Known outside her native country as the "Spanish enchantress", She was born in Madrid to Eduardo & Encarna. As a toddler, Penelope Cruz was already a compulsive performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's amusement, but Penelope Cruz decided to focus her energies on dance. After studying classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, Penelope Cruz continued her training under a series of prominent dancers. @ 15, however, Penelope Cruz 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. Penelope Cruz made her movie debut in The Greek Labyrinth (The Greek Labyrinth), then appeared briefly in the Timothy Dalton thriller "Framed" (1992). Her 3rd film was the Oscar winning The Age of Beauty (1991), 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 3 or 4 films each year, and soon Cruz was a leading lady of Spanish cinema. Live Flesh offered her the chance to work with renowned Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, and the same year Penelope Cruz 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 The Girl of Your Dreams (1998) won her a Best Actress Goya. Penelope Cruz made a few more forays into English-language film, but her 1st big international hit was Almodóvar's All About My Mother (1999), 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, Penelope Cruz also signed-up to star opposite Johnny Depp in the drug-trafficking drama Blow (2001) and opposite Matt Damon in Billy Bob Thornton's All the Pretty Horses (2000). Penelope 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. Fortunately, with Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001) and a John Madden collaboration looming in her future, Penelope Cruz isn't likely to disappear just yet.
