Penelope Cruz Sanchez

Penelope Cruz Sanchez was the daughter of Eduardo Cruz (a retailer) and Encarna Sanchez (a hairdresser). She was a performer with a passion as a young girl and often reenacted TV commercials to amuse the family. But she chose to focus her attention on dancing. She continued her training by working with several well-known dancers after she had spent nine years learning classical ballet in Spain's National Conservatory. Her true calling was discovered at 15 years old when she beat more than 300 other girls at an audition at an agency for talent. The contract she signed secured her roles in Spanish television shows , as well as music videos. This opened up the way to a promising career in the world of film. Cruz was first seen in a movie in The Greek Labyrinth (1993). (The Greek Labyrinth). After that she appeared briefly in Framed (1992) directed by Timothy Dalton. Her next film, Belle Epoque (1992), was an Oscar-winning production in which she played one the four sisters trying to win the affection of the handsome deserter soldier. It also took home several Goyas in Spain which is the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards. Her film resume continued to expand by three or four films each year, and before long Cruz became a star in 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). It was a turning point for her in 1998, when the movie-industry comedy La Nina De Tus Ojos (1998) was awarded the award for Best Actress Goya. After a few more attempts at English-language film her first international success was Almodovar's All About My Mother (1999), where she played an unchaste but very well-meaning nun. As the film was showered with awards and accolades, Cruz was suddenly in demand on both sides of the Atlantic. Woman on Top (2000) was her next film. It was an American comedy about a cook with exceptional culinary abilities and extremely motion sickness. While she was in America,