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Penélope Cruz Sánchez, nicknamed simply Pe, (born April 28, 1974) is a Spanish actress.
Born in Madrid, Spain, Cruz was a dancer as a child and young teen, and actually dropped out of high school to pursue dancing at the National Conservatory of Madrid (majoring in Classical Ballet) and theatre at Cristina Rota's School in New York (4 years).
Her parents named her after a song by Joan Manuel Serrat.
She first achieved fame when she appeared in the video clip La fuerza del destino for the Spanish synth-pop group Mecano.
She then started a relationship with Nacho Cano, a member of the group, which lasted for several years.
She also was a TV presenter for the teen-oriented program La Quinta Marcha, in collaboration with Jesús Vázquez.
Cruz's first major films were Jamón, Jamón and the more widely known (in the US) Belle Époque, a film which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.
She also appeared with Matt Damon in All The Pretty Horses.
In 1999 she appeared in Pedro Almodóvar's Todo sobre mi madre which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.
In early 2001 she began a three-year relationship with Tom Cruise. The relationship started on the set of the film Vanilla Sky in which they appeared together.
Her younger sister Mónica Cruz resembles her a lot.
This similarity has been used in Spanish TV ads.
In the 2000s, Mónica has left her dancing career and achieved fame on her own in the youth-oriented TV series Un Paso Adelante.
Brief Filmography
External Links
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