Penélope Cruz

Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress recognized for her work in Spanish and English-language films. She is the first Spanish actress to win an Academy Award and to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her career honors include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a David di Donatello, and three Goya Awards.

Cruz was born on April 28, 1974, in Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain, to Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser and personal manager, and Eduardo Cruz, a retailer and car mechanic. Raised Roman Catholic, she grew up with her siblings, Mónica and Eduardo, and later a paternal half-sister, Salma. She studied classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, followed by three years of Spanish ballet training and four years of theatre at Cristina Rota's school. At age fifteen, she won an audition at a talent agency to begin her career.

Cruz made her acting debut in 1989 in a music video for the group Mecano and co-hosted the teenage TV talk show La Quinta Marcha. Her feature film debut came in 1992 with Jamón Jamón, which earned her nominations for a Goya Award and a Spanish Actors Union Award. That same year, she appeared in the Academy Award-winning film Belle Époque. Between 1993 and 1996, she acted in ten Spanish and Italian films, and later spent two years in New York studying English and ballet.

During the late 1990s, Cruz gained wider recognition working with director Pedro Almodóvar in Live Flesh and All About My Mother. She starred in Open Your Eyes, Don Juan, and The Girl of Your Dreams, winning a Goya Award for the latter. She transitioned into American cinema with roles in the western The Hi-Lo Country, Woman on Top, and All the Pretty Horses.

In 2001, Cruz starred in the feature films Vanilla Sky and Blow. She later won a David di Donatello award for her lead role in Don't Move. Cruz received her first Academy Award nomination for Almodóvar's Volver, and in 2008, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She earned additional Oscar nominations for Nine and Parallel Mothers.

Cruz's other film credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Counselor, Murder on the Orient Express, Everybody Knows, Official Competition, L'immensità, and Ferrari. For playing Donatella Versace in the miniseries The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She has also taken on production duties for films including Ma Ma and On the Fringe.

Outside of acting, Cruz has modeled for Ralph Lauren, L'Oréal, and Mango, designed clothing with her sister Mónica, and served as a house ambassador for Chanel since 2018. Her charitable work includes volunteering in Uganda and India, where she worked with Mother Teresa, and donating her earnings from The Hi-Lo Country to support the mission.