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Cruz was born in San Sebastián de
los Reyes, Madrid, Spain. Her parents are Eduardo Cruz, a retailer, and
Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser. As a toddler, she was already a compulsive
performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's amusement, but she
decided to focus her energies on dance. After studying classical ballet
for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, she continued her
training under a series of prominent dancers. At 15, however, she followed
another calling after she bested more than 300 other girls at a talent
agency audition. She received three years of Spanish Ballet training with
Ángela Garrido. She also had jazz dance training with Raúl Caballero and
she studied at Cristina Rota (mother of Juan Diego Botto) school in
Madrid. She speaks Spanish, English, French, and Italian fluently.
Cruz first achieved fame when she appeared in the video clip La fuerza del
destino for the Spanish synthpop group Mecano. She later started a
relationship with Nacho Cano, a member of the group.
She was a TV presenter for the teen-oriented program La Quinta Marcha. She
also had early exposure in Série Rose, a French erotic TV serial in which
she played the role of a blind prostitute. She also directed Nacho Cano's
video of "El waltz de los locos", in 1994.
Cruz's first major films were Jamón, jamón and Belle Epoque, a film which
won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.
In 1997, she starred as Sofía Pangia, alongside Eduardo Noriega in Abre
los ojos, directed by Alejandro Amenábar, and in 2000 she appeared with
Matt Damon in All the Pretty Horses. In 1999, she appeared in Pedro
Almodóvar's Todo sobre mi madre, which won an Academy Award for Foreign
Language Film.
In early 2001, she appeared in the film Vanilla Sky, the Hollywood remake
of Abre los ojos. She played the same role in both films.
Cruz co-starred with her best friend, Salma Hayek in the 2006 film,
Bandidas.
In 2006, Cruz received highly favourable reviews for her performance in
Pedro Almodóvar's Volver. She won a Best Actress ensemble award at the
Cannes Film Festival and has been nominated for an Academy Award, Golden
Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA Award. She is the first
Spanish Actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Performance
by an Actress in a Leading Role.
In May, 2007, it was announced that Penelope and her sister Monica would
be designing a 25-piece collection for the Barcelona-based fashion chain,
Mango.
On 7 July 2007 Cruz presented at Live Earth.
Cruz has a younger brother, Eduardo, a singer, and a younger sister
Mónica, who closely resembles her: a similarity exploited for some Spanish
TV ads. In the 2000s, Mónica left her dancing career and achieved note on
her own in the youth-oriented TV series Un Paso Adelante.
Cruz claims to be a vegetarian since 2000, though this fact is disputed.
She speaks four languages: Spanish, Italian, French and English. Cruz has
also donated a considerable amount of money and time to charity. In 1997
she volunteered in Uganda for two months.
After appearing in 2001 in the film Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, they had
a three-year relationship. They split up in January 2004.
After filming Sahara in February 2005, she started dating actor Matthew
McConaughey. In May 2006, they released a joint statement to People,
saying that they "have decided to take time off as a couple. Later that
year they announced that they were "no longer intimate and separating was
the best thing to do at this time."
Cruz had a short-term relationship with actor Orlando Bloom in 2006.
Apart from being a close personal friend of the actress, Salma Hayek, Cruz
is also a good friend of the Colombian singer Shakira.
In April 2007 Cruz, who is now single, stated that she would like to have
children one day and she feels the need to adopt. "Of course I want to
have kids," Cruz, 32, tells the Spanish edition of Marie Claire in its
April issue. "I want to have my own kids, but also adopt. For a while I've
had the feeling that my life won't be complete if I don't adopt." |
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"The most difficult thing in
the world is to start a career known only for your looks, and then
to try to become a serious actress. No one will take you seriously
once you are known as the pretty woman."
"I'm strong and opinionated. Those qualities brought me a lot of
problems since I was a little girl in school, saying 'I don't agree'
and fighting with the children. It's part of my curiosity for life."
"There's so much more I want to do. I refuse to get to 50 and wait
at home for the phone to ring. In Spain, actresses work until they
are old. That's my plan."
"I love Salma Hayek, we've been friends for a really long time. i
admire how she has come such a long way and always remained grounded
and who she is. She never compromises to follow her vision and she
is loyal. Such qualities only mark the great stars".
"I love the Italian culture, it's a beautiful culture. I love the
language, the Italian people, their music, their attitudes...I just
love it! Sometimes I think I'm an Italian trapped in a Spanish
woman's body." |
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Nine (2008) .... Carla
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) .... María Elena
Elegy (2007) .... Consuela Castillo
Manolete (2007) .... Lupe Sino
The Good Night (2007) .... Anna
Volver (2006/I) .... Raimunda
... aka To Return (USA: literal English title)
Bandidas (2006) .... Maria Alvarez
Chromophobia (2005) .... Gloria
Sahara (2005) .... Eva Rojas
... aka Sahara - Abenteuer in der Wüste (Germany)
Head in the Clouds (2004) .... Mia
... aka Juegos de mujer (Spain)
Noel (2004) .... Nina Vasquez
Non ti muovere (2004) .... Italia
... aka Don't Move (USA)
... aka No te muevas (Spain)
Gothika (2003) .... Chloe Sava
Fanfan la tulipe (2003) .... Adeline La Franchise
Masked and Anonymous (2003) .... Pagan Lace
Waking Up in Reno (2002) .... Brenda the Call Girl
6th Annual Prism Awards (2002) (TV)
Vanilla Sky (2001) .... Sofia Serrano
Sin noticias de Dios (2001) .... Carmen Ramos
... aka Bendito infierno (Mexico) (Spain)
... aka Don't Tempt Me (USA)
... aka Nessuna notizia da Dio (Italy)
... aka No News from God (USA)
... aka Sans nouvelles de Dieu (France)
... aka Without News of God (USA)
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) .... Pelagia
... aka Capitaine Corelli (France)
Blow (2001) (as Penelope Cruz) .... Mirtha Jung
All the Pretty Horses (2000) .... Luisa
Woman on Top (2000) .... Isabella Oliveira
Volavérunt (1999) .... Pepita Tudó
... aka Volavérunt (France)
... aka Volavérunt: La maja desnuda (Spain)
... aka Volaverunt (Australia: TV title)
Todo sobre mi madre (1999) .... Sister María Rosa Sanz
... aka All About My Mother (Europe: English title) (USA)
... aka Tout sur ma mère (France)
The Hi-Lo Country (1998) .... Josepha O'Neil
... aka Hi-Lo Country - Im Land der letzten Cowboys (Germany: TV
title)
Niña de tus ojos, La (1998) .... Macarena Granada
... aka The Girl of Your Dreams
Talk of Angels (1998) .... Pilar
The Man with Rain in His Shoes (1998) .... Louise
... aka If Only... (Australia) (France) (UK)
... aka Lieber gestern als nie (Germany)
... aka Lluvia en los zapatos (Spain)
... aka Twice Upon a Yesterday (USA)
Don Juan (1998) .... Mathurine
... aka Don Juan (Spain)
Abre los ojos (1997) .... Sofía
... aka Apri gli occhi (Italy)
... aka Open Your Eyes (USA)
... aka Ouvre les yeux (France)
... aka Permanent Midnight (USA)
Carne trémula (1997) (as Penelope Cruz) .... Isabel Plaza Caballero
... aka En chair et en os (France)
... aka Live Flesh (USA)
Hjørne af paradis, Et (1997) .... Doña Helena
... aka A Corner of Paradise (USA)
... aka A Scent of Paradise (International: English title)
... aka Doft av paradiset, En (Sweden)
... aka Rincón en el paraíso, Un (Costa Rica)
Amor perjudica seriamente la salud, El (1996) .... Diana
... aka Amour nuit gravement à la santé, L' (France)
... aka Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health
... aka Love Causes Serious Harm to Your Health
Más que amor, frenesí (1996)
... aka Not Love, Just Frenzy
Celestina, La (1996) .... Melibea
Brujas (1996) .... Patricia
Efecto mariposa, El (1995) (uncredited) .... Party guest
... aka Effet papillon, L' (France)
... aka The Butterfly Effect
Entre rojas (1995) .... Lucía
Todo es mentira (1994) .... Lucía
... aka It's All Lies
... aka Life's a Bitch
Alegre ma non troppo (1994) .... Salomé
Ribelle, La (1993) .... Enza
... aka The Rebel
Laberinto griego, El (1993) .... Elise
... aka The Greek Labyrinth
Per amore, solo per amore (1993) .... Mary
... aka For Love, Only for Love
Belle epoque (1992) .... Luz
... aka Belle époque (France)
... aka The Age of Beauty
Framed (1992) (TV) (as Penelope Cruz Sánchez) .... Lola Del Moreno
Jamón, jamón (1992) .... La hija de puta
... aka A Tale of Ham and Passion (USA: video title)
... aka Ham Ham
... aka Salami, Salami
Mecano - Los vídeos (1992) (V) (uncredited) .... video - 'La fuerza
del destino'
"Série rose" .... Daphné / ... (1 episode, 1991)
... aka Erotisches zur Nacht
... aka Softly from Paris (USA: video title)
- Elle et lui (1991) TV Episode .... Daphné/Javotte/Juliette |
