LOS ANGELES-Penelope Cruz hates being asked about ageing. The 43-year-old actress - who has son Leo, six, and daughter Luna, four, with her husband Javier Bardem - has said she is sick and tired of being asked questions about ageing in Hollywood, and admits she no longer answers questions on the topic, as she thinks its ‘’crazy’’.

She said: ‘’Journalists have been asking me, since I was, like, 22, ‘Are you afraid of aging?’ That is such a crazy question for a 22-year-old girl or, for that matter, for a 42 year old. I combat that craziness by refusing to answer the question.

‘’When it comes to talking about ageing as an actress, I am not going to give you even two minutes to honour your question. It doesn’t deserve that.’’’

And the ‘Volver’ star claims her opinion on the topic changed after she gave birth to her daughter, as she can no longer understand why women are still asked about their age in interviews.

She added: ‘’Something changed when I gave birth to my daughter. I started thinking, ‘Come on, it’s 2017.

Why do women still have to be talking about this? It’s crazy.’ That sense only got bigger when I had children.’’

It isn’t just her opinion on ageing that changed after she became a mother, as the ‘Zoolander 2’ actress also admits her ‘’ego has gotten smaller’’ in recent years.

Speaking to Gwyneth Paltrow for Interview magazine, she said: ‘’I’m happy to say, that my ego has gotten smaller over time. I used to be so afraid about what people were going to think of me, if I was going to be accepted, if I was going to be loved. I put a lot of energy into the perception of myself.

‘’When I became a mother - almost seven years ago - something very deep changed in me, where I really don’t care about a lot of the stuff I used to care about before. That’s part of growing up, and now I have to go through other tests that life will put in front of me. I have new fears now.’’