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Penelope Cruz

Penélope Cruz Sánchez - born 28 April 1974, in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid

Wise words: "There's so much more I want to do. I refuse to get to 50 and wait at home for the phone to ring. In Spain, actresses work until they are old. That's my plan."

Cruz first came to public attention in Spain in 1992 with the release of Jamón jamón (dir. Bigas Luna) and Belle Epoque (dir. Fernando Trueba).
In Spanish cinema she has proved herself in a range of roles in different genres, and her key films in her native language are: Jamón jamón, Belle Epoque, Abre los ojos / Open Your Eyes (dir. Alejandro Amenábar), La niña de tus ojos / The Girl Of Your Dreams (dir. Fernando Trueba), and of course the three films she has made with Pedro Almodóvar –Carne trémula / Live Flesh, Todo sobre mi madre / All About My Mother, and Volver.
To date she has won two Goya awards for Best Actress (for La niña de tus ojos and Volver) and also became the first Spanish actress to be nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Raimunda in Almodóvar’s last film.
Also not to be missed is the Italian film Non ti muovere / Don’t Move (dir. Sergio Castellito), in which she gives a truly heartbreaking performance and for which she won a David di Donatello award for Best Actress.
Forthcoming roles include a Woody Allen film and another collaboration with Almodóvar.




News | What members say | Filmography

Penelope Cruz - news / articles


  • Johansson to replace Cruz as face of Mango - 28 May 2009
    -Scarlett Johansson is to follow her Vicky Cristina Barcelona co-star Penelope Cruz as the new face of Spanish clothing line Mango. - -The actress will front the firm's 2009 Fall/Winter campaign.- - Fashion bosses insist the Lost In Translation star embodies the "chic


  • Cruz battling Cannes food poisoning - 19 May 2009
    -Oscar winner Penelope Cruz is battling a bout of food poisoning in the south of France after arriving at the Cannes Film Festival to promote her new movies Nine and Broken Embraces.- -The Spanish star was forced to cancel a promotional event on Monday (18May09) becaus


  • Cruz baffled by Kingsley's title - 9 April 2009
    -Penelope Cruz had trouble talking to her Elegy co-star Sir Ben Kingsley - because she had no idea how to address him.- -The Spanish actress admits she was confused when she first began filming the 2008 movie - because she was told to call the star by his full title.-

Penelope Cruz - what members say


  • All About My Mother
  • All About My Mother review by Stevieb47 from poole
    Rated - 5 stars Fabulous 12 June 2005
    ... has taken refuge with a local convent where she is looked after by Sister Rosa(Penelope Cruz) but Rosa reveals that she is pregnant.....also by Lola........ Meanwhile Manu...  
  • Jamon Jamon
  • Jamon Jamon review by A customer from Rickmansworth, UK
    Rated - 2 stars Weak film 12 July 2005
    ...Was looking forward to watching Penelope Cruz in her early career but was disappointed. Pointless nudity and it was unconvincing the way she changed the object of her affect...  
  • Captain Corelli's Mandolin
  • Captain Corelli's Mandolin review by from Stotfold
    Rated - 5 stars Another of John Madden's well-crafted films 10 March 2005
    ...e love story gently evolved - its slow pace redolent of the years that elapsed. Penelope Cruz was the epitome of how a woman can suddenly become so beautiful with just a smi...  

Penelope Cruz - filmography


  • Nine (2009)
    Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis,  Marion Cotillard,  Penelope Cruz
    Director: Rob Marshall
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    Famous film director Guido Contini struggles to find harmony in his professional and personal lives, as he engages in dramatic relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother.
    Rate this: 4.5 stars out of 5 85% from 4 members
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  • Broken Embraces (2009)
    Starring: Penelope Cruz,  Blanca Portillo,  Lluis Homar
    Director: Pedro Almodovar
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    "Broken Embraces" is a four-way tale of amour-fou, shot in the style of '50s American film noir at its most hard-boiled, and will mix references to works like Nicholas Ray's "In a Lonely Place" and Vincente Minnelli's "The Bad and the Beautiful," with signature Almodóvar themes such as Fate, the ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 60% from 3 members
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  • Elegy on DVD (2008)
    Starring: Penelope Cruz,  Ben Kingsley,  Dennis Hopper
    Director: Isabel Coixet
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Charismatic professor David Kepesh glories in the pursuit of adventurous female students but never lets any woman get too close. When gorgeous Consuela Castillo enters his classroom, however, his protective veneer dissolves. Her raven-haired beauty both captivates and unsettles him. Even if Kepesh ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 59% from 2,606 members
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  • Volver on DVD (2006)
    Starring: Penelope Cruz,  Carmen Maura,  Lola Duenas
    Director: Pedro Almodovar
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Following the passing away of their mother in a fire, Raimunda (Penelope Cruz, VANILLA SKY) and Sole (Lola Duenas, TALK TO HER), leave their home town of La Mancha to live in Madrid. Raimunda lives with her daughter and unsupportive husband, taking on menial jobs, while Sole works in secret as a ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 72% from 34,967 members
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  • Sahara - HD DVD Version (2005)
    Starring: Matthew McConaughey,  Penelope Cruz,  Steve Zahn
    Director: Breck Eisner
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    Dirk (Matthew McConaughey) and Al (Steve Zahn) have been friends since kindergarten, having also gone through college and the Navy together. The two now work for a former admiral travelling around the world and salvaging treasures from the sea with the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 63% from 56 members
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  • Sahara on DVD (2005)
    Starring: Matthew McConaughey,  Penelope Cruz,  Steve Zahn
    Director: Breck Eisner
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Dirk (Matthew McConaughey) and Al (Steve Zahn) have been friends since kindergarten, having also gone through college and the Navy together. The two now work for a former admiral travelling around the world and salvaging treasures from the sea with the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 57% from 55,819 members
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  • Blow on DVD (2001)
    Starring: Johnny Depp,  Penelope Cruz,  Franka Potente
    Director: Ted Demme
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    George Jung (Johnny Depp) doesn't want to live like his father (Ray Liotta)--always short of money and constantly berated by his mother (Rachel Griffiths). So he sets off for California to live on the beach, where he finds he can make a living selling drugs. Soon George's drug dealing business ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 69% from 13,012 members
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  • Vanilla Sky on DVD (2001)
    Starring: Tom Cruise,  Penelope Cruz,  Kurt Russell
    Director: Cameron Crowe
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Director Cameron Crowe (JERRY MAGUIRE, ALMOST FAMOUS) teams up with Tom Cruise once again in an adaptation of Alejandro Amenabar's 1997 Spanish film OPEN YOUR EYES. Cruise plays David Aames, a playboy publisher leading a seemingly charmed life. His most recent playmate is his "friend" Julie Gianni (..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 58% from 17,961 members
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  • All The Pretty Horses on DVD (2000)
    Starring: Matt Damon,  Penelope Cruz,  Henry Thomas
    Director: Billy Bob Thornton
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Billy Bob Thornton's ALL THE PRETTY HORSES is about John Grady Cole (Matt Damon), a young rancher growing up just after WWII. After his mother sells the family ranch, John convinces his best friend, Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas), to accompany him to Mexico, where ranching is still a big part of life...read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 55% from 1,179 member
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  • Woman On Top on DVD (1999)
    Starring: Penelope Cruz,  Anne Ramsey,  Murilo Benicio
    Director: Fina Torres
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Director Fina Torres presents a sweet and sour love story/fairy tale with WOMAN ON TOP, the quirky story of Isabella (Penelope Cruz) a top-notch chef and glowing beauty who suffers from motion sickness. Playing up all of these characteristics, the film explores two of Cruz's love affairs: one with ..read more »
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 46% from 1,694 member
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  • The Girl Of Your Dreams (1998)
    Starring: Penelope Cruz,  Antonio Resines,  Jorge Sanz
    Director: Fernando Trueba
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Penelope Cruz (VANILLA SKY) stars in THE GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS, a comedy set in 1938 about a film crew from Spain that travel to Hitler's Germany to make a German/Spanish co-production. Hilarious hijinks abound as the cultures clash and international relationships flourish--for better, or for worse.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 57% from 442 members
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  • If Only on DVD (1998)
    Starring: Douglas Henshall,  Lena Headey,  Penelope Cruz
    Director: Maria Ripoll
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Almost everyone wishes they could have a second chance at love. This charming British romantic comedy, IF ONLY, dares to revel in the fantasy. Douglas Henshall plays Victor Bukowski, an unemployed man distraught over the fact that his beloved ex is about to marry another man. Magically, he is ..read more »
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 52% from 1,262 member
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  • Open Your Eyes on DVD (1997)
    Starring: Eduardo Noriega,  Najwa Nimri,  Penelope Cruz
    Director: Alejandro Amenabar
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Handsome 25-year-old Cesar (Eduardo Noriega) has it all--a successful career, expensive cars, a swank bachelor's pad, and an endless string of beautiful and willing women. Unfortunately, he can't get rid of his latest conquest, Nuria (Najwa Nimri) soon enough. When she crashes his birthday party, ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 68% from 5,847 members
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  • Jamon Jamon on DVD (1992)
    Starring: Penelope Cruz,  Javier Bardem,  Anna Galiena
    Director: Bigas Luna
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    Silvia, a village girl pregnant with Jose Luis' baby, plans to marry but Jose's mother has other ideas. She hires the talents of the local hunk Raul to win Silvia away. Spanish dialogue with subtitles.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 61% from 4,477 members
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  • Manolete
    Starring: Penelope Cruz,  Adrien Brody
    Director: Menno Meyjes
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    The film starts in the trip from Sevilla to Linares, where Manolete stops in Córdoba to see his mother. He will be remembering some passages of his life.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 No ratings yet. Be the first.
    Due for release on 20th July 2009
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  • Noel on DVD
    Starring: Susan Sarandon,  Penelope Cruz,  Paul Walker
    Director: Chazz Palminteri
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    A first-rate cast comes together for this collection of intertwining tales of lonely New Yorkers reaching out to each other on Christmas Eve. Susan Sarandon plays Rose, a widowed editor who spends way too much time at the hospital bed of her Alzheimers-stricken mother. Robin Williams is the ..read more »
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 53% from 3,591 members
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Penelope Cruz facts

5 most recent films

Nine - 4.5 stars
Broken Embraces - 3.0 stars
G-Force - 3.0 stars
Elegy - 3.0 stars
Vicky Cristina Barcelona - 3.5 stars

5 highest-rated films

All About My Mother - 3.5 stars
Volver - 3.5 stars
Blow - BLU-RAY Version - 3.5 stars
Blow - 3.5 stars
Open Your Eyes - 3.5 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Manolete - 3 stars
Elegy - BLU-RAY Version - 3.0 stars
Bandidas - 3.0 stars
Broken Embraces - 3.0 stars
G-Force - 3.0 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Steve Zahn - 4 times - show films
Patricia Clarkson - 3 times - show films
Matthew McConaughey - 3 times - show films
Javier Bardem - 3 times - show films
Halle Berry - 2 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Breck Eisner - 3 times - show films
Pedro Almodovar - 3 times - show films
Fernando Trueba - 2 times - show films
Mathieu Kassovitz - 2 times - show films
Woody Allen - 2 times - show films