Biography - Penélope Cruz

Published by valentine497

Penelope was born in Madrid on 28th April 1974 and grew up in the Spanish capital with her brother and sister. As a child, she was a very talented dancer and took ballet lessons, eventually studying at the Conservatoire National for nine years, training under prominent dancers.

During her teens, she modelled for a Spanish agency and graced the covers of many well-known magazines, before her acting career began with a part in a Spanish television series. It really took off a few years later, with Spanish language hit 'Jamon, Jamon' in 1992. The following year, she won an Oscar for Belle Epoque by Fernando Trueba.

In 1997, she met Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, who gave her a role in 'Live Flesh' and several subsequant films, including the enourmously successful 'All About my Mother' in 1999, which launched her into the English-speaking world. A year later she played the love interest for Nicholas Cage and Christian Bale in 'Captin Corelli's Mandolin' and wife to Johnny Depp's George Jung in 'Blow'. But 2001 was to be the year that changed her life, whe she met Tom Cruise, then married to Nicole Kidman, on the set of 'Vanilla Sky'. Their affair attracted a huge amount of press attention, insuring the film was a success and marking the end of Cruise's marriage to Kidman. Cruz was a full-blown Hollywood actress, with Hollywood boyfriend to boot.

More recently, she has starred in a remake of French film 'Fanfan la Tulipe' and has several films in post-production.