NINE Role Leaves Cruz with 'Bruz', But Actress Loves It

Aussie news website LiveNews had a brief chat with NINE film star Penelope Cruz, and the sulty star admitted that performing the classic "A Call From the Vatican" number from the show and sure to be a highlight in the film version, left her blistered and bruised-but she loved doing it!

The song required the actress to perform a rope routine and the stunt left her worried she would lose her grip and fall.

Cruz explained to the site "When something like that happens, you just have to keep going and forget about any physical pain. I was dancing in the dark with one spotlight on me, so I had to be extremely alert and focused.

"There were other things to think about, so I was not in pain while dancing - I was just praying not to fall!" To read the entire LiveNews story click here.

Daniel Day-Lewis replaced the previously attached Javier Bardem in the leading role of Guido Contini, Bardem left the project citing exhaustion. Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson, Sophia Loren and Judi Dench star in the film as well.

Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and is based off of Fredrico Fellini's movie 8 1/2. The play tells the story of a young film maker living in Venice trying to juggle all of the women in his life.

The Broadway production of Nine, directed by Tommy Tune and choreographed by Thommie Walsh, opened on May 9, 1982 at the 46th Street Theatre, where it ran for 729 performances. The cast included Raúl Juliá as Guido, Karen Akers as Luisa, Liliane Montevecchi as Liliane, Anita Morris as Carla, Shelly Burch as Claudia, and Taina Elg as Guido's mother. Replacements later in the run included Bert Convy and Sergio Franchi as Guido, Maureen McGovern as Luisa, and Priscilla Lopez as Liliane. The musical won five Tony Awards, including best musical.

The first revival of the 1982 Tony Award-winning musical hit Broadway in 2003 led by Antonio Banderas-who made his Broadway debut in the role of Guido. Laura Benanti, Jane Krakowski, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Chita Rivera rounded out the original revival cast.

Nine revolves around one central character, Guido Contini a film director in the Fellini mold. He is contracted to write and direct a film, but is unable to come up with a suitable plot. After recent box office failures, he finds himself drifting towards a nervous breakdown. Guido finds himself examining his past flawed relationships with the many women who have come through his life and the struggle to act his mature age of 40--as opposed to nine.

Nine is scheduled for release in December 2009.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.