In 2011, the star of Penelope Cruz appeared on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. The Spaniard is considered one of the prettiest women in the world. Penelope deserved the love and recognition not only by her appearance but also her unique dramatic talent and ability to embody a variety of images on the screen.
On the photo: Penelope Cruz
Her Childhood
Penelope Cruz was born on April 28, 1974. She grew up in the suburbs of Madrid. Her father Eduardo was a businessman, and her mother Encarna owned a small hairdresser’s. Penelope is the eldest of three children.
From early childhood, the girl had a stubborn and restless character. At the age of 4, she began to study ballet and dreamed of becoming an actress. As a child, Penelope entertained her family, copying commercials that were shown on TV. At the age of 12, she saw a Trésor perfume ad by Lancôme with dazzling pretty Isabella Rossellini, created by Peter Lindbergh. The girl asked her father to buy her this perfume and was happy to receive the coveted bottle. It will take time, she will become a famous actress, and Lancôme Company will offer her to be its face.
Penelope Cruz as a child with her sister
The Beginning of Her Acting Career
When Penelope was 14, she was very impressed with the movie to Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! by Pedro Almodovar. Her emotions were so strong that the girl found the address of the director in the phone book and went to his home. The director has listened to the girl and said he will be glad to offer her a role in his movie when she becomes an actress. Then Penelope began to look for agents and auditioned. Soon she starred in a music video of pop group Mecano. In the early 1990s, she became a presenter of the teen show and worked there until 1996.
Penelope Cruz in the music video for Mecano’s song La Fuerza del Destino
In 1991, the actress starred in an episode of Série Rose and angered her parents who saw their seventeen-year-old daughter completely naked. Penelope's parents were devout Catholics. The actress remembered the scandal at home; the mother had even slapped her. But it did not break the determination and will of Penelope.
Penelope Cruz in her youth
In 1992, she starred as Silvia in Jamón Jamón. It is also one of the first movies with Javier Bardem. Penelope again appeared naked in several frames, and after the release of this movie, the young actress was called a sex symbol.
Penelope Cruz in Jamón Jamón
The following year, playing in the melodrama Belle Epoque, Penelope was nominated for the prestigious Spanish Goya Award.
In 1995, the Spaniard went to the USA. She did not speak English, but she was determined.
Her First Successes in Hollywood
Settling in the famous Greenwich Village, a district, favored by artists and other bohemians, she quickly found friends. She enrolled in Cristina Roth’s Dance Studio and studied English and acting.
Penelope Cruz and Pedro Almodovar
She starred in the movie of her idol Almodovar in 1997. Penelope again found him herself and told that she had already become an actress. The director laughed at the eccentric woman but invited her to the audition. Thriller Live Flesh, like all his movies, was ambiguous and very sensitive, based on a novel of the British writer Ruth Rendell. This movie received excellent reviews, Goya Award, and many nominations, including the BAFTA Award.
Penelope Cruz in Live Flesh
The moving masterpiece Open Your Eyes was Penelope’s next movie, directed by Alejandro Amenabar. The young actress starred with Fele Martinez and romantic Eduardo Noriega as Cesar.
The scene from the movie All About My Mother
Until the early 2000s, she starred in several movies, but she was recognized as a deep dramatic actress only after the release of All About My Mother in 1999. Marisa Paredes and Cecilia Roth also starred in Pedro Almodovar’s movie. It won the Oscar and was recognized as the best foreign movie of 1999. The acting career of the pretty Spaniard began to develop from that moment.
The Best Roles
In 2001, there were released two movies with brilliant Cruz. They immediately became hits and brought the actress recognition in Hollywood. Vanilla Sky was directed by Cameron Crowe. Although the movie fans like the Spanish original Open Your Eyes more, this movie has received commercial success. Penelope starred as Sofia in a beautiful allegorical drama. Tom Cruise was her partner.
Penelope Cruz and Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky
The Spaniard started with Johnny Depp and Ray Liotta in the crime drama Cocaine about the famous smuggler and drug dealer.
Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp in Cocaine
In the period from 2001 to 2007, Penelope was a star of not only European but also world cinema. She starred in more than 10 movies. Some of them are the comedy thriller Don’t Tempt Me, in which she has played with Victoria Abril, horror movie Gothika, romantic drama Head in the Clouds, drama Noel, adventure action movie Sahara with Matthew McConaughey.
Penelope Cruz dances (the scene from Noel)
Although the actress likes all her works of this period, she speaks about Sergio Castellitto’s movie Don’t Move, which takes a special place in her heart, with the greatest warmth.
The melodrama Don’t Move was released in 2004. The audience, accustomed to seeing the actress, who impressed not only by her acting talent but also her appearance, was surprised.
Penelope Cruz in Don’t Move
Penelope played the role of a not a very young and ugly poor woman with the strange name Italia. She was in love with a successful married man, played by the incredible Sergio Castellitto. As a result of the accident, which her boyfriend was indirectly involved in, Italia died, and then the main character realized that he had lost the most important person in his life.
Penelope Cruz and Sergio Castellitto in Don’t Move
At the premiere, the audience was weeping, struck by the tragedy of the image, which Penelope Cruz was able to act very well. The well-known expert of cinema Roger Ebert said that he would never watch this movie because he could not survive what he saw again.
Penelope Cruz in the movie Don’t Move
The movie won two Italian Donatello Awards for Best Actor and Actress, four Silver Ribbons, and two Goya nominations.
In 2012, Penelope again starred in the movie by the brilliant Italian Castellitto. In the drama Twice Born, she starred as Gemma, who told the story of her life and extraordinary love. She relived the events of the Civil War in Serbia. Emile Hirsch and legendary Jane Birkin also starred in this movie.
2017 was very successful for the actress. She starred in the biopic Loving Pablo about a legendary smuggler and drug dealer and the detective Murder on the Orient Express.
Loving Pablo – Trailer
In 2018, the Madrid Madonna, as Penelope is nicknamed in Hollywood, continues to star in the project, dedicated to Gianni Versace. She plays Donatella in the TV series.
Everybody Knows – Trailer
The Oscars
As a muse of director Pedro Almodovar and Sergio Castellitto, Penelope wanted to star in the movie by Woody Allen. In an interview, the actress repeatedly said that she knew how to dream, and the role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona was dreamed by her. And the director said that he had not seen any other actress in the role of eccentric Maria Elena.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Trailer
The actress’s Spanish temperament, her unique ability to get used to the role, and convey specific emotions to the audience brought her the highest award of movie critics. Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall, as well as Javier Bardem, who would soon become a husband of the brilliant Penelope, starred in the movie.
Penelope Cruz at the Oscars ceremony
The Pretty Pirate and Other Roles
The actress continues to excite her fans, who cannot imagine her new role. In 2011, the actress starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. She played Angelica, a beloved of the rogue Jack Sparrow.
Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
In 2012, she starred as a prostitute in Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love. And two years later, she played the role of a woman, trying to cope with a serious illness, in the drama Ma Ma, directed by Julio Medem.
Penelope Cruz talks about the movie Ma Ma
In 2016, Penelope played a small but very prominent role with Ben Stiller and Benedict Cumberbatch in the sequel to Zoolander. The actress starred as the agent Valentina, investigating the murders in the world of the fashion industry.
Penelope Cruz and Woody Allen
Personal Life of Penelope Cruz
Over the years, the actress dated Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Matthew McConaughey, and Josh Hartnett. However, these romances ended very quickly, as well as began.
Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem
In an interview, the actress said that she had found her happiness only with Javier Bardem. For the first time, she met him on the set of the movie Jamón Jamón, in which the actors played lovers. Javier became very interested in the young pretty woman, but Penelope was only interested in her career, and she went to Hollywood.
After 15 years, fate brought them together again in the same place at the same time. The Spanish stars married shortly after the premiere of Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Their wedding was in the Bahamas. The family has three children.
Penelope Cruz, her husband, and children
Penelope, who has never been suspicious and superstitious, forbids the reporters to ask questions about the details of her life with Javier and their children. But the actress willingly shares the secrets that help her to keep fit and look great. She says that her main weapon against the appearance of wrinkles and dark circles under the eyes is sleep, and she can sleep for more than 18 hours. The actress’s second secret weapon is delicious food and a good mood. It is known that the actress likes to eat, and she is not a vegetarian, like most stars.
Penelope Cruz in Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Penelope is liked for her artistic achievements and pretty appearance, as well as her kind heart. The actress is actively involved in charity and participates in various funds, helping poor people.
Penelope Cruz Now
In 2019, Penelope Cruz once again starred with Pedro Almodovar. This time the actress appeared in the film "Dolor y Gloria" in the role of Jacinta. In the same year, she participated in the filming of the film "355" about women spies. Also in 2020, it became known that Penelope Cruz was filming the semi-documentary "Black and White Fellini" with Johnny Depp.
