Actress Penélope Cruz is weighing in on the movie theater versus streaming debate, saying she believes all films deserve to be seen on the big screen.
The 49-year-old made the remarks during a “BAFTA: A Life in Pictures” event in London on Monday, per Variety. Cruz talked about how the industry has changed now that home streaming is so popular, especially in a post-pandemic era.
“It’s a ritual that I hope the world doesn’t lose because it is real magic,” the “Vanilla Sky” actress said at the event. “The experience of watching a film in a theater can never be the same as watching it in your house with interruptions and a phone or this and that.”
She added, “And then it’s not sacred anymore — that time of you’re here, you turn off the phone and you’re going to be focused on this activity for two hours. That doesn’t happen at home. So I am a big defender of every movie having at least a few weeks of theatrical release because it’s just sad to lose that. It’s sad for new generations not to experience that.”
Cruz was in London promoting her upcoming biographical drama “Ferrari,” which hits theaters on December 25. The actress plays Enzo Ferrari’s wife, Laura, opposite Adam Driver. The Academy Award-winning star said many people have the wrong impression of her character.
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“The people that knew her very well loved her, but people in the streets would say things that I didn’t like, like ‘Oh no, she was just a very difficult woman. She was just crazy,’” Cruz said. “And I would tell them, ‘Do you know that she used to sleep with the tires during some races so that nobody would steal them or break them?’ ‘No, that’s impossible. She has no relation to Ferrari whatsoever.’ ‘And did you know that she was one of the first investors?’ They just wanted to make less of her.”
“I saw that there was no compassion for her — probably because she was involved in the business and that was not welcome. It was, in those years, very difficult for a woman to have a voice in a company like that,” she continued.
The Spanish star insisted women are still treated badly today.
“It’s still today the case in so many places around the world. I mean, just look around and you will find women living in the shadow of men,” Cruz said. “I don’t like when, you know, it’s always said in our profession, ‘It’s great how much things have changed’ because it is a lie. Things have not changed that much.”