Penelope Cruz stuns in a floral dress as she heads off on a water taxi with Javier Bardem after breaking down in tears during 15-minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival
Penelope Cruz looked incredible in a floral dress as she headed off on a water taxi with her husband Javier Bardem in Venice on Wednesday.
Published: 15:44 BST, 9 September 2026 | Updated: 18:02 BST, 9 September 2026
Penelope Cruz looked incredible in a floral dress as she held hands with her husband Javier Bardem in Venice on Wednesday.
The actress, 52, and actor , 57, are in town to promote their joint project, which received a glittering premiere at Sala Grande on Tuesday.
The Hollywood couple were seen leaving the ultra-luxury Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort, the historic heart of the festival since 1932.
She waved to fans alongside her husband on a water taxi, who cut a casually cool figure in a beige shirt and trousers.
Penelope broke down in tears as her new movie Bunker received the longest standing ovation so far of the 2026 Venice Film Festival .
After watching the film, the audience rose to their feet for a 15-and-a-half-minute standing ovation.
Penelope Cruz looked incredible in a floral dress as she held hands with her husband Javier Bardem in Venice on Wednesday
The actress, 52, and actor, 57, are in town to promote their joint project, which received a glittering premiere at Sala Grande on Tuesday
Penelope was overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response, sobbing uncontrollably as Javier comforted her.
Director Florian Zeller made sure his lead couple had their moment in the spotlight, grabbing them by the hands to pull them in front of the audience.
Javier then sweetly stepped aside and gestured to his wife, who looked stunning in a custom red Chanel gown by Matthieu Blazy, as the crowd continued to applaud.
The lengthy response to Bunker is just two minutes shy of the longest standing ovation in recent Venice Film Festival history, a 17-minute applause for The Room Next Door in 2024.
This year's festival has sparked a string of lengthy ovations. Last week John Malkovich was in tears as his Oscars-tipped film Wild Horse Nine received a 13-minute ovation.
Primetime, directed by Lance Oppenheim and starring Robert Pattinson and Bucking Fastard, Werner Herzog’s drama starring Kate and Rooney Mara, both received seven-minute ovations.
Bunker marks the ninth time Penelope and Javier have collaborated on screen and the movie is already receiving rave reviews, including a four-star write up from the Daily Mail's Brian Viner .
The psychological thriller sees the pair play married couple Sofia and Miguel.
A rchitect Miguel's 17-year marriage comes under strain after he accepts a morally ambiguous project to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire (Paul Dano).
Meanwhile Sofia begins working with an American novelist, Jeremy Gray (Patrick Schwarzenegger).
She waved to fans alongside her husband on a water taxi, who cut a casually cool figure in a beige shirt and trousers
The Hollywood couple were seen leaving the ultra-luxury Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort, the historic heart of the festival since 1932
She waved to fans alongside her husband, who cut a casually cool figure in a beige shirt and trousers
Penelope and Javier have been married for 16 years, and are parents to son Leo, 15, and daughter Luna, 13
They first met in 1992 on the set of the Spanish film Jamon jamon when Penelope was 17 and Javier was 23
Penelope broke down in tears as her new movie Bunker received the longest standing ovation so far of the 2026 Venice Film Festival
Bunker marks the ninth time Penelope and Javier have collaborated on screen and is already receiving rave reviews, including a four star write up from the Daily Mail's Brian Viner
Penelope and Javier have been married for 16 years, and are parents to son Leo, 15, and daughter Luna, 13.
They first met in 1992 on the set of the Spanish film Jamon jamon when Penelope was 17 and Javier was 23.
Although they played romantic interests in the movie, they did not start dating until 15 years later when they were reunited on the set of 2008 movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for which Penelope won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Back in May, Javier shared that since the birth of their first child, he and Penelope have ensured that at least one of them is at home continuously when taking acting roles.
Praising his spouse, the star added he feels 'blessed' to have 'had the chance to be at the same time, in the same place, in life' as her.
He said: 'I don't have musts in my contract that have to do with bigger trailers or luxurious suites.
'The only thing I do pay attention to is, no more than two weeks away from my family.'
Javier went on to tell Variety: 'Penelope is an amazing, beautiful, good human being, the way she relates to her family, to her friends, to our kids, to me, to herself. It's been a lot of years, and I haven't seen a hint of malice in her.'
'On top of that, she's amazingly f****** beautiful! When I see her being photographed on some magazines, I go, "Is that my wife? Jesus, is it? It must be."'
