Penelope Cruz: Being a mum makes you grow

A new mother herself, Penelope Cruz says her current film role as a single mum is one of the most beautiful characters she has ever played.

Cruz made a cameo appearance in Rome on Wednesday night on the eve of the Rome Film Festival.

She had been in Bosnia recently filming Sergio Castellitto's Venuto Al Mondo about a single woman who brings her teenage son to Sarajevo, where the boy's father died during the 1990s Bosnian conflict.

She told reporters being a mother is the strongest experience a woman can have. Cruz and husband actor Javier Bardem became parents of a baby boy in January. Cruz, stunning in a sombre black suit, says every experience in life makes you change and grow.