Cruz's freaky family

Penelope Cruz made it a family affair when she went to her home country for the premiere of her latest film.

She was accompanied by her sister, Monica, and her father, Eduardo, for the Spanish premiere of Sahara. Mr Cruz brought along his girlfriend, who bore a striking resemblance to his daughter, to the Palacio de la Musica cinema in Madrid.

Cruz, 30, plays a United Nations scientist in the film alongside Matthew McConaughey, who is intrepid master explorer Dirk Pitt. The pair team up in the film and off-screen they are also a couple. Cruz, the former girlfriend of Tom Cruise, has said: "We became good friends, and a month later it became something different."

She and McConaughey are already preparing to make a second film in which they play lovers - The Loop, a romance

between a highway patrolman and a librarian. Cruz is starring in the next film by Pedro Almodovar, her third with the Spanish director, and has also completed Chromophobia, set in London and co-starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Ralph Fiennes.