Cruz Picks Up Useless Skills For Movie Roles

The actress always puts everything into movie characters, so she looks the part on screen - and she goes to great lengths to make sure film fans believe her performances.

She took cooking lessons for Woman On Top and Volver - but admits she's not exactly the best chef.

She tells WENN, "I can cook a little bit. I can cook a few Spanish dishes but it looks like I can cook much better in the movies.

"I took a lot of lessons because I played a Brazilian chef in Woman On Top, and, in Volver, I owned a restaurant, so I really had to know how to cook. I learned to cut the vegetables very fast. I can do all of those things really well but I am not good at cooking.

"We learn strange things in movies. I learned how to gallop on a camel; things I don't think I would ever use in my life. I had to shoot an action sequence so I had to train for one month."