Penelope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress, model, screenwriter, director and producer. Oscar winner, nominee for Golden Globe, Goya, Actors Guild, European Academy, British Academy, Georges. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival. In the cinematic environment, she is called the "Spanish sorceress".
Today, Penelope has more than two hundred roles in film and television. Including participation in documentary projects, film awards ceremonies, show programs and films dedicated to artists.
short biography
Penelope was born in Madrid. Her father was a salesman and her mother worked as a hairdresser.
While still very young, she had already begun to demonstrate her acting talent. The girl constantly staged performances at home, trying to copy the actors from the commercials seen on TV, which greatly amused the whole family. But most of all she loved to dance. Therefore, the parents decided to send her to a choreographic studio.
Cruz studied ballet for ten years at the Spanish National Conservatory. Then she continued her studies in the United States under the guidance of the country's leading dancers.
When Penelope was fifteen years old, she took part in a casting run by a talent recruiting agency for television and advertising. After passing the selection and withstanding serious competition, she became one of the winners and received a contract to shoot in Spanish TV shows and music videos. Then, for the first time, the girl seriously thought about a career in cinema.
Creative way
In the early 1990s, Penelope got a role in the erotic film "The Pink Series". The role was small, but in order to fulfill it, the girl had to completely naked. The young actress instantly attracted the attention of directors and producers. Soon she began to receive new offers.
The first notable role in a big movie went to her in the film "Ham, Ham". After the film was released, Cruz was nominated for the Goya Award and named a sex symbol by People.
Interestingly, on the set of this picture, she first met her future husband, Javier Bardem. But since the girl was still only sixteen years old, there was no talk of any romantic relationship. We can say that Javier simply did not notice her. Only many years later, fate brought them together again on the set. And this time the meeting ended with a wedding.
When Penelope was twenty-five, she decided to move to New York. There she continued her studies at a ballet studio and began looking for work in the film industry.
She got her first major role in America in 1998 in the film "Country of Hills and Valleys". The film did not receive positive reviews, but the actress herself was nominated for an ALMA award.
In the same year, Cruz starred in the film "Girl of Your Dreams", where she played the role of a singer. For this work, she received the Goya Prize and several other nominations.
A year later, Penelope played two roles, one of which was the main one, in the films of the famous Pedro Almodovar. But her work in the film "Vanilla Sky" brought her real fame, which grossed over $ 200 million in the world box office.
In the following years, the career of the actress declined. Although she continued to appear in new projects, none of the roles brought her success. Another success awaited her only five years later. Together with Salma Hayek, the actress starred in the film "Bandidas".
The next role, which brought her many awards, including an Oscar nomination, she played in P. Almodovar's film The Return. Also for this work, Cruz received the Goya awards, the Cannes Film Festival, the European Film Academy and many nominations for other prestigious cinematographic awards.
Cruz received her Oscar in 2008 for her role in the film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Soon she was again nominated for an Oscar, playing in the film Nine.
Penelope Cruz is the only actress to receive awards from five major European film academies: three Goya (Spain), David di Donatello (Italy), BAFTA (England), Cesar (France), two Felix (Europe), Oscars (USA).
In 2011, Cruz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Fees
Cruz is one of the highly paid representatives of the film industry. Her financial condition is estimated at more than one tens of millions of dollars. She earns not only on the set of films, but also on cooperation with representatives of advertising and the modeling business.
In 2019, Penelope presented the Chanel collection at Paris Fashion Week. The actress agreed to participate in a show in memory of the recently departed designer Karl Lagerfeld, with whom she has worked for the past year.
Since 2006, the actress has earned $ 2 million a year by participating in advertising for the cosmetics company L'Oreal. This income allows her to develop her own chain of stores "Amarcord". In 2007, together with her sister, Cruz launched her clothing line in Spain.
Many representatives of the film industry believe that Penelope Cruz's talent is underestimated not only at home, but also in Hollywood. It must be said that the fees of actors in Europe are far behind those offered in the United States. Therefore, in Spain, Cruz could hardly count on high incomes. But in Hollywood, she receives no more than $ 2 million for a role, and for an actress of this level, this is not so much. In most cases, her fees reach the figure of one million dollars.
For example, for her role in the film "Sahara" Cruz received $ 1.6 million, and her co-star Matthew McConaughey - $ 8 million.
For the role in the film "Vanilla Sky" the actress's fee was $ 2 million.
In 2005, Cruz bought a house in Los Angeles, paying $ 3.5 million for it.
