Penelope Cruz Sanchez
Penelope Cruz Sanchez is the daughter of
Eduardo Cruz, a Madrid hairdresser, and Encarna Sanchez, a hairdresser from
Madrid. When she was a child she was already an avid performer, performing
commercials from the television for her family's amusement. However, she chose
to concentrate her efforts on dancing. After pursuing classical ballet for nine
years in Spain's National Conservatory, she continued her education under a
number of prominent dancers. She realized her passion at the age 15 when she topped
300 contestants in an audition for a talent agency. The contract she was
offered secured her roles on Spanish TV shows , and music videos. The contract
opened the way to a promising career in the world of film. Cruz made her debut
in a film in The Greek Labyrinth (1993) (The Greek Labyrinth) Then she appeared
briefly in the Timothy Dalton thriller Framed (1992). The Oscar-winning Belle
Epoque (1992) was her third film. In it she played one of four sisters
competing for the affection of a handsome deserter from the Army. The film
received numerous Goyas, Spanish equivalent of Academy Awards. The actress
continued to add films to her portfolio, growing by three to four per year.
Soon Cruz was the top actress in Spanish cinema. Live Flesh (1997) (Live Flesh)
offered her the chance to work with renowned Spanish director Pedro Almodovar
(who would later be her ticket to international fame), and the same year she
was the lead actress 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). In
1998, her fortunes changed when she took home a Best Actress Goya for the
industry-related movie comedy La Nina De Tus Ojos (1998). Cruz made several
more trips into English-language films, but All About My Mother (1999) was her
first major international hit. She played a chaste yet well-meaning nun. As the
film was showered with accolades and awards, Cruz suddenly found herself highly
sought-after across both sides of the Atlantic. The next major film she worked
on was Woman on Top (2000), an American comedy about a chef who has a dazzling
culinary talent and a severe bout of motion sickness. In America,
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