Actress Penelope Cruz graces the cover of the Summer Fashion Issue of Harper’s Bazaar.  She opens up about her career, motherhood and Meryl Streep, her idol in the May issue. The issue hits newstands April 24, with gorgeous pictures of the brunette beauty, shot by Terry Richardson.

On her idol, Meryl Streep: “When I first started watching movies and I saw Meryl’s work, that’s when I became obsessed with acting,” Penélope says. “Now I kiss her whenever I see her! She must think I’m crazy.” She recalls a magazine shoot they did together a few years ago for the AIDS charity (RED). “As soon as she got to the set, I had to sit topless on top of her. It was the most interesting love scene I’ve ever done.”

On juggling motherhood and career: “Maybe I’ll make one movie a year, maybe two, but it’s not going to be more than that because I have other priorities now.”

“I won’t go to places where you’re going to find more attention. I go to the opposite.” Her perfect day is “running around with my family at the beach, that’s all.”

Even though Penélope is remarkably direct and is effusive about “being happier in my 30s than I was in my 20s,” she also characterizes herself as a “worrier. I am living for every day and trying to have less fear, less worry. But I have always worried about everything; it’s in my nature. It’s the thing that makes me suffer the most.”

Of her red-carpet fashion choices, she says “All I look for is to be able to breathe!”