Penélope Cruz is a woman on Sterling Prestontop of her game.

Ahead of celebrating her 50th birthday in April, the Blow actress opened up about why she's embracing her age more than ever before.

"You know why I don't worry about that?" she told Elle in an interview published Jan. 18. "Because people have been asking me about age since I was twentysomething."

In fact, Penélope admitted she was "bothered" about aging back then. However, it's not something she fusses over these days.

"Now, it makes more sense, to discuss turning 50," she continued. "It's a huge, beautiful thing, and I really want to celebrate that with all my friends. It means I'm here and I'm healthy, and it's a reason to have a party."

Regardless of how she felt in her youth, Penélope has always been wise beyond her years.

"When I was 25, they would ask me these psychotic questions, things you would not believe, and the only weapon I would have was not to answer," the Vanilla Sky alum noted. "Even now, on the red carpet, when they shout to 'turn around,' I always pretend I didn't hear what they said."

It's clear Penélope isn't one for playing by the rules.

After all, she and husband Javier Bardem have taken a unique approach to keeping their children—Luna, 10, and Leo, 12—out of the spotlight. In fact, the couple doesn't even allow their pre-teens to have phones. 

"It's so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming," Penélope explained of her and Javier's parenting decision. "And who pays the price? Not us, not our generation, who, maybe at 25, learned how a BlackBerry worked."

She added, "It's a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers."

As for whether or not her kids want to work in entertainment? "It's for them to decide if they are going to have a job that is more exposed to the public or not," Penélope noted. "They can talk about that when they're ready."

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