Penelope Cruz marries Javier Bardem

LOS ANGELES: Oscar-winning Spanish film stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem wed earlier this month at an intimate ceremony in the Bahamas, the actor’s publicist told AFP.

The couple “were married in the beginning of July at a friend’s house in the Bahamas. It was a small ceremony with just family members. Penelope Cruz wore a dress designed by her long-time friend John Galliano,” Amanda Silverman said.

Cruz, 36, and Bardem, 41, met when they starred opposite each other as lusty teens in Bigas Luna’s film Jamon, Jamon, back in 1992.

In 2008 they were back together on the silver screen in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for which Cruz won an Academy Award as best supporting actress.

Bardem, nominated for an Oscar in Before Night Falls (2000), won an Academy Award in 2007 for his role in No Country for Old Men.

Though the couple have kept their romance quiet for years, Bardem got personal when he won a best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in May for his work in Biutiful by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

“I share the joy of this prize with my friend, my companion, my love, Penelope Cruz,” Bardem said at the time.

“I owe you so much, and I love you very much,” Bardem said, drawing tears from Cruz, a long-time muse of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar.

Cruz previously dated actor Tom Cruise, with whom she worked on Cameron Crowe’s 2001 film Vanilla Sky. The two split up in 2004.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2010.