Penélope Cruz Teaches Us How to Wear Lingerie

Some celebrities won’t even tell you their real last name. Penélope Cruz, on the other hand, will let you see her underwear. “See that light pink one?” Penélope Cruz says, pointing to a pale satin bra hanging five feet above us. “I wear that one all the time. It might be my favorite.”​​

The Oscar winner is walking us through her latest collection for L’Agent, the secondary line for Agent Provocateur that’s designed by Cruz, her sister Monica, and AP creative director Sarah Shotton. She’s giving us some advice on bedroom poses and eyeliner accidents along the way. And she’s doing it wearing a bodycon lace dress and a Chopard diamond ring that make us want to ditch the rest of fashion week, get a hotel suite, and have champagne for breakfast.

In her native language, “No estoy enojada por eso”—I’m not mad at that!

For the record, we need to say your eyeliner in person is amazing. How do you get your cat-eye to go all the way around like that?

First of all, it’s because Charlotte Tilbury did it. She is so nice. And her work is fantastic. She can do whatever look you want like that—quick! But also, I have to tell you because you asked, I have been working with Lancôme for many years. And their liner is excellent, and I know this because I always ask them for more!​

How do you get black eyeliner to last all day?

I mean, ehhh. You don’t. You live your life! But if you have really good eyeliner, you won’t be worried that it’s not staying put for a few hours.

You and your sister Monica look amazing in lingerie. But really, you look amazing in everything. So how do you make sure this range works for many different bodies?

We made that a big priority going into it. We said, “L’Agent can’t be just for us,” and you can see in the line, we have A-cup bras, we have double Ds. You have to be able to find a size for everyone and a shape for everyone. Also, every age. I directed both campaigns for L’Agent because I wanted to know I stood behind the message we were sending about women and being sexy, and who this line is for. And when we did the first campaign, Monica was nine months pregnant.

What kind of lingerie did you put on your pregnant sister?

Lace, and she looked amazing! It was really important for us to make sure this was for everybody, and also that it wouldn’t be too expensive even though it’s high quality. It’s amazing designs.

So, that thing where you have to throw out your bra after a month…

We don’t want that to happen with our line. We want the quality to be there. We want you to like it so much that you keep wearing it for a long time.

There’s a bra called The Penelope.

And it’s a bestseller, but I swear that’s just a coincidence.

Uh-huh, sure…

The Penelope and The Monica come back every season, in different colors, but the same shape. And I will say that I wear it a lot.

Help! I have a date right after work. What lingerie should I wear?

It is so not up to me. I am never going to tell any woman what lingerie to wear, what anything to wear, because that is so personal. I will say that you should never wear anything that isn’t comfortable, because you’ll never feel sexy if you don’t feel physically good. Some of our pieces are more risqué than others, and if you’re into that, great. If you’re not, we have other pieces. What I don’t want you to do is buy lingerie, wear it once, and then get rid of it because even though you look sexy, you feel awful. No. We want you to look sexy and be comfortable wearing this under your jeans. We want you to never feel it under there. We want you to wear it a lot.​

Good idea or bad idea: taking selfies in lingerie?

I’m not one to say, because I am not very much of a selfie person in general. Everything has changed so much in the last 10 to 15 years that I have a resistance to all of that. I find that I want to go back to writing letters. Not so much email. Not so much texting. Social media is really powerful, and it’s so popular for a reason. But it should not be there to substitute for other things, like writing letters to a friend or to a husband.

So you write letters to people in your life?

You know, I don’t even like reading my movie scripts on a tablet! I like to touch the paper. In some ways maybe I want to stay old-fashioned. But some things will never be “old fashioned,” they’ll just be real. I want my children to learn to read with books, not with a computer. I want them to feel pages in their hands, and I’m going to make sure that’s how they do it.

True or false: You took your Oscar to the beach.

Yes, that is true! Because on the way to Spain after the Oscars, the year I won [in 2009, for Vicky Cristina Barcelona], I was visiting some family and friends on the beach. And I could not believe I won, I could not believe the Oscar was mine! So I took it everywhere with me. To the beach, yes. I wrapped it in a towel.

Is it still in a towel?

No! It’s in my house! Why would it be put away? It’s an Oscar! It’s right there in my house.

We need to know everything about Zoolander 2. 

I know you do, but I am not supposed to say anything, because it is a surprise. I will say that we were really blown away by how many fashion designers and models would visit the set and want to be in the movie. Everyone was so nice about it. And the movie? It’s going to be hilarious. I think this one is even funnier than the first one.

Did you know Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson were going to do the Valentino show?

No, and when I saw them, I laughed so hard. But you know, when [Ben Stiller] is working, he is very serious. And he has a lot of pressure on him, because he’s one guy, and he has to act, produce, write, and direct every single shot of this film. I don’t know how he can handle so much pressure, except he’s really focused, really professional. He’s so serious. But then he’s directing me and Kristen​ Wiig while wearing the most ridiculous clothing you’ve ever seen.​

How do you handle him?

Oh, I was just very honest. I said to him, ‘Ben, you are doing an incredible job, and you are such a great director and so good at your job. But you know, any time you talk to me in costume, no matter how serious you are, I’m sorry. I’m just going to laugh in your face!’

Aww, poor Ben Stiller!

He is such a nice man, and he treats everyone on set so well, and with such respect. But then he comes out dressed as Derek Zoolander, and we are all crying real tears because we are laughing so hard.

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