Penelope Cruz: Being a mom makes you grow

Actress Penelope Cruz poses during a photo call prior to the start of a press conference a day before the 6th edition of the Rome International Film Festival in Rome. AP/Domenico Stinellis

ROME—A new mother herself, Penelope Cruz says her current film role as a single mom is one of the most beautiful characters she has ever played.

Cruz made a cameo appearance in Rome on Wednesday night on the eve of the Rome Film Festival.

She had been in Bosnia recently filming Sergio Castellitto’s “Venuto al Mondo” about a single woman who brings her teenage son to Sarajevo, where the boy’s father died during the 1990s Bosnian conflict.

She told reporters being a mother is the strongest experience a woman can have.

Cruz and husband actor Javier Bardem became parents of a baby boy in January.

Cruz, stunning in a somber black suit, says every experience in life makes you change and grow.