Penelope Cruz

My first fear was about the devil, when I was around fire, something I saw in a movie. I think it's about pain, in whichever form it comes. I had a lot of energy as a child - sometimes too much - and I didn't know how to channel it. It was making me suffer. It was bigger than myself, and I was very young.

I love the Italian culture - it's a beautiful culture. I love the language, the Italian people, their music, their attitudes... I just love it! Sometimes I think I'm an Italian trapped in a Spanish woman's body.

The standardization of world culture, with local popular or traditional forms driven out or dumbed down to make way for American television, American music, food, clothes and films, has been seen by many as the very heart of globalization.