Penélope Cruz on how sharing a bed with Salma Hayek made them 'like sisters'

We could all use a friend like Salma Hayek.

At least that's the takeaway from Penélope Cruz's latest sit-down with Ellen DeGeneres. The 355 and Parallel Mothers star opened up about her first foray into Los Angeles and how Hayek — whom she had only met over the phone — showed up for her in a big way.

First of all, Hayek picked up Cruz from the airport, which as any friend knows, is basically comparable to sainthood — and in Los Angeles, a drive to the airport is ride or die status.

"I got here with a ticket to make a movie, I had my return ticket, so I was coming here for two months and I didn't know anyone here," Cruz tells DeGeneres. "She picked me up at the airport and she said, 'You're not going to a hotel, you're coming to my house because this is hard at the beginning and you're going to feel very lonely.' So — she took me to her house. That's why now we're like sisters."

"And I ended up also sleeping in her room because I was scared," the actress continues. "And you know, that's the way we met. And on top of that, in the middle of the night she says I was holding her hand because I was afraid, I don't know, I was dreaming."

Cruz and Hayek solidified their friendship onscreen in the all-but-forgotten 2006 comedy western Bandidas in which they play gorgeous bank robbers in turn-of-the-century Mexico. While that film has not stood the test of time, at least their bond has.

"It was amazing that somebody I really didn't know, only on the phone, she made sure that she picked me up at the airport and she didn't let me go to the hotel," Cruz says. "She told me, 'Whether you want it or not, you don't know me but you're coming to my house. I'm not going to leave you alone.' I love her so much, but from day one she's been like that with me."

Check out the rest of Cruz's interview with Ellen above, in which she talks about how Salma gives her kids dead rats to feed to her pet owl. Because real friends let their children play with their friends' birds of prey. It's like a law or something.

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• The 355 review: A sleek, silly, and surprisingly fun female spy thriller
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• Parallel Mothers review: Two pregnant women align in Pedro Almodovar's messy but lovely new film