critical global issue of child marriage, and we hope its world-wide debut on Paramount+ will help to shift perceptions and create meaningful progress," says Georgia Arnold, head of production company VIS Social Impact.
Helping End Child Marriage
According to the NGO Girls Not Brides, about 12 million girls all over the world are forced into marriages before they turn 18 years old.
“The testimonies of the girls and women who have suffered this traumatic experience are shocking. Through this documentary we aim to give the world a better idea of this huge problem which we truly hope will begin to be solved,” says Esther García from production company El Deseo.
]]>The Inquisitr
