"Spanish Enchantress"

Penelope Cruz, originally a dancer, she soon moved into Spanish television. She achieved fame when she appeared in the video clip of a Spanish synthpop group, then became a television presenter in a teen-oriented program. After appearing in some television series, she entered the world of movies. Her first major films were “Jamon, jamon” and “Belle Epoque”, which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film. Her resume continued to grow by three to four films each year, and soon became the leading lady of Spanish cinema.

Hot and sexy Penelope made a few more forays into English-language films, but her first international hit was Almodovar's Volver. As the film was showered with awards, she suddenly found herself in demand on both sides of Atlantic. She is the first Spanish Actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. She has appeared in a string of films in Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese.