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Penélope Cruz

Penélope Cruz

Biography

Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and three Goya Awards.

Cruz made her acting debut on television at age 16 and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón Jamón (1992). Her subsequent roles included Belle Époque (1992), Open Your Eyes (1997), Don Juan (1998), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000) and Woman on Top (2000). She is known for her frequent collaborations with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar in Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006), Broken Embraces (2009), I'm So Excited! (2013), Pain and Glory (2019) and Parallel Mothers (2021).

For her role in Woody Allen's romantic drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Cruz won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other Oscar-nominated roles are in Volver (2006), Nine (2009) and Parallel Mothers (2021). Other notable films include Vanilla Sky (2001), Blow (2001), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), The Counselor (2013), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Everybody Knows (2018), Official Competition (2022), L'immensità (2022) and Ferrari (2023). For her role as Donatella Versace in the miniseries The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018), she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She is the only Spanish actress to have won an Academy Award and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Cruz has also modelled for Mango, Ralph Lauren and L'Oréal and designed clothing for Mango with her younger sister, Mónica Cruz. She has been a house ambassador for Chanel since 2018. She volunteered in Uganda and India, where she spent one week working with Mother Teresa, and donated her salary from The Hi-Lo Country to help fund the late nun's mission.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Penélope Cruz, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

CritifyHub Reviews Featuring Penélope Cruz

Ghosts of Grit and Grace: Why ’Volver’ Still Haunts Us

on Volver | Aug 23, 2025

Ever wonder how a film can make death feel like a warm family reunion? Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver (2006) pulls off that magic trick with a sly grin, blending melodrama, mystery, and raw human resilience... Read more

Tapestry of Grief: Almodóvar’s Luminous Elegy in All About My Mother

on All About My Mother | Jul 18, 2025

Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother (1999) is a kaleidoscopic meditation on loss, identity, and the redemptive power of human connection, woven with the director’s signature emotional precision. The... Read more

Almodóvar’s Lush Tapestry of Motherhood and Memory

on Parallel Mothers | Jun 07, 2025

Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers is a film that throbs with life messy, unpredictable, and vibrantly human. At 72, the Spanish auteur has lost none of his flair for melodrama, nor his ability to wea... Read more

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