Actor Penélope Cruz covers the February 2024 issue of ELLE US [IG]. Alex White styles the Spanish superstar in ‘The Compassion of Penelope Cruz’, choosing spare silhouettes from Chanel, Ferragamo, and Versace, with jewelry from Chanel.

An exception to ‘spare’ is the Balmain polka dots below. Yes, Cruz has been a Chanel ambassador for more than a decade, and the story is heavy on Chanel in images by Zoey Grossman [IG]./ Hair by Pablo Iglesias; makeup by Sofia Tilbury

Sloane Crosley meets Penélope Cruz at her production company, about 30 minutes north of Madrid. The writer’s enviable worthsmithing skills are on display by the third paragraph.

“Cruz’s warm demeanor—she’s a natural comic, her smile takes up a greedy amount of real estate on her face . . . “ commands our attention.

Penélope Cruz’s latest role — coming in December — is that of Laura Ferrari in Michael Mann’s “breakneck biopic” Ferrari. Unlike playing her friend Donatella Versace in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Cruz will introduce Laura Ferrari to the general public for the first time.

Some actors make little effort to research their characters, but that’s not Cruz’s approach. She tells Crosley:

“I found all these letters between them, these real love letters where, even after everything was deteriorating for them as a couple, the love and respect was very strong, even if later there was a lot of betrayal. They built this company together. When we were filming in Modena, there’s so much other people didn’t know. Or didn’t want to know. I went to the factory and met people who knew Laura, and it’s like they didn’t want to mention how much power she had. You know she slept with the tires? The night before races, she would sleep with the tires so that no one would sabotage them. But people would say no, no, she was a difficult woman. Very sour and unpredictable. Some called her crazy. The word that has been used for every woman in history to justify suppression.”

In Ferrari, the paneling is dark wood, the suits are gray, and only the cars are red. Cruz would not drive those cars . . . read the article to understand why not.

A major portion of the excellent interview focuses on Cruz’s empathy. “I’m lucky to have it, but maybe it makes me feel or suffer things more. I can feel it; it’s like a hypersensitivity in every way—visually, to sound, to people’s feelings. It’s been one of the main things I deal with in therapy: how to work a balance so I can keep feeling those things without making those feelings my own.”

Cruz approaches people as if they may be grieving. The technique makes her less judgmental and more compassionate.

We learn that her children with Javier Bardem Luna, 10, and Leo, 12 not only have no social media accounts, they have no phones. Their brains are still forming, explains Cruz. [This is a real concern for conscientious parents.]

As for herself, Penélope Cruz is “on the precipice of 50” with more than 60 films in her resume. Hungry for more? Follow the link in the first paragraph.