Nude Filmography:
>> All the Pretty Horses (2000)
>> Woman on Top (1999)
>> Open Your Eyes (1997)
>> Jamón, jamón (1992)
>> Blow
>> Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Mini Biography :
>> Known outside her native country as the "Spanish enchantress,"
Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Madrid to Eduardo (a retailer) and
Encarna (a hairdresser). As a toddler she was already a compulsive
performer, reenacting TV commercials for her family's amusement, but
she decided to focus her energies on dance. After studying classical
ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, she continued
her training under a series of prominent dancers. At 15, however,
she heeded her true calling when she bested more than 300 other girls
at a talent agency audition. The resulting contract landed her several
roles in Spanish TV shows and music videos, which in turn paved the
way for a career on the big screen. Cruz made her movie debut in (1991)
Laberinto griego, El (_The Greek Labyrinth_), then appeared briefly
in the Timothy Dalton thriller (1992) (TV), Framed. Her third film
was the Oscar-winning Belle époque (1992), in which she played one
of four sisters vying for the love of a handsome army deserter. The
film also garnered several Goyas, the Spanish equivalent of the Academy
Awards.
Her resume continued to grow by three or four films each year, and
soon Cruz was a leading lady of Spanish cinema. Carne trémula (1997)
(_Live Flesh_) offered her the chance to work with renowned Spanish
director Pedro Almodóvar (who would later be her ticket to international
fame), and the same year she was the lead actress in the thriller/drama/mystery/sci-fi
film Abre los ojos (1997), a huge hit in Spain that earned eight Goyas
(though none for Cruz). Her luck finally changed in 1998, when the
movie-industry comedy Niña de tus ojos, La (1998) won her a Best Actress
Goya. Cruz made a few more forays into English-language film, but
her first big international hit was Almodóvar's madre (1999), Todo
sobre mi (_All About My Mother_), in which she played an unchaste
but well-meaning nun. As the film was showered with awards and accolades,
Cruz suddenly found herself in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.
Her next big project was Woman on Top (2000), an American comedy about
a chef with bewitching culinary skills and a severe case of motion
sickness.
While in the US, she also signed up to star opposite Johnny Depp
in the drug-trafficking drama Blow (2001) and opposite Matt Damon
(her rumored paramour) in Billy Bob Thornton's All the Pretty Horses
(2000). Cruz says she's wary of being typecast as a beautiful young
damsel, but it's hard to imagine disguising her wide-eyed charms and
generous nature (she once donated an entire paycheck to Mother Teresa's
children's sanctuary). Fortunately, with Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky
(2001) (a remake of Abre los ojos (1997)) and a John Madden collaboration
looming in her future, Damsel Penelope isn't likely to disappear just
yet.
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