Cruise Penelope
Biography of Penelope Cruz
Date of birth: 28.04.1974
Penelope Cruz Sanchez (Spanish: Penelope Cruz Sanchez) - Spanish film actress and model.
Penelope Cruz has had a successful film career, appearing in over fifty films, including 'Open Your Eyes' (1997), 'Country of Hills and Valleys' (1998), 'The Girl of Your Dreams' (1998), 'Woman on Top' (2000), 'Blow' (2001), and 'Vanilla Sky' (2001). She has also starred in films of various genres, including 'Waking Up in Reno' (2002), 'Gothika' (2003), 'Noel' (2004), and 'Sahara' (2005), 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' (2008), 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' (2011).
Place of birth. Education. Penelope Cruz Sanchez was born on April 28, 1974 in the Spanish city of Alcobendas. Penelope's father, Eduardo Cruz, was a retailer and auto mechanic. Her mother, Encarna Sanchez, was a hairdresser and impresario. Penelope was the oldest child in the family: she has a sister Monica, also an actress, and a younger brother Eduardo, a musician and singer.
She was passionate about dancing and jazz from childhood, studied for nine years at the Spanish National Conservatory, where she took classical ballet lessons. Penelope also studied theater arts for four years at Cristina Rota's school (New York).
Film Career. In 1989, Cruz appeared in a music video for the Spanish pop group Mecano 'La Fuerza del Destino'. From 1990 to 1997, the aspiring actress was the host of the teen-oriented TV show La Quinta Marcha. In 1991, Penelope got a small role in an episode of the erotic TV series 'Pink Series'. In 1992, Cruz starred in her first film - the comedy-drama 'Ham, Ham'.
In 1992, a film with her participation 'The Age of Beauty' was released, which was awarded national prizes and named by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the best foreign film.
From 1993 to 1996, Cruz participated in the filming of ten Spanish and Italian films.
But fame came to Penelope only in 1997 after shooting in the films of director Pedro Almodovar 'Live Flesh' and director Alejandro Amenabar 'Open Your Eyes'.
In 1999, Penelope Cruz again collaborated with director Pedro Almodovar, working with him on the film 'All About My Mother'.
2001 was a turning point in Cruz's career after her role in the film 'Vanilla Sky', a remake of Amenabar's 'Open Your Eyes'. The actress again played the role of the protagonist's girlfriend Sofia, and her partner on set was Tom Cruise.
From 2001 to 2005, Penelope Cruz's career experienced a decline. After working on the failed film 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' (for which she received a Golden Raspberry nomination), Cruz continued to face failures. Ten films with her participation released during this period had mostly contradictory or negative reviews from critics.
In 2006, after the release of the comedy-action movie 'Bandidas', where Cruz starred with Salma Hayek, the actress participated in the filming of Pedro Almodovar's film 'Volver'. The role brought Penelope nominations for an Oscar, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and BAFTA. In her homeland, Cruz was awarded the Goya in the category 'Best Actress'.
In 2008, Cruz starred in three films: 'Elegy', 'Manolete', and 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'. Cruz was awarded numerous film awards, including BAFTA and Goya. At the Academy Awards ceremony, she received the desired statuette, becoming the first Spanish actress to win an award.
A year later, Penelope appeared in Rob Marshall's musical film 'Nine' in the role of Carla Albanese, the protagonist's lover. According to Variety magazine, Cruz auditioned for the role of the main character Claudia, which eventually went to Nicole Kidman. Cruz herself said that to perform a number on stage in one of the episodes of the film, she studied dance for three months. Despite receiving high praise for her performance, the actress was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe but did not win the awards.
In 2010, Cruz practically did not appear on screens: she only appeared in a cameo role in the TV series 'Sex and the City 2'. However, the following year she participated in the filming of her biggest Hollywood adventure film 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides', where she again collaborated with director Rob Marshall. For the role of Angelica, Jack Sparrow's (Johnny Depp) lover, the actress trained in fencing for two months. It is also noteworthy that during the creation of the film, Penelope was pregnant, and in some dubbing, she was replaced by her younger sister Monica.
On April 1, 2011, for her contribution to the development of the film industry, Penelope was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star's number is 2436.
In 2012, the actress worked again with Woody Allen, starring in his romantic comedy 'To Rome with Love'. Cruz's role was a street prostitute, who pretends to be the fiancée’s wife. Another of her projects was 'Twice Born', telling the story of an infertile Italian woman.