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Feature by: Jack Foley
GIVEN her good looks and Spanish background, it's little wonder
that many people are hailing Paz Vega as 'the next Penelope Cruz'.
Yet to dismiss her merely as following in someone else's footsteps
would be a disservice, given that Vega is an immensely talented
actress in her own right.
Born in Seville, Spain, in 1976, she first majored in journalism,
before deciding on a career in the arts and appearing on Spanish
television before getting her movie break.
She has since appeared in many notable Spanish films, including
The Other Side of the Bed (El Otro Lado de la Cama), Talk To Her
(Hable Con Ella), Sex & Lucia (Lucía y el Sexo) and
Mine Alone (Sólo Mía).
Her Hollywood breakthrough comes in James L Brooks' Spanglish,
a film about a dysfunctional American family which is forced to
confront its problems by the presence of Vega's Mexican house-keeper.
And her performance is one of several highlights in the film,
which marks Brooks' long-anticipated follow-up to As Good As It
Gets.
Incredibly, Vega could not speak a word of English prior to shooting
but, rather like her character's transformation, learned as she
went along.
"Actually, in the beginning it was very good for the character
because I could relate with Flor," she explained, at a recent
London press conference.
Indeed, the biggest difficulty Vega faced was being forced to
spend so much time away from home.
"I needed my family and my home, but apart from that everything
was great."
The role of Flor was one which Vega immediately identified with
and she beat strong competition from a number of leading actresses
to secure it.
"The script was amazing," she recalls. "It's bigger
than the movie. And besides, nobody says 'no' to Jim Brooks'.
He calls you and you have to say 'yes'."
Having been cast as Flor, who arrives in Los Angeles from Mexico,
the challenge for Vega lay in presenting an honest depiction of
a Latin American/Mexican woman, rather than simply relying on
her Spanish/European values.
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"For me, the opinion of Mexican
audiences was very important and when I travelled to Mexico for
the premiere, I was scared because, for me, it was important -
I made a role for Mexico.
"Fortunately, people say 'oh, it's good, it's enough' and
they can believe in the story. But it's very different, it's like
a British accent with an American accent, it's very different.
You can understand everything, but at the same time it's different."
Having got a taste of Hollywood, Vega is keen to further her
film-making opportunities and is keen to pursue projects across
the film-making spectrum - be it back in her homeland, in America,
or even England.
"I'm always very open to good roles, good scripts, and it's
good to work in Hollywood, but I also have a lot of interest to
work in Latin America because the industry there is really good
and growing.
"At the moment, I'm reading a lot of scripts but I have
to be careful of what to do next. I need rest a little bit and
I also have some projects in Spain that I'm very interested in."
Looking back on her career to date, it is clear that Vega is
driven by a desire to find good work. Indeed, one of her proudest
films remains Mine Alone (Sólo Mía), which was one
of the first Spanish films to tackle the subject of domestic violence.
"Everybody was scared when they saw that
movie," she explained.
"And to prepare for that role, I had to live with women
with that problem in a refuge for two days. It was a horrible
experience but at the same time great and amazing.
"I became close to these women and feel I did what I could
to help them through making this film."
It is typical of Vega's approach to her career, however, that
she would look to draw positives from every situation.
Indeed, such is her delight at the way things are going, she
doesn't even mind the odd comparisons with Miss Cruz.
Recalling one such case of mistaken identity while promoting
Spanglish in Australia, she recalled: "We entered a shop
and a sales girl said 'oh, are you a model', and I said 'no';
and she'd suddenly go 'wow, you're Penelope Cruz!'
"When I explained no, she said that I seemed like her. But
it's a good comparison."
Spanglish opens in UK cinemas on February 25.
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