Javier Bardem is "very proud" of Penelope Cruz

Javier - who has children Leo, 10, and eight-year-old Luna with Penelope - said of his wife: "I'm very proud of her. She did amazing in Parallel Mothers, Pedro Almodóvar's movie, and of course it helps to be like, to tease with each other, like, 'What's going on with you? What's going on on your side?'

"But at the same time, we know how to take all of this. We know that we have to take it with distance," he added. "Because otherwise it's too crazy."

Javier has won praise for his latest role, as Desi Arnaz opposite Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball in 'Being the Ricardos' and he was impressed by the multiple roles the late actor managed to juggle in his real life.

He told 'Entertainment Tonight': "The thing that struck me the most was energy, his ability to be not only the great comedian that he was, but also the protector of the show and the protector of her as a man, as a husband, and also as a partner."

The 'Skyfall' star and his wife previously explained the key to juggling their careers with family life was to maintain some distance.

Penelope said: "We always separate. I don't take the characters home."

Her husband added: “I think whatever you do in your daily life... You bring it home. You have a bad day in your profession, you will go back home and you will be touched or moved by how the day went for better or worse.

“It is the same for any actor, but the important thing is to know that there’s a division, clear division, between fiction and reality. In other words, we know that what is going on there is all fiction-related… There is nothing there that has anything to do with who we are as real people.”