Penelope Cruz Biography
Actress. Born Penélope Cruz Sanchez on April 28, 1974 in San Sebastain de los Reyes, Madrid, Spain. Her father, Eduardo, worked as a car mechanic and her mother, Encarna, was a hairdresser. Cruz was born as the eldest of three and a natural performer; Penélope amused her family as a child by re-enacting TV commercials for their entertainment. Although a natural actress, she took up dance for her choice of performance arts. She studied classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory and moved to New York to dance under a series of prominent performers.
When she was 15 years old, Cruz found her true vocation after beating out 300 other girls at a talent agency competition. Following this early success, she landed several roles as a dancer for music videos and on Spanish TV as the host of La Quinta Marcha. Cruz also explored her more sensual side in the French erotic TV series, Serie Rose.
In 1992, she made her film debut in the dark film, Jamón Jamón. The film's director, who had been unable to cast Cruz as the lead in another film because of her young age, waited until she was old enough for his next film. Her performance earned Cruz a nomination for Best Newcomer by the Spanish Actors' Union, Best Lead Actress from the Goya awards (Spain's Academy Awards), and Fotogramas de Plata's Best Movie Actress. A year later, Cruz played Luz in The Age of Beauty (1992). The film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, virtually swept the Goya Awards, and earned Cruz the Spanish Actors' Union Award for Best Supporting Performance.

Penelope Cruz