Known
outside her native country as the "Spanish enchantress," Penlope Cruz Sohez was
born in Madrid to Eduardo (a retailer) and Encarna (a hairdresser). As a toddler
she was already a compulsive performer, reenacting 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 (1991) Laberinto griego, El (The Greek Labyrinth), then appeared briefly in
the Timothy Dalton thriller (1992) (TV), Framed. Her third film was the Oscar-winning
Belle que (1992), 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. Carne trola (1997) (Live
Flesh) offered her the chance to work with renowned Spanish director Pedro Almod
(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 Abre los ojos (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 Nie tus ojos, La (1998) won her
a Best Actress Goya. Cruz made a few more forays into English-language film, but
her first big international hit was Almod's madre (1999), Todo sobre mi (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 (2000), 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 (2001) and opposite Matt Damon (her rumored
paramour) in Billy Bob Thornton's All the Pretty Horses (2000). 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 (2001) (a remake of Abre los ojos (1997)) and a John
Madden collaboration looming in her future, Damsel Penelope isn't likely to disappear
just yet. |
