Penelope Cruz

About Penelope Cruz

Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress, fashion designer, and model. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.

Cruz made her acting debut on television at 16, and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón Jamón (1992). Her subsequent roles included Belle Époque (1992), Open Your Eyes (1997), Don Juan (1998), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000), and Woman on Top (2000). She is known for her frequent collaborations with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar in Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006), Broken Embraces (2009), I'm So Excited! (2013), Pain and Glory (2019), and Parallel Mothers (2021).

For her role in Woody Allen's romantic drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Cruz won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other Oscar-nominated roles were in Volver (2006), Nine (2009), and Parallel Mothers (2021). Other notable films include Vanilla Sky (2001), Blow (2001), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), The Counselor (2013), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Everybody Knows (2018), Official Competition (2022), L'immensità (2022) and Ferrari (2023). For her role as Donatella Versace in the miniseries The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018), she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Cruz has done modelling work for Mango, Ralph Lauren, and L'Oréal, and along with her younger sister Monica Cruz, designed clothing for Mango. She has been a house ambassador for Chanel since 2018. She has volunteered in Uganda and India, where she spent one week working with Mother Teresa; she donated her salary from The Hi-Lo Country to help fund the late nun's mission. She is the only Spanish actress to have won an Academy Award and to have received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2006, Cruz became a spokesmodel for French cosmetics company L'Oréal to promote products such as the L'Oréal Paris hair dye Natural Match and L'Oreal mascara products. She receives $2 million a year for her work for the company. Cruz has appeared in print ads for Mango and had a contract with Ralph Lauren in 2001. Cruz and her sister designed their second collection for Mango in 2007. It was inspired by Brigitte Bardot and summers in St Tropez.

Cruz ranked as No. 58 in Maxim's "Hot 100" of 2007 list, and was chosen by Empire magazine as being one of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars in the world. Cruz was also ranked on Askmen.com's Most Desirable Women of 2008 at No. 26, in 2009 at No. 25, and in 2010 at No. 7. In April 2010, she replaced Kate Winslet as the new face and ambassador of Lancôme's Trésor fragrance. Lancôme signed Cruz as their third superstar spokesmodel, along with Julia Roberts and Winslet. The campaign was shot by Mario Testino at Paris's Hotel de Crillon and debuted in the autumn of 2010.

In 2010, Cruz was a guest editor for the French Vogue magazine, focusing on larger-size models in a provocative photo shoot. Almodóvar described her as his muse. On the cover of Spanish Vogue's December 2010 issue, she agreed to be photographed by fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh only if her pregnancy was not shown. In 2011, The Telegraph reported the most sought after body parts of the rich and famous revealed by two Hollywood plastic surgeons who carried out a survey among their patients to build up the picture of the perfect woman. Under the category of the most sought after body shape, Cruz, known for her voluptuous figure, was voted as having the top body. Men's Health ranked her at No. 32. on their "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" list. Esquire named her the Sexiest Woman Alive in 2014. In May 2023, she was appointed as the brand ambassador for Emirates Airline.

Cruz is of Spanish descent. Since 2010, she has been married to Spanish actor Javier Bardem.