Academy Award-winner Penelope Cruz has proven herself to be one of the most versatile actresses of today by playing a variety of compelling characters and becoming the first actress from Spain to be nominated for and win an Academy Award. 

First introduced to American audiences in the Spanish films Jamon, Jamon and Belle Epoque in 1998 she starred in her first English language film, Hi-Lo Country for director Stephen Frears opposite Woody Harrelson, Patricia Arquette and Billy Crudup. In 1999, Cruz won the Best Actress award at the 13th Annual Goya Awards given by the Spanish Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for her role in Fernando Trueba’s The Girl Of Your Dreams.

Confirming her status as Spain’s hottest international actress, Cruz landed a series of coveted roles. She appeared in Billy Bob Thornton’s All The Pretty Horses, Fina Torres’s Woman On Top, Alejandro Amenabar’s Open Your Eyes, Maria Ripoll’s Twice Upon A Yesterday, and Nick Hamm’s Talk Of Angels.  Additionally, Cruz co-starred in Pedro Almovodar’s Live Flesh and critically acclaimed All About My Mother which was awarded the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Next up for Cruz was New Line’s BLOW directed by Ted Demme, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and Vanilla Sky. She then tackled Masked & Anonymous, Fan Fan La Tulipe, which opened the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, and Don’t Tempt Me. She received rave reviews for her eagerly awaited performance in Don’t Move (Non Ti Muovere) in which she was honored with a David Di Donatello Award (Italian Oscar) and European Film Award for Best Actress.

To add to her already brilliant and diverse choice of film credits, she starred in films including Gothika, Head In The Clouds, Noel, and Chromophobia. Cruz also co-stared with Matthew McConaughey and William H. Macy as “Dr. Eva Rojas” in the action-packed film Sahara.

Cruz starred in Volver, which again teamed her with director and dear friend Pedro Almodovar. Critically acclaimed for her role as Raimunda, she won the “Best Actress” awards at the European Film Awards, the Spanish Goya Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and received both Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.

Cruz went on to star in Elegy opposite Sir Ben Kingsley and Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona opposite Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson. Cruz won an Oscar, a BAFTA, an NYFCC, and an NBR Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film.

Cruz and Pedro Almodóvar were back in action for the fourth time with Broken Embraces, for which she received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Lena. Also in 2009, Cruz teamed up with director Rob Marshall and co-starred alongside Nicole Kidman, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Marion Cotillard in the film version of the musical Nine. Her standout portrayal of Carla garnered SAG, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. Her third Oscar nomination made history as it marked only the third time in Oscar history where the winner of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress was nominated for Best Supporting Actress again in the following year.

In 2011, Cruz starred opposite Johnny Depp in the international blockbuster hit Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment of the movie series directed by Rob Marshall. That summer, Cruz also filmed Woody Allen's To Rome With Love. The Rome-set film also stars Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page. Cruz starred in Ridley Scott’s 2013 thriller The Counselor alongside Cameron Diaz, Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt. She went on to star in Twice Born directed by Sergio Castellitto, with whom she previously starred in his critically acclaimed Don’t Move.

In 2016 Cruz starred in Zoolander 2, the long-awaited sequel to the comedy directed by and starring Ben Stiller, as well as Louis Leterrier’s The Brothers Grimsby alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, Ian McShane, Rebel Wilson and Isla Fisher. She went on to produce and star in Ma Ma directed by acclaimed Spanish director Julio Medem. Fernando Trueba’s The Queen Of Spain earned Cruz her 9th Spanish Goya Award nomination.

In 2017, Cruz appeared in 20th Century Fox’s Murder On The Orient Express, based on the 1934 Agatha Christie novel, with a strong ensemble cast including Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Michael Pena, Judi Dench, and Josh Gad, as well as Kenneth Branagh who also directed. She also starred in LOVING PABLO opposite Peter Sarsgaard and Javier Bardem. Written and directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa, the film follows a journalist who strikes up a romantic relationship with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. The film premiered at the 2017 Venice, Toronto, and San Sebastian Film Festivals.

Cruz made her US television debut in FX’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, the third installment in the Emmy-winning anthology series from Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. Her performance as Donatella Versace, the sister of murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace, earned her Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG award nominations. She was presented with the Honorary César Award by France’s Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema at the 43rd annual César Awards ceremony in Paris for her collective work in film.

Cruz starred in Asghar Farhadi’s Spanish-language psychological thriller Everybody Knows, which premiered the Opening Night of the Cannes Film Festival and was released in Spain. She reunited with Antonio Banderas in Pedro Almodovar’s Pain & Glory via Sony Pictures which was released in Spain. The film was selected to compete at the Cannes Film Festival and was released in the US. She appeared in Wasp Network, a drama film written and directed by Olivier Assayas, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and also starred Edgar Ramirez, Wagner Moura, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Ana de Armas. Wasp Network was released on Netflix.

Cruz appeared in two films at the 2021 Venice Film Festival; Pedro Almodovar’s Madres Paralelas which opened the festival, and Competencia Oficial alongside Antonio Banderas. Her performance in Madres Paralelas earned her the Volpi Cup for the Best Actress Award at the festival and also garnered her an Academy Award nomination in 2022 for Best Actress. Cruz also appeared in The 355, a large-scale espionage film directed by Simon Kinberg with an all-star international spy cast including Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Lupita Nyong’o and Diane Kruger.

Cruz stars in Emanuele Crialese’s L’Immensita and Juan Diego Botto’s social thriller On The Fringe both of which premiered at Venice Film Festival. L’Immensita will also be included in the lineup for 2023’s Sundance Film Festival. Most recently, Cruz was honored with Spain’s National Cinematography Prize at San Sebastian Film Festival in honor of her nearly 30-year career.

In 2022, Cruz announced that she, alongside The MediaPro studio, will launch the production label Moonlyon, which will produce premium non-fiction and dramatic content.