Javier Bardem Recalls His Captivating First Meeting with Penélope Cruz 15 Years Before Their Romance Began

If you’re at all interested in celebrity life, then you probably already know your favorite celebrity couple. From Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds to Zendaya and Tom Holland, everyone’s got a favorite, right? Well, in a new interview with Javier Bardem, the Oscar-winner might be battling for first place alongside his wife Penélope Cruz.

Talking about the moment they first met on the set of Jamón, Jamón in 1992, the actor told The Gentlemen’s Journal that their connection was almost instantaneous.

“She was 17, and I was 22,” recalled Bardem. “It was her first movie; one of my first movies. A big movie. We met on the wardrobe test, where we looked at each other, and I guess something happened. Something that doesn’t have any explanation and goes beyond logic and reasoning.”

At the time, however, their connection was nothing beyond a normal co-star friendship. “But, back in the day, we had different lives, different objectives, aims and goals,” he said. “Yet, something was there – an energy, a chemistry, a way to rely on each other as human beings. And that stayed for so long, even though we didn’t see each other or speak to each other for many years.”

Fast-forward 15 years, the Spanish actors shared the screen again in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2007.

“We realized that the feeling was still alive. Very alive,” Bardem said of their reconnection on set. “To our surprise!”

“But it happened that we were both single at that moment, so naturally what had to happen happened – two people reconnected because they shared tons of things, way more than they expected,” he admitted.

Looking back, Bardem thinks that meeting Cruz before they achieved worldwide recognition was crucial. “But we also shared that we met each other and knew each other before all of the noise, before success and before anybody saw us with different eyes because of who we now were, what we had become,” he reflected. “And that’s an important base, to rely on someone because you know them for real, and they know you for real. You see me, I see you. That’s important.”

By 2010, Cruz and Bardem tied the knot. In 2011, they welcomed their son Leo, 13, and later their daughter Luna, 11, in 2013. A true Hollywood love story!

Before you go, click here to see the longest celebrity marriages.