It's got to be Victoria Abril. As soon as Penelope Cruz opens her mouth, the whole - admittedly rather fetching - house of cards comes tumbling down.

one way to settle this FIGHT!!!!!

She had the presence of mind to give Tom Cruise the elbow as well ... what was she thinking in the first place?

sorry just seen this title it looks fantastic in spanish. (Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead )
On the whole I think Pedro is underspell of PC's "Glamour" like the rest of the world and as even his domestic films have got more stlyised he needs a "diva" to play off. Anyone seen his latest film?

Probably because people in Spain quickly got used to her after she first appeared - as a teenager, with Javier Bardem - as Bigas Luna's muse, by the time Almodóvar (with two o's, eh, Ms M?) took her under his wing, she was just another actress.

Subtle sexism may also have something to do with the rejection. When Antonio Banderas hooked up with Melanie Griffith to get his foot in the Hollywood door, people said "good luck to him", but when she did much the same thing with Tom Cruise, she was tarred with the brush of cynical social climbing.

Also, as I mentioned above, her voice puts a lot of people off here. Perhaps when it's papered over by an "exotic" accent speaking English it doesn't grate so much, but most people here have more time for her younger sister Mónica, who looks just as good and doesn't sound quite so much like a yapping Yorkshire terrier.

And studying the oevre of both actresses, considerng the merits of English language versus Spanish cinema and their relative performances, I'd have to go for Ms Cruz. Because she's got the biggest tits.

so i'll take both

thanks!

Cruz wins by several kilometros (though Abril has the better costumes, particularly in "Kika"). Though I can't help thinking the correct answer is actually Carmen Maura...

when I first spotted this, as she's appeared in more Almodovar films than either of the above. So has Rossy de Palma - and Marisa Paredes has appeared in just as many Almodovar films as Victoria Abril.

Penelope Cruz certainly has the edge in the straight acting stakes (for Volver I'll gladly forgive some of her Hollywood aberrations), but when Almodovar recalls Victoria Abril for a grandmother role (probably due in the next couple of years on past evidence), I can guarantee she'll almost certainly be behaving badly and growing old disgracefully - and that I'll willingly join the queue to see her doing that.