The 'Ferrari' star spoke exclusively with ET backstage at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala.
Despite over 30 years in the industry, Penélope Cruz still gets overwhelmed by the well-deserved acclaim.
ET's Denny Directo spoke with Cruz at Variety's annual 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch presented by DIRECTV on Friday, where she received the Creative Impact in Acting Award for her accomplished career as a four-time Oscar nominee.
The outlet honored the award winner for her "daring, multidimensional and unforgettable performances," such as her work in Volver, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Nine.
"It's actually always confusing to me because I grew up dreaming about acting. All that I wanted was to have a job, a profession that would be inspiring and creative. So I would pray for that, just to be able to make a living out of a job that I love. But I could never dream about extra things like this, you know, like it still feels very surprising and shocking," Cruz humbly tells ET. "But I don't wanna lose that feeling, you know, like I never want to expect things like this."
She adds, "And for what it is, to do this profession [and] to keep learning -- the fact [is], a profession where you always continue to learn, where you never get to a place where you have things under control [is] a very big blessing."
Cruz's work in her latest film, Ferrari, which was directed by Michael Mann and stars Adam Driver as the iconic race car driver and entrepreneur, earned her a Gotham Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance and was listed in the National Board of Review's top 10 films of the year.
When asked about celebrating her 50th birthday in April, the Oscar winner quips that she's plans to live to be 100 years old as she looks forward to tackling her goals for the next decade with an appetite to learn something new.
"I'm really looking at it as the beginning of the second part of my life," she shares with ET, joking that while she's not "happy" with the industry's obsession with using AI, it could be useful to keep her around "much longer" while she spends time with her kids and future grandkids.
In the meantime, the star has her hands full, sharing that she's directing a documentary that will take her "two more years" after working for a year. "My production company is developing different projects, and we keep learning everything new," Cruz adds of her production banner, Moonlyon, with Spanish media group Mediapro Studio.
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