Penélope Cruz is one of the most prominent Spanish actresses of international standing. She has received three Goyas, two European Film Awards, the Golden Palm for Best Actress, and a BAFTA. Then, to cap these honors, on February the 22nd, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." 

On April the 28th, 1974 Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Madrid, Spain. By the age of 20, she had already appeared in a number of movies in her home country.

In 1994, Cruz went to the United States and met the director Pedro Almodóvar. Her roles in the renowned filmmaker's works soon brought her fame in the international arena, and eventually paved her way to the podium at the Academy Awards.

In 1997, the movie Live Flesh offered her the chance to work with renowned Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. Cruz made a few more forays into English-language film, but her first big international hit was Almodóvar's All About My Mother in 1999, in which she played an unchaste but well-meaning nun. The film was showered with awards and accolades, and Cruz suddenly found herself in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.