She’s smouldering her way onto our screens, taken the fast-track to Hollywood’s A-list, and won the heart of the movie world’s leading man. And that was just last year. No wonder Spanish stunner Penelope Cruz feels it’s time to call cut.

“I wouldn’t have had it any other way and I’ve had fun,” the wide-eyed, pencil-slim 27-year-old star told the German In Style magazine. “But now I urgently need a break, a short time out.” Six months to be precise.

Half a year away from the glare of the studio lights is probably only half as much as sultry siren deserves – over the last decade she’s worked on two dozen films. But she’s lost the plot if she thinks it’ll be a case of out-of-sight, out-of-mind as far as the media are concerned. Indeed, this is one spotlight that’s sure to burn all the brighter, as interest inevitably shifts away from her professional career to her private life with boyfriend Tom Cruise.

To read more and to see the stunning photos of sultry Penelope, check out this week’s HELLO! magazine, on sale now.