Penélope Cruz Isn’t Worried About Aging as She Gears Up for Her 50th Birthday: 'It’s a Huge, Beautiful Thing'

“I was more bothered then than now,” Cruz revealed in a new cover story for ELLE

Penélope Cruz is welcoming her 50s with open arms.

On April 28, the Ferrari star, 49, will enter a new decade of her life, but she told ELLE in her new cover story that aging isn’t something she’s worried about in the slightest.

“Because people have been asking me about age since I was twentysomething,” she told the outlet, admitting she was more “bothered” about getting older back then.

“Now it makes more sense, to discuss turning 50. It’s a huge, beautiful thing, and I really want to celebrate that with all my friends. It means I’m here and I’m healthy, and it’s a reason to have a party.”

Still, she's a bit wary when it comes to talking about the topic when it doesn't deem appropriate.

“But when I was 25, they would ask me these psychotic questions, things you would not believe, and the only weapon I would have was not to answer. Even now, on the red carpet, when they shout to ‘Turn around,’ I always pretend I didn’t hear what they said.” 

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There’s another part of Cruz’s life that maintains an air of privacy: her kids.

Elsewhere in her interview, Cruz explained that she's always been dedicated to making sure that if her children — daughter Luna, 10, and son Leo, 12, both of whom she shares with Javier Bardem — ever want to step into the spotlight, it's on their own time and on their own terms.

Related: Penélope Cruz Reveals Her Kids, 10 and 12, Don't Have Cell Phones: 'It's a Cruel Experiment on Children'

"It’s for them to decide if they are going to have a job that is more exposed to the public or not. They can talk about that when they’re ready," she shared.

And she's firm in her decision to shield them from the digital world.

Cruz admitted that she doesn't allow her two kids to have phones, explaining, "It’s so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming."

"And who pays the price? Not us, not our generation, who, maybe at 25, learned how a BlackBerry worked," she continued. "It’s a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers.”

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