Penélope Cruz turns 50: exciting facts about the Oscar winner

Today she is one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood, although Penélope Cruz grew up in simple circumstances in Spain. Her father was a car mechanic and her mother was a hairdresser. Before launching her career in front of the film camera, Cruz spent most of her time in a completely different place. For her 50th birthday on April 28th, here are exciting facts about the film star.

Ballet before acting

Penélope Cruz Sánchez, her full name, grew up in Spain with two younger siblings. Her sister Mónica Cruz (47) is also an actress, her brother Eduardo Cruz (39) is a well-known singer in Spain. By the way, the three look extremely similar. As a teenager, Penélope Cruz discovered another passion: dancing. For nine years she studied classical ballet at Spain’s National Conservatory, sometimes even training with prominent dancers, and in 1988 she appeared in a music video by the pop group Mecano. It was through the latter that Cruz first became known in Spain. Winning a talent competition at the age of 15 gave the Spaniard her first roles in Spanish television shows and music videos. Today, Cruz says the self-control required in ballet would have helped her become an actress: “If I hadn’t had the discipline of all those years in the dance world, it would have been much, much harder.”

She has an Oscar

35 years later, Cruz can now call herself an Oscar winner. She got the golden boy award in 2009 as best supporting actress in the Spanish-American comedy “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” by Woody Allen (88) and with Scarlett Johansson (39) and Rebecca Hall (41) in the leading roles. Cruz became the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar. Cruz was nominated for best supporting actress three other times, for “Volver” (2007), “Nine” (2010) and “Parallel Mothers” (2022). Other well-known film projects in Cruz’s vita include the Spanish productions “Belle Epoque” (1992), “Who loves, lives dangerously” (1996) or “Virtual Nightmare – Open Your Eyes” (1997) as well as the films “Woman on Top” (2000), “Vanilla Sky” (2001), “Sahara” (2005), “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (2011), “Zoolander 2”, “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017) or most recently “Ferrari” (2023). She also had a brief appearance in “Sex and the City 2” in 2010.

These are her famous (ex-)husbands

Since 2010 there has only been one man at her side: Javier Bardem (55). The actor, who was last seen in the successful films “The Little Mermaid” (2023) and “Dune: Part Two” (2024), met her on the sets of “Jamon Jamon” and “Vicky Cristina” in the 90s Barcelona”. The two have now been married for 13 years and share two children, a son and a daughter. With Cruz and Bardem, however, it was apparently more love at second sight. Because other Hollywood gentlemen had previously tried it with Cruz: from 2001 to 2004 she was in a relationship with Tom Cruise (61) and from 2005 to 2006 with Matthew McConaughey (54). She had a liaison with Orlando Bloom (47) in 2006 and was also in a relationship with Josh Hartnett (45) in 2007.

Salma Hayek is a close friend

Away from everyday family life and the hustle and bustle of Hollywood, Cruz also enjoys spending time with her close friend Salma Hayek (57), her “Spanish soul sister”. Cruz gushed in an interview in November 2023: “It’s like we can tell each other anything. We really trust each other. I’ve known her for 30 years.” also regularly for birthdays.

Allergic to strawberries

A few other bizarre facts about Penélope Cruz include that she is allergic to strawberries and is said to have a phobia of mice and worms. She donated her first salaries to a children’s home. She loves bright red lipstick and was once a vegetarian, but couldn’t keep it up because of her obsession with cheeseburgers.