Known outside her native country as the "Spanish enchantress", Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Madrid to Eduardo (a retailer) and Encarna (a hairdresser). As a toddler, she was already a compulsive performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's amusement, but she decided to focus her energies on dance. After studying classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, she continued her training under a series of prominent dancers. At 15, however, she heeded her true calling when she bested more than 300 other girls at a talent agency audition. The resulting contract landed her several roles in Spanish TV shows and music videos, which in turn paved the way for a career on the big screen. Cruz made her movie debut in Laberinto griego, El (The Greek Labyrinth), then appeared briefly in the Timothy Dalton thriller Framed. Her third film was the Oscar-winning Belle epoque, in which she played one of four sisters vying for the love of a handsome army deserter. The film also garnered several Goyas, the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards. Her resume continued to grow by three or four films each year, and soon Cruz was a leading lady of Spanish cinema. Live Flesh (Live Flesh) offered her the chance to work with renowned Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar (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, a huge hit in Spain that earned eight Goyas (though none for Cruz). Her luck finally changed in 1998, when the movie-industry comedy Niña de tus ojos, La won her a Best Actress Goya. Cruz made a few more forays into English-language film, but her first big international hit was Almodóvar's All About My Mother (All About My Mother), in which she played an unchaste but well-meaning nun. As the film was showered with awards and accolades, Cruz suddenly found herself in demand on both sides of the Atlantic. Her next big project was Woman on Top, an American comedy about a chef with bewitching culinary skills and a severe case of motion sickness. While in the US, she also signed up to star opposite Johnny Depp in the drug-trafficking drama Blow and opposite Matt Damon (her rumored paramour) in Billy Bob Thornton's All the Pretty Horses. Cruz says she's wary of being typecast as a beautiful young damsel, but it's hard to imagine disguising her wide-eyed charms and generous nature (she once donated an entire paycheck to Mother Teresa's children's sanctuary). Fortunately, with Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (a remake of Open Your Eyes) and a John Madden collaboration looming in her future, Damsel Penelope isn't likely to disappear just yet.



Sahara (2005): $1,600,000
Vanilla Sky (2001): $2,000,000

After filming All the Pretty Horses (2000), she became a vegetarian. Daughter of Eduardo (merchant) and Encarna (hairdresser). Academic curriculum: Finished 2º B.U.P. (2nd. year of secondary school). Had 4 years of dance performance with Cristina Rota, several dance courses at New York, 9 years of classic ballet at the Conservatorio Nacional and 3 years of Spanish ballet with Ángela Garrido. Also had Jazz Dance course with Raúl Caballero. She founded a non-government organisation (NGO) called Sabera Foundation. Together with Nacho Cano and other Spanish entertainers, they have set up a home, a school and a clinic for homeless girls and people suffering from tuberculosis in Calcutta. Two documentary programs were made for Spanish TV on this project. Unfortunately differences of opinion caused a collapse in the project and Sabera Foundation tragically no longer exists. She was named after the song "Penélope" by Joan Manuel Serrat. Voted the 7th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002. Best friends with actresses Goya Toledo and Salma Hayek. Likes to keep stray cats. Speaks four languages: Spanish, Italian, French and English. Shares her birthday with Jessica Alba & Jay Leno Two of her boyfriends have been named "Sexiest Man Alive" by People Magazine: Tom Cruise (in 1990) and Matthew McConaughey (in 2005). Claims that Victoria Abril's powerful performance in Pedro Almodóvar's ¡Ã�tame! (1990) ("Tie me up, tie me down!") determined her to become an actress. She claims her role in Bigas Luna's Jamón, jamón (1992) psychologically scarred her for life. She was a teenager when she was cast in the film which required her to do nudity and sex scenes. Good friends with ex-boyfriend Tom Cruise. She was one of the first people to visit his new-born baby daughter Suri. Older sister of singer Eduardo Cruz (born 1986) and actress Mónica Cruz (born March 16, 1977). Is a fan of Indian cinema and has expressed interest in working with Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan someday. Choosen by Empire Magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars in the world (#50) 2007. Ranked #82 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list. She is the only person to win an acting Oscar (Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)) and appear in two Oscar-winning Best Foreign Language Films (Todo sobre mi madre (1999) (aka "All About My Mother" ) and Belle Epoque). When she appeared on a Mexican talk show to promote one of her movies, the interview ended with her being sawn in half by a magician in an illusion called "Clearly Impossible". In this, she was sawn in half inside a clear-sided box that gave an unobstructed view of her body all through the illusion. Magician David Copperfield once sawed her in half using the antique "Buzz Saw" illusion that Orson Welles used to saw Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe in half. Was in a relationship with Matthew McConaughey (March 2004-May 2006).