trace cyrus: Penelope Cruz

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Penelope Cruz

Penelope Cruz is a Spanish actress widely known for her roles in both Spanish and American movies. Penelope Cruz was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1974 to a mechanic and a hairdresser. She dropped out of high school after winning a talent competition. Cruz then studied dancing and ballet for more than a decade, starting at the National Conservatory in Spain and learning from various famous dancers later.

Penelope Cruz made a few appearances in Spanish TV and hosted a show for children before becoming background dancer for a pop group named Mecano. The videos of the group made her known, and she received her first movie role in Jamón, Jamón (Ham Ham, 1992). Her fame increased both in Spain and in other countries after receiving roles in Spanish movies. Among these we find Belle Epoque (The Age of Beauty, 1992), Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes, 1997), and Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother, 1999), an Oscar-winning film by Pedro Almodóvar.

Penelope Cruz also started to appear in American movies in the early 2000’s. Her success came with Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001), a war/romance film in which she was the partner of Nicholas Cage. She had another lead role in the same year in the American remake of Abre Los Ojos, Vanilla Sky. Cruz played the same role in both movies, and for three years, had a relationship with her co-star, Tom Cruise.

Recently Penelope Cruz has starred in Sahara (2005) along with Matthew McConaughey and Steve Zahn, and also in Bandidas (2006) with one of her best friends, Salma Hayek. Today, she is a prominent actress of both Hollywood and Spanish filmmaking, with many movies on the horizon.