Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem wore coordinating looks to last night's Oscars. Here's a timeline of their relationship.
At the time, Cruz was only 16 years old while Javier Bardem was 21.
In an interview with GQ UK in 2017, Bardem said that while the connection between him and Cruz was "immediate" on set, nothing happened between them until years later.
"There was obvious chemistry between us. I mean, it's all there on film; it's like a document of our passion," he said. "It was a very sexy film. It still is. Penélope's parents were brave to allow her to do that film – if my daughter at 16 came to me with a script like that I'd have said no way!"
Javier Bardem told GQ UK that although they kept in contact over the years, it took them both a while to work up the courage to make the first move.
"I don't know if we were shy or trying to be too professional," he said. "Anyway, it got to the very last day of filming and nothing had happened. So I thought, 'F---! We better get drunk!' Luckily a friend of ours threw a wrap party and, well, the rest is history."
The magazine cited a source, who said "they tried to keep it very private and quiet." Neither Bardem's nor Cruz's rep confirmed the report.
The pair were spotted getting cozy at a Lakers game before making their Hollywood debut at the 2010 Goya Awards, Spain's main national film awards.
Speaking to GQ UK, Bardem said Cruz's "feistiness" intimidated him at first.
"There are those scenes where we are arguing, she's throwing plates and so on," the actor said in 2017. "I had to wonder, 'Do I really want this?' She has what I call the loving blood. Passion for everything. That's what I find attractive. There is beauty and there is being sexy. Penélope has both."
They both attended the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of Javier's movie "Biutiful." At the closing awards ceremony, Bardem acknowledged Cruz publicly for the first time as he accepted the award for best actor.
"I share this joy with my friend, my companion, my love: Penélope: I owe you a lot and I love you so much," he said.
Few details are known about the intimate ceremony, which only the couple's family attended, according to Brides.
Cruz kept her first pregnancy largely under wraps while filming "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides."
"I was pregnant and a pirate. A beautiful experience," she told Vogue, according to NBC News. "I want my son — and my kids if I have more — to grow up in a way that is as anonymous as possible. The fact that his father and I have chosen to do the work that we do, doesn't give anybody the right to invade our privacy."
A representative confirmed to Vogue that the couple welcomed their daughter at a hospital in Madrid, Spain.
"My life is ... a very different life," she told Marie Claire in 2019. "But it's the life that I always wanted since I was a little girl. When I was four or five, I was already performing, and the characters in my games were always mothers. I really wanted to be a mother, for as long as I can remember. But I did it when I felt the time was right—the right time, the right person."
"Life has changed. We have grown," Bardem told Vulture in 2019, discussing the couple's fifth film together, "Everybody Knows." "We've grown up. Everything is different once you're family. That is the priority, as it should be. We're no exception from that. We work as hard as we can, but we recognize how hard we can work depends on each other's needs."
Cruz told Marie Claire in 2019 that working together was "not something we want to do that often, partly out of a desire to protect what we have."
"On the one hand, it's easier because you know that person, he knows you, and the way you work is very similar, she said. "On the other hand, the idea of it happening every year is kind of scary. You never know if that might mix things up too much. My instinct is that it would. I think it's better for it to just be once in a while, even though they've been very good experiences."
Cruz said that even if they did work together more often, she'd prefer if they didn't always play a couple. Despite being willing to answer questions about what it's like to work together, Cruz and Bardem have largely kept their relationship on the down-low.
"[Ten years ago, we made] a really good decision for us, not to talk about our relationship," she told Tatler in 2019. "It would feel very strange to do it a different way. I just couldn't do it."
Bardem was nominated for best actor for his role in "Being the Ricardos" and Cruz was nominated for best actress for her role in "Parallel Mothers."
Other couples to have both been nominated for acting awards at the same Oscars ceremony include Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, according to Economic Times.
It is also the first time that two couples have been nominated for acting categories in the same year. Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, who got engaged in 2016, were both nominated for their performance in Jane Campion's Netflix western "The Power of The Dog." While it is unknown if the couple is married, Plemons called Dunst "my wife" at the awards.
Bardem spoke about his and Cruz's emotions the morning the nominees were announced, telling TheWrap, "It's been a beautiful day at home. We were holding on to each other, trying to fit on the same sofa, and there were so many things to pay attention to."
"When the time for actor came, I knew my name would be the first because [it starts with] B," he said. "So if they don't start saying the 'Ja…' right away, we had a problem. I heard the 'Ja,' and I said, 'All right!' And she celebrated more than me ... They said Chastain, Colman, and she said, 'too many Cs.' But then, 'Penelope Cruz,' and that was the moment when we were like, 'Yeahhhhh!'"
"It's extraordinary, having that moment of sharing something so special with your wife," the "Eat Pray Love" actor continued. "It really makes the thing way more valuable."
Though neither Cruz nor Bardem won in their respective categories, they still made quite the splash at the awards ceremony.
Cruz walked the red carpet in a custom Chanel gown inspired by the fashion house's Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2020/21 collection. According to People, the dress required 680 hours of work to finish and featured 8,000 embroidered elements. The dress featured a bow at the neckline, which perfectly coordinated with Bardem's sleek suit and bow tie.
The couple may also be remembered as the lead-up to the infamous Chris Rock and Will Smith scuffle that occurred at the ceremony. Directly before Rock made a comment aimed at Jada Pinkett Smith and her bald head, which the actress has addressed as a result of "struggling" with the skin condition alopecia, Rock made a joke about Cruz and Bardem both being nominated.
"You know who's got the hardest job tonight? Javier Bardem and his wife are both nominated. Now, if she loses, he can't win," the comedian joked at the ceremony, which garnered quite a few laughs from the audience, including the couple. "He is praying that Will Smith wins."