Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born April 28, 1974, in Madrid), better known as Penélope Cruz, is a Golden Globe- and Academy Award-nominated Spanish actress. Originally a dancer, she soon moved into Spanish television, and since then she has appeared in a string of films in Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese.

With her expressive brown eyes, lustrous dark hair and flawless olive skin, Penelope Cruz burst on the scene as a teenager lending an air of sultry innocence and a flair for drollery and nudity as the sexy ingénue in Bigas Lunas’ American art-house hit “Jamon Jamon” (1992). She solidified her status as a rising star playing the virginal Luz in Ferdinand Trueba’s 1994 Oscar-winning “Belle Epoch.” Born in Madrid, Cruz began studying dance as a teenager. At age 15, she auditioned for a talent agent who signed her immediately. Within two years, she had segued to the big screen in “El Laberinto Griego/The Greek Labyrinth” (1992) before her breakthrough in “Jamon Jamon.”

As a rising star in her native Spain, Cruz got to work with top directors and played myriad parts ranging from the Virgin Mary in “Per Amore, Solo per amore/For Love, Only for Love” (1993) to a medieval bride in “Celestina” (1996) to a pregnant prostitute in Pedro Almodovar’s “Live Flesh” (1997) to the supportive girlfriend of a man disfigurePenelope Cruz Photosd in car accident in Alejandro Amenabar’s “Open Your Eyes” (1998). She reunited with both Trueba and Almodovar for two her best screen performances to date. Purportedly based on a true incident, Trueba’s “The Girl of My Dreams/La Nina de tus ojos” (1998) allowed the actress to pay homage to her grandmother in her portrayal of an Adalusian cabaret singer trapped in Nazi Germany who catches the attention of propaganda minister Josef Goebbels. Almodovar once again had her playing a woman with child in the Cannes favorite “Todo sobre mi madre/All About My Mother” (1999) although this time in a sly bit of irony, the fragile beauty portrayed a nun.

Attempting to broaden her employment opportunities, Cruz began acting in English in the British miniseries “Framed” (1993). She went on to appear as the sweet charge of an Irish governess in the period drama “Talk of Angels” (shot in 1994; released theatrically in 1998) and lent her luminous looks to the thankless role of the Mexican girlfriend of Billy Crudup’s cattle rancher in Stephen Frears’ “The Hi-Lo Country” (1998). Cruz also played a bookish barmaid who catches the eye of Scotsman Douglas Henshall in the fantasy romantic comedy “Twice Upon a Yesterday/If Only/The Man with Rain in His Shoe” (1998). The actress’ status as a rising international star was firmed when she landed the female lead opposite Matt Damon in Billy Bob Thornton’s screen version of “All the Pretty Horses” and the lead as a South American chef coping with her newfound success when she lands a TV show in the USA in the comedy “Woman on Top” (both 2000).

Cruz would soon gain ground in Hollywood with roles as sexy, exotic types in “Blow” (2001) with Johnny Depp and “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” (2001) with Nicolas Cage, but it would be a role opposite superstar Tom Cruise—both on screen and off—that would propel the actress to the forefront of Hollywood. After being naturally cast as Cruise’s love interest Sofia in “Vanilla Sky” (2001), writer-director Cameron Crowe’s intriguing but not-quite-fulfilling Americanized reworking of “Open Your Eyes” (Cruz played the same role she did in the original), Cruz embarked on a highly publicized relationship with her world-famous leading man, shortly after his notoriously acrimonious split with Nicole Kidman. The couple was catapulted to the front of the headlines, and Cruz was became a well-known personality. Her notoriety did not immediately translate into more film roles, however; in 2002 she appeared briefly in the amiable but unremarkable comedy “Waking Up In Reno” opposite Thornton, and in 2003 she delivered a nice turn as Chloe a mental patient who believes she consorts with demons and begins to suck her former therapist (Halle Berry) into her dark world in the otherwise preposterous thriller “Gothika.” She then played support to Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend in the wartime melodrama “Head in the Clouds” (2004) as a bohemian drawn into a strange ménage.

The actress next took on the role of Eva Rojas, the paramour of master explorer Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey) in “Sahara” (2005), the Paramount Pictures adaptation of Clive Cussler’s bestselling adventure novel, and interest in the film was fanned by the off-screen romance between Cruz and her leading man. Cruz then gave what may amount to be the best performance of her career in “Volver” (2006), playing a vibrant and protective mother who does everything possible to help her daughter (Yohana Cobo) when her unemployed louse of a husband (Antonio de la Torre) tries to force himself on the girl and is killed as a result. Directed by old friend Pedro Almodovar, “Volver” proved to be a breakout film for Cruz, allowing the actress to finally play a real woman as opposed to girls still coming of age. Thanks to Almodovar’s typically rich characterizations, the actress b0reathed life into a complex and demanding role that generated Oscar buzz when the film hit American shores after becoming a sensation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. The buzz began to pan out, leading to a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, as well as a nod from the Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Theatrical Motion Pictures. Cruz then received her first Academy Award nomination, joining the likes of Judi Dench, Helen Mirren Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet in the Best Actress category.

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 Mónica would be designing a 25-piece collection for the Barcelona-based fashion chain, Mango. On 7 July 2007 Cruz presented at Live Earth.

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.”

Currently, Cruz is in a relationship with the Spanish actor Javier Bardem, her co-star in the upcoming Woody Allen film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. In late 2007, she also starred in her brother’s video for his first single, named “Cosas que contar”, along with her friend Mía Maestro and her sister, Mónica Cruz.

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Penelope Cruz Website: http://www.westlord.com/penelopecruz/