At 52, Penélope Cruz is still in her prime. Earlier this year, the Spanish Oscar winner dazzled the Sundance Film Festival with her knock-out turn in Olivia Wilde’s The Invite; then she hit the Croisette to launch Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s queer epic The Black Ball at the Cannes Film Festival.
It’s quite the feat for the girl from Alcobendas, a town on the outskirts of Madrid, who dreamed of becoming a performer. The daughter of a hairdresser and a mechanic, she was a keen ballerina, studying at Madrid’s National Conservatory before transitioning to theater and screen acting.
She initially faced a wall of rejection on account of being too young, but at 15, Cruz finally found an agent. Parts followed in music videos and in Bigas Luna’s Jamón Jamón (opposite her future husband, Javier Bardem), paving the way to her international breakthrough via a string of collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar (Live Flesh, All About My Mother, Volver).
As The Invite arrives in theaters, we shortlist the best vintage photos from her rise in the ’90s and early aughts, packed with endless style and beauty inspiration.