The Queen of Spain

The Queen of Spain is a Spanish comedy written and directed by Academy Award winner Fernando Trueba. The film is a sequel to Trueba’s 1998 film The Girl of Your Dreams and was screened in the Berlinale Special section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. It stars Penélope Cruz, Antonio Resines, Neus Asensi, Ana Belén, Javier Cámara, Cary Elwes, and Mandy Patinkin.

Famous movie star Macarena Granada (Penelope Cruz) flees the glitz and glamour of 1950s Hollywood to return to her roots in Spain, where she has signed on to star in an epic film as Queen Isabella of Spain.

In an interview with MoviePilot.com, Trueba discussed the growth he’s seen in Cruz as an actress since they first worked together in 1992. “[She] seems more sure of herself today, I would say. She is very natural… I don’t know if inside she was, but she was very good since the beginning when she did her first movie, so in that aspect, she hasn’t changed at all. She’s a hard worker, she prepares. With this character, she knows her well. With Macarena, it’s like a costume made for herself. She puts it on and voila! I remember my way of directing it — I would approach her and say ‘more Macarena’ and she knew what I was saying. She was relaxing a bit and I used to say that line to her more than once. ‘More Macarena, more Macarena.'”

The Queen of Spain is rated 14A.