LONDON: Just two years ago, the 'Broken Embraces' star was "chronically tired" because of her "unhealthy" attitude to work.

The 35-year-old star explained: "Lately, I have a much better equilibrium between work and time for my life. I can rest, go travelling, have time to do nothing. Before I might take 15 days off in a year and try to leave my BlackBerry in my room to please my family.

"The turning point was when I realised I was measuring the years going by according to whatever the films were I was working on, the countries I was shooting in. I was a total workaholic. I think that's what I needed to do then.

Now I can work, but I'm not on movie sets the whole year. I can say no until there is something I really need to do."

Penelope thinks her obsession with work came from her dancing background.

The Spanish beauty studied ballet until she was 15, when she decided to become an actress.

She told Britain's Times magazine: "Growing up, learning classical ballet is a very disciplined thing. A lot of my relationship to the world came from the years I danced. If your feet are bleeding you have to carry on dancing and smiling.

"You think it's normal. Then you take that attitude to whatever your work is. It's been an advantage in many ways, but I took it too far. Now I feel differently. You get chronically tired. I don't want to feel like that."