Biography
written by Jeremy Falcone of AbsoluteNow. Please do not reproduce without
credit.
Penelope Cruz was born on April 28, 1974 to Eduardo, a merchant and a
hairdresser in Madrid, Spain. Penelope was one of three children, brother
Eduardo an dsister Mónica. She was named in memory of a Joan Manuel Serrat
song.
Penelope attended High School, but didn't finish, choosing to concentrate
more on ballet and jazz. She had ten years of classic ballet and three
years of Spanish ballet. Her studies took her to four years of Theatre at
Cristina Rota's school in New York
She broke into acting in 1992. That year, she had starring roles in Jamón
Jamón and Belle Epoque. Jamón Jamón (Ham Ham is the English title) cast
her as the desperately poor daughter of a village prostitute, while Belle
Epoque featured her as one of four lusty daughters of a wealthy man in
pre-Franco Spain. Belle Epoque was a critical smash, winning nine Goya
Awards, which is essentially the Spanish equivelant of the Oscars, and it
did win an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. The success of this film thrust
Cruz into the International spotlight, proving to be a huge stepping stone
towards success.
It wasn't until 1998, however, that Cruz had her first starring role in an
English language film. She played the Mexican-American love interest in
Stephen Frears' The Hi-Lo Country. Cruz donated her entire salary from
this film to Mother Theresa's charity. Later in the year, she had another
English film in the romantic comedy Twice Upon a Yesterday.
She returned to Spain in 1999, to work again with Almodovar on Todo Sobre
Mi Madre (All About My Mother), a critically acclaimed film that landed in
Cannes that year. She also began work on her biggest project to date, All
the Pretty Horses, which costars Matt Damon. The movie debuted in the year
2000.
Credits: Rebecca Flint
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