Penelope Cruz Sanchez

Penelope Cruz Sanchez was the daughter of Eduardo Cruz (a retailer) and Encarna Sanchez (a hairdresser). She was an obsessive performer as a young girl and often reenacted TV commercials to keep the family entertained. But she chose to devote her time to dance. She continued to train by working with several well-known dancers following her 9 years studying classical ballet in Spain's National Conservatory. She realized her true calling at the age of 15 when she beat more than 300 other girls in an audition for an agency for talents. The contract she signed secured her several roles in Spanish television shows as well as music videos, which led to an acting career on the big screen. Cruz made her film debut in The Greek Labyrinth (1993). (The Greek Labyrinth). After that she appeared in a brief scene in Framed (1992) by Timothy Dalton. The third film she starred in was an Oscar-winning film, Belle Epoque (1992), where she was one of the four sisters vying to win the heart of a handsome deserter from the Army. The film was awarded many Goyas, Spanish equivalent of Academy Awards. Her resume continued to grow by three or four films each year, and eventually Cruz was a leading lady of 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). Her luck finally changed in 1998, when the movie-industry comedy La Nina De Tus Ojos (1998) won her a Best Actress Goya. Cruz has made a few other ventures into film in the English language, however, her first major international success was the film of Almodovar All About My Mother (1999) where she played an unchaste , but well-meaning nun. Cruz was in hot demand both on the Atlantic and the west coast as the film received numerous awards and accolades. The American comedy Woman on Top (2001) is her next major project, is about the chef who is able to combine remarkable culinary talents and extremely motion sickness. While living in the US,