Penelope Cruz Sanchez
Penelope Cruz Sanchez was the daughter
of Eduardo Cruz (a retailer) and Encarna Sanchez (a hairdresser). As a young
child, she was an obsessive performer and would re-enact commercials on
television for the enjoyment of her parents. But, she decided to focus her
efforts on dance. She continued her dance training with a variety of
highly-regarded dancers following her nine years studying classical ballet in
Spain's National Conservatory. Her true calling was discovered at the age of
15, after she defeated over 300 contestants in an audition for an agency that
represented talent. She was then offered roles on Spanish music videos and TV.
This led to many more performances, which opened the door to a career on the
world of big screens. Cruz made her film debut with The Greek Labyrinth (1993).
(The Greek Labyrinth). Following that she was briefly featured in Framed (1992)
directed by Timothy Dalton. Her final film, Belle Epoque (1992) was an
Oscar-winning film where she played one of the four sisters seeking to win the
love of a handsome deserter army soldier. The film received numerous Goyas,
Spanish equivalent of Academy Awards. The actress continued adding films to her
resume, increasing by three or four per year. Soon Cruz was the top actress 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). The luck of her life changed in
1998 when her movie industry comedy La Nina De Tus Ojos (1998) received her the
Best Actress Goya. Cruz also made a few appearances in English-language films
but her biggest international success was Almodovar's All About My Mother
(1999) in which she played a sexy but well-meaning nun. When the film was
lavishly adorned with awards and accolades, Cruz suddenly found herself
sought-after on both sides of the Atlantic. The American comedy Woman on Top
(2001), which was her next major project, is about an American chef with
extraordinary culinary abilities and extreme motion sickness. While in the US,
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