Penelope Cruz named Esquire's 'sexiest woman alive'

Penélope Cruz has been named Esquire magazine's "Sexiest Woman Alive," succeeding last year's titleholder, actress Scarlett Johansson.

In the accompanying magazine article in the November issue, the famously guarded Oscar winner, 40 -- who has a 3-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter with her husband of four years, fellow Academy Award winner Javier Bardem -- declined to speak about her family or her new film, "Ma Ma," other than to say her character suffers from an illness Cruz would not disclose.

She allowed that filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, with whom she has made five movies, is "the biggest source of inspiration," and said, "I've played a lot of tricks on myself. I've made it hard for me sometimes, especially in my teens and 20s. I had an attraction to drama. Most of us have that, especially if you are an artist -- you feel like you are tempted to explore the darkness. I could not be less interested now."

The magazine hits newsstands next Tuesday.