Penélope Cruz is a guest on The Graham Norton Show tonight (February 4), where she discusses her new movie Parallel Mothers alongside its director, the Spanish maestro Pedro Almodóvar. To whet your appetite, here are some things you might not know about the star of Nine, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.

1. She trained as a ballet dancer for nine years while growing up.

"I used to bleed from dancing so much," Cruz told Time. "I would peel my toenails off and throw them away because they were completely black from the pain." As a result, she said, all of her toes are now "twisted." 

2. She loved Almodóvar's 1980s movies so much that before she was famous, she used to try and contrive a meeting with him.

"I was taking a lot of walks in his neighborhood, just in case. I was going to the cinemas that he was going to, the bars that he was going to," Cruz told Deadline. "And always, when I told my friends, 'Today we’re going to see Pedro,' it happened."

She even credits the director's early work with "pushing" her to become an actress, saying: "Seeing Women on the Verge and then Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down and High Heels was revolutionary for me, and I felt like I had to try. That’s why I looked for an agent, went to a theater school, and started to go to castings. He called me after my first two movies, Jamón Jamón and Belle Epoch, which I was very lucky to have as a calling card."

3. She is one of only two Spanish actors to have won an Oscar.

The other is her husband, Javier Bardem. Cruz won her Academy Award for her performance in the 2008 Woody Allen movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

4. She once joined the legendary U2 on stage.

And guess who has photographic evidence... Graham Norton! During her appearance on this week's show, Cruz recalls feeling like she "almost ruined" the gig, but we reckon did a pretty good job as the band's on-stage videographer.

5. In acting terms, she thinks "there's no one better" than Meryl Streep.

"I watch her movies over and over again—I saw Silkwood again a couple of weeks ago, and it made me just want to kiss her feet," Cruz told Interview. "We only know each other from seeing each other at awards ceremonies or those kinds of events, but whenever I see her, I always go up to her and start kissing her. I don't even say anything—I just kiss her. She must think I’m some crazy person."

6. She doesn't believe in talking about her private life in interviews.

"Nobody with common sense talks about their private life," Cruz told The Guardian. "It's easy to say, 'OK, I give you a little bit,' and then you feel horrible with yourself. And I've been working hard since I was 16 and I've never talked about my private life, and I'm not going to change it now." 

7. Her sister Mónica Cruz, who is also an actress, stepped in when she was pregnant shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Director Rob Marshall told The Independent: "We actually asked Monica to help us out with some of the wide shots and some of the long shots when we needed a different silhouette."

8. She has been nominated a record 12 times for Best Actress at the Goya Awards, the top prize in Spanish cinema.

Cruz's most recent nomination, for Parallel Mothers, is still pending. If she wins, it'll be her fourth Goya – which would also be a record.

9. She tries to fit her acting jobs around her family.

"I don't do long trips, and I try to work in my own city when I can, because I want to raise my kids myself," Cruz told Harper's Bazaar recently. "I've been lucky like that, and I hope it continues, because it’s kind of a gamble, to try to balance both."

10. She's well aware that James McAvoy does an impression of her... and wants to get even.

Check out a preview of their hilarious exchange on The Graham Norton Show below, or tune into the full episode tonight (February 4) at 11pm E.T. on BBC America.

Have we missed something interesting about Penélope Cruz?