Date of Birth: 28 April 1974 , Alcobendas , Madrid , Spain
Birth Name: Penélope Cruz Sánchez
Nicknames: Madonna of Madrid , Pe
Height: 5' 6" (1.68 m)
Known exterior her native country as the "Spanish enchantress",
Penélope Cruz Sánchez was natural in Madrid to Eduardo (a
retailer) and Encarna (a hairdresser). As a toddler, she was by now a
compulsive player, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's laughter, but
she determined to focus her energies on bop. After studying classical dance for
nine years at Spain 's nationwide
greenhouse, she continued her preparation beneath a sequence of famous dancers.
At 15, though, she heeded her true vocation when she beaten additional than 300
other girls at a talent organization test. The resultant agreement landed her
more than a few roles in Spanish TV shows and melody videos, which in twist
paved the method for a career on the big screen. Cruz complete her film debut
in The Greek Labyrinth(1993) (The Greek Labyrinth), then appeared for a short
time in the Timothy Dalton thriller Framed(1992). Her third film was the Oscar-winning
Belle Epoque (1992), in which she played one of four sisters vying for the
Adore of a good-looking army absconder. The film also garnered several Goyas,
the Spanish equal of the Academy Awards. Her recommence continued to grow by
three or four films each year, and soon Cruz was a most important lady of
Spanish cinema. Live Flesh (1997) (Live Flesh) offered her the possibility to
labor with famous Spanish manager Pedro Almodóvar (who would later be her
ticket to international fame), and the similar year she was the lead performer
in the thriller/drama/mystery/sci-fi film Open Your Eyes (1997), a huge hit in
Spain that earned eight Goyas (though none for Cruz). Her luck lastly changed
in 1998, when the movie-industry humor The Girl of Your Dreams (1998) won her a
most excellent Actress Goya. Cruz made a few additional forays into English-language
film, but her first big global hit was Almodóvar's All About My Mother (1999),
in which she played an unchaste but well-meaning priest. As the film was
showered with awards and accolades, Cruz abruptly found herself in insist on
both sides of the Atlantic . Her after that large plan was
Woman on Top(2000), an American humor about a chef with bewitching culinary
skills and a severe case of motion sickness. While in the US, she also signed
up to star conflicting Johnny Depp in the drug-trafficking play Blow (2001) and
conflicting Matt Damon in Billy Bob Thornton's All the Pretty Horses (2000). Cruz
says she's cautious of being typecast as a good-looking young damsel, but it's
hard to envisage disguising her wide-eyed charms and kind natural history. Fortunately,
with Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001) (a remake ofOpen Your Eyes (1997)) and
a John Madden teamwork looming in her prospect, Damsel Penelope isn't likely to
vanish just up till now.