Penelope Cruz's solo celebration

Feb 5, 2010, 13:04 GMT

Penelope Cruz didn't know she had been nominated for an Oscar.

The actress - who is among the nominees for Best Supporting Actress at the forthcoming Academy Awards for her role in 'Nine' - didn't find out she had received the nod for over an hour after everyone else because she recently changed her phone number.

She is quoted as saying: "I had a new phone line installed and so almost no one had the new number of the house. Only my agent had it and she was in Australia. So they had to get a hold of her first so she could give them the number of the house, and I found out an hour later.

"I had 19 missed calls and 120 emails and text messages. So for two hours I was returning calls."

Despite taking up so much of her time responding to messages, Penelope - who is believed to be engaged to Javier Bardem - says it was a "beautiful" day.

She added: "It is beautiful to talk to all the people that love you and care for you and get excited for you about something like this. It was a beautiful day."

Penelope, 35, won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar last year for her performance in 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' and recently admitted she loves the gold statue so much, she even takes it on day trips.

She said: "My Oscar lives in my house, but it changes rooms all the time. I'm looking at it in different places to make the final decision.

"I even took it to the beach one day. It's like being five when you finally get a toy you've been asking for."