15 rare photos of the early career of Penelope Cruz - the hottest Spanish woman in Hollywood (16 photos)

Penelope Cruz is a Spanish actress who has conquered world cinema with her incredible energy and punchy character. Her career began at the age of 15 after difficult and numerous castings.





The actress admitted that her dream of becoming an artist appeared after watching the film “Tie Me Up!” (1990) with Antonio Banderas, and the internal discipline she learned at ballet school helped her achieve success. Penelope's first television job was as a talk show host on Spanish television in the early 90s, and her first film was “Ham, Ham” (1992). After filming this romantic comedy, her acting career took off, and the hot Spaniard was almost immediately recognized as a sex symbol of her time.

Celebrating the actress's anniversary, we are recalling some of the rarest and earliest photographs of Penelope Cruz.

Start of career, 1990



In these shots, the future actress is only 16 years old.

Breakthrough, 1992



Penelope's partner on the set of the film “Ham, Ham” was Javier Bardem, the future husband of the actress.

Unexpected change of image, 1993



Changes again, 1995



Business style, 1997



New victories, 1998



In 1998, Penelope won the Spanish Goya Award for her role in the film The Girl of Your Dreams.

Sophisticated 1999



Penelope with a cat, 2000



Penelope and many cats, 2000



Cabaret style, 2000



Filming under the direction of John Galliano, 2000



In 2001, the actress played the main role in the film Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise - still one of her most striking works. Although this film is a remake of the Spanish drama Open Your Eyes (1997), where Penelope played the same role.

Playful 2002



Penelope in 50s style in 2002



Perfume advertisement, 2005



Penelope in the Sands, 2005



The actress has three Oscar nominations for her roles in The Return (2006), Nine (2009), Parallel Mothers (2021) and one win for her supporting role in the film Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). .