| Name
: |
Penelope
Cruz |
| Name
At Birth : |
Penélope
Cruz Sánchez |
| Date
of Birth : |
28
April 1974 |
| Place
of Birth : |
Madrid,
Spain |
| Height
: |
5'
6'' |
| Weight
: |
47Kg |
| Nickname
: |
Pe |
| Eyes
: |
Hazel |
| Hair
: |
Brown |
| Father
: |
Eduardo
Cruz (auto mechanic) |
| Mother
: |
Encarna
Cruz (hairdresser manager) |
| Sister
: |
Monica
(professional flamenco dancer) |
| Brother
: |
Eduardo
Jr |
| Education
: |
-Secondary
Studies (dropped out)
National Conservatory Madrid Spain (majored in Classical
Ballet)
Cristina Rota's School in Nueva York (4 years of theater) |
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.
|
