Penelope Cruz 'motherhood changed my life'

Penelope Cruz‘s life “changed forever” when she became a mother.

The 37-year-old actress and her husband Javier Bardem became parents to son Leo in January and she admits his arrival has given her some of the “most beautiful” experiences she has ever had.

“Everybody tells you things change. And then all those cliches, all those things you hear about having a baby and motherhood all of them are true,” Penelope said.

“And all of them are the most beautiful things you will ever experience. So yes, your priorities change. It’s from the second you see that little face, your life has changed forever.”

The brunette beauty discovered she was pregnant shortly before she was due to start filming the Rob Marshall-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides with Johnny Depp, and her news meant many changes had to be made in order to ensure the actress felt “protected”.

“I found out I was pregnant and I had to tell Johnny and Rob. First for safety, second for honesty,” she said.

“It made for a very interesting shoot especially it being an action movie. There were a few things I had been in training for before filming, before I knew I was pregnant, in rehearsals that had to be changed.

“And my outfits kept, well, evolving. I wasn’t able to do any of the more dangerous shots, obviously. But the sword fights became more like choreography, more like dance. But everything was very safe and I felt very protected. I couldn’t have done it any other way.”