Oscar winner Penélope Cruz turned 46 on April, 29, and to mark such a special date, she opened up about aspects of her life as a mom and as a glamorous Hollywood star. The Spanish actress talked about balancing her personal and professional life and which are the things that for her are non negotiable. Being a busy mom of two- she shares six-year-old Luna and nine-year-old Leo with husband Javier Bardem - it won’t come as a surprise that one of them is... sleeping!

“If I don’t have at least seven hours, I feel it later,” she told Red magazine. “I can lose focus, I can get moody. It is one of the toughest things about having children – you have to wake up earlier. I say to myself, “Go to dinner or go to bed? If I go out, how am I going to feel tomorrow?” Sleep always wins. I prefer to prioritise the rest so that I can be focused and strong later.”

In fact, she feels so strongly about it that her A-list friends can not believe their eyes when she makes an exception! “I went to Guy Oseary’s [Oscar] party,” she recalled, “It was great and I saw lots of friends. A lot of them said, “Wow, I can’t believe it’s 2am and you’re still here!” But, I do that once every two years!”

©GettyImages

Apart from sleeping, Penelope shared some other beauty tips to feel good with herself, ‘Feeling good is not about getting your hair and make-up done,’ she said, “It’s very important for me to eat well, eat clean and eat healthily.”

For the 46-year-old, being a mom and a wife comes naturally, although she admits it is important to make time for yourself. “I’m not so good at it because I’m a very nurturing person by nature, I have to keep reminding myself to also create time for myself. It’s not something that comes to me naturally, I tend to do the opposite, but I’m working on it!’