Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem's 15-year-old son Leo is following in his parents' footsteps, making his acting debut in Oscars-hopeful La Bola Negra, a Spanish-language drama.
Eagle-eyed viewers of the queer drama, now streaming on Netflix and starring Penelope, noticed Leo in a small ensemble scene during the film's credits.
He has no lines of dialogue, but this marks an interest in the industry, a choice Penelope has always said is her children's to make by themselves.
© NetflixPenelope and Javier, who are parents to Leo and 12-year-old daughter Luna, have maintained strict privacy around their children since they were born.
In 2023, Leo joined his mother for a Q&A at BAFTA, and she acknowledged his appearance, telling the audience: "I'm very nervous today because somebody very, very special to me is in this room, my son."
"He's very special to me, my kids are the most important thing in my life, obviously, and they don't come to a lot of these things," she added.
© Getty ImagesIn a 2024 interview with Elle, Penelope would "not so much as confirm or deny if they are creative people" like their mother and father, and would only say: "It’s for them to decide if they are going to have a job that is more exposed to the public or not. They can talk about that when they’re ready."
However, Leo joined his parents in Paris in May 2026, attending the Ligue 1 McDonald's football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and FC Lorient at Parc des Princes stadium.
La Bola Negra (which translates as The Black Ball) is directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi and weaves three stories of three different men across three different generations (1932, 1937, and 2017).
It also takes inspiration from three different sources: the name comes from Federico García Lorca's 1936 play, which only had four pages completed as he was murdered during the Spanish Civil War before finishing it, and a 67-line letter from Lorca to a friend outlining the plot.
The directors also drew inspiration from Alberto Conejero's 2015 play, La piedra oscura, which follows an evening in August 1937 between a Republican lieutenant and a National soldier during the Spanish Civil War
© NetflixCalvo and Ambrossi – known as Los Javis – wrote the screenplay alongside Conegaro.
They won Best Director at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered, and it is predicted to be a Best Picture nominee at the 2027 Oscars. It has also been submitted by Spain to compete in the Best International Feature Film category at the ceremony.
It was released in US theaters on October 16, and in four days welcomed the second-highest screen average ever for a non-English language film behind 2019’s Parasite.
Alongside Penelope, it stars Spanish musician Guitarricadelafuente as well as Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, and Glenn Close.
© NetflixIn the film, Penelope returns to singing – a skill she has not used on screen since 2009's Nine. "It was so scary, because singing is always very scary for me," she told Tudum.
"I had great teachers on this film, and we were working for three or four months and also working a lot on all the choreography. Every time I get an opportunity to dance in a film again, after my dance training in my childhood and teenage years, it’s great to be able to use that for a character."
