MADRID (AFP) – US star Tom Cruise said Tuesday he hopes Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, a former girlfriend, will win the Oscar for her role in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.

“It’s fantastic. I am very excited by her second nomination. I hope she wins,” he told reporters in Madrid, where he is promoting his new film “Valkyrie,” when asked about Cruz’s best supporting actress nomination.

Cruz’s family attended the Spanish premier of the movie, about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler, at Madrid’s Teatro Real on Tuesday, Spanish media reported.

Cruise, 46 and Cruz, 34, met on the set of the 2001 film “Vanilla Sky”.

The couple, who spent long periods apart while filming, broke up at the end of January 2004, Cruise’s sister and publicist, Lee Anne DeVette, said at the time.

(Source: Yahoo! News)