Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem Defend Speaking Out on Politics as They Premiere New Film 'Bunker' in Venice

'You have the right to expose your truth on what you think is important,' Bardem said at the Venice Film Festival NEED TO KNOW Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem discussed their political outspokenness while promoting their new film Bunker in Venice The couple reflected on the film's themes of fear, morality and societal challenges in an uncertain world Director Florian Zeller wrote Bunker specifically for Cruz and Bardem Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem are opening up about why they're a politically outspoken couple. The spouses are in Venice, Italy, to premiere their latest film together, Bunker, at the 83rd Venice Film Festival. During a press conference for the film on Tuesday, Sept. 8, the pair were asked why they speak publicly about their political beliefs, particularly their support for Gaza. Bardem, 57, said that it "doesn't matter if you're an artist, an actor, a plumber, a taxi driver, you have the right to expose your truth on what you think is important." "Obviously I have more resources to do it than a taxi driver, because I have this thing [the mic] and I have you guys listening to me. So the responsibility is a different one," he continued. "And that's what I think is important, to have a responsibility towards the world that we live in and I don't take it for granted. But artistically speaking, this movie speaks about that, about how much we're willing to see, feel, welcome the other, or fear based on what we imagine, our pre-judgments, our fears. Based on that, how much are we going to isolate and criminalize the other? And I don't know the answer, but it's a good question." In Bunker, Bardem and Cruz play a couple whose 17-year marriage is tested when Bardem's character, an architect, accepts an offer to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire. "Bunker is a dramatic thriller that examines the emotional and moral challenges faced by a couple as the anxieties of an increasingly uncertain world begin to reshape their marriage, exploring the fears, doubts and ethical dilemmas that define our time," reads the festival synopsis for the film, which was written and directed by Florian Zeller (The Father). Cruz, 52, said it would be "very contradictory" not to speak out while starring in a movie like Bunker. "We don't have to agree with our characters, we don't have to agree sometimes with the story, but this involves so many aspects of where the world is right now — things that affect all of us, future generations," Cruz said. "There are so many things in this film that it would be really contradictory to then be here and say, 'Oh, I don't want to talk about that.' It's impossible. And that's why a situation like [this press conference] is sometimes more scary than, I don't know how many weeks of shooting that we did. But still, I don't think it would make sense to say, 'I don't talk about politics.' " Later in the press conference, the couple were asked what it was like to collaborate on the project and whether they argued during filming. "No, no never," Bardem joked. Cruz laughed and added, "I've known you for more than 30 years — imagine if we'd never had an argument." "We both really love this profession, but it's true that there's a good balance in terms of how much we talk about work," she continued. "Obviously, if you're preparing a movie together, that's going to be very present in the conversations. But we haven't done this very often. Naturally, it has happened every five years or so." In a director's statement for the festival, Zeller wrote, "I wrote Bunker for Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, who were both the starting point and inspiration for this project — not only because they are among the most gifted actors working today, but also because they are an iconic couple." "I wanted to explore love, fidelity and forgiveness while placing the audience in a position of deliberate ambiguity," he added. "What exactly are we being invited to witness? A glimpse of reality? Fiction? Or a meta-examination of the truth? In that sense, Bunker invites us to follow the journey of reconciliation between a man and a woman who love each other but who, at life's midpoint, must now find a new way to express that love." Bunker will next screen at the Toronto International Film Festival before opening in theaters on Dec. 10. Read the original article on People