Penelope Cruz recalls brain aneurysm scare

Hollywood actress Penelope Cruz said she "thought she was about to die" after she suffered a worrying brain aneurysm scare during production on her latest movie, "The Black Ball”.

The 52-year-old actress has revealed that she "thought she was about to die" after being informed of the health concern the evening before her night-shoot sequences on the drama film were due to begin.

Speaking at a press conference for The Black Ball at the Cannes Film Festival, Penelope said: "When we were about to go out, I was putting on my wig, and they said, 'Oh, apparently you have some brain aneurysm.' I thought I was about to die. This is something that was totally surreal in my life."

The Oscar-winning actress explained that she thought it was a "joke" at first but revealed that doctors gave her the all-clear to begin shooting the next day, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Thanking her colleagues on the movie for their support, Penelope said: "The shooting was not going to stop. And for me, talking about these things is very important.”

"It's important to share information about where such characters take you - you experience these things together, yet despite all this, despite the hardship, you can move forward in life, and I think they're the only people who knew all these details and they provided such incredible support."

The actress plays cabaret singer Nene in the movie from directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, and was attracted to star in the film because of the script, even though her character has minimal screen time in the movie.

"I don’t base my decision on the number of minutes my character is in the script. I want to be part of things that are important, that speak to me. When I read this script, I discovered this fantastic story and I felt it would be wonderful to be part of something that’s even more important than just one more film," she said.

She said: "I have a very strong reaction towards anything that doesn’t seem fair. So when I see people struggling and fighting for rights that should never be questionable, that creates a very, very strong reaction in me that I need to put somewhere. And fortunately, I’ve been able to put it in the films that I do through my characters."

IANS