Penelope Cruz shot Zoolander one day after her dad died

Penelope Cruz only had one day off from shooting Zoolander when her father died unexpectedly.

The 52-year-old actress was one of the leads in the 2016 movie, and was on a night shoot when she received the news that her dad Eduardo had passed away in the early hours of the Saturday morning.

She told PORTER: “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.”

Just a day later, on the Monday, she had to be back to work, which was especially difficult considering Zoolander was a comedy.

She sighed: “On Monday morning, I had to be on set again, trying to make people laugh, shooting a comedy.”

Penelope added that she and co-star Ben Stiller bonded over shared experiences after Ben’s mother died during the Zoolander shoot.

She continued: “Two weeks before that, the same thing had happened to Ben Stiller with his mum. The film couldn't stop for him, or for me.

“Every time I see Ben, I think, ‘Wow, what we went through.’”

Elsewhere in the interview, Penelope - who is currently promoting new movie The Invite - spoke about how she and Javier Bardem are raising their children Leo, 15, and 12-year-old Luna.

She said: “As parents, you have to work much harder to create the right atmosphere at home. 

“My parents had me so young that I grew up being able to talk to them about everything. I want the same thing in my relationship with my kids. 

“To create a safe environment where they feel that they can ask all the questions and share whatever they need to. And I will listen without judgement.”

However, like many parents, Penelope is becoming increasingly concerned about what her kids are seeing and being subjected to on the Internet.

She explained: “It is so difficult to be a teenager right now. What the boys are being fed, what they are being tricked into thinking. 

“It is a type of manipulation that confuses even adults. With teenagers or children, it is a very dangerous weapon.

“I remember puberty being a very challenging time for me. I don’t know what my life would have been if, in that time, I had been given a phone with all the horrors of social media.”