Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Woody Allen, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem

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(Woody Allen)

Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg; December 1, 1935) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, comedian, writer, musician and playwright who writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them. His script thematic centres mainly on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, European cinema and New York City, where he was born and has lived his entire life.

Allen was born and raised in New York City, the son of Nettie (a bookkeeper) and Martin Konigsberg (a jewellery engraver and waiter). After high school, he went to New York University (NYU), where he studied communication and film. He was never committed as a student, so he failed a film course, and was eventually expelled.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

After finishing his third London film, Allen headed to Spain. He reached an agreement to film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, in Barcelona and Oviedo, where shooting started on July 9, 2007. Starring international actors and actresses as Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall and Penélope Cruz, the plot centres on two North American women, Vicky and Cristina, spending a summer in Barcelona. They both meet an artist who is attracted to both of them while still enamoured of his mentally and emotionally unstable ex-wife María Elena. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was more than well received, winning "Best Musical or Comedy" at the Golden Globe awards. Penélope Cruz received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.

As in Scoop (2006), the wristwatch and jewellery company Chopard was the one in charge of the jewellery for the director’s jewels.

(Penélope Cruz)

Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born April 28, 1974), better known as Penélope Cruz, is a Spanish actress. She worked in well known films such as Jamón, Jamón (Ham Ham), La Niña de tus ojos (The girl in your eyes), and Belle époque. She also starred in several American films such as Blow, Vanilla Sky, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She is well known for her work with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, in Volver and Todo sobre mi madre (Everything about my mother). Cruz has been awarded three Goyas, two European Film Awards, and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2009, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Goya, and a BAFTA for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She is Spain's first female Oscar winner.

(Javier Bardem)

Javier Bardem is the youngest member of a family of actors that has been making films since the early days of Spanish cinema. During his teenage years he acted in several TV series, played rugby for the Spanish National Team and toured the country with an independent theatrical group. Javier's early film role as a sexy stud in the black comedy Jamón, jamón (Ham Ham) propelled him to instant popularity. With over 25 movies and numerous awards under his belt, it is Javier's stirring, passionate performance that made him received five Best Actor awards and a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

(Scarlett Johansson)

Scarlett I. Johansson (born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Johansson rose to fame with her role in 1998's The Horse Whisperer and subsequently gained critical acclaim for her roles in Ghost World, Lost in Translation (for which she won a BAFTA), and Girl with a Pearl Earring, the latter two earning her Golden Globe Award nominations in 2003.

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