Spanish actress known for her beauty and her portrayal of sultry characters. She achieved early success in Spanish cinema and quickly established herself as an international star.

Cruz grew up outside Madrid, where she studied ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory; she also received intensive training in classical and jazz dance and studied theatre in New York City. At age 15 she won a modeling agency competition and began appearing in music videos and on Spanish television. Her first film roles were in El laberinto griego (“The Greek Labyrinth”; although the film was completed in 1991, its release was delayed until 1993) and Jamón, jamón (1992; “Ham, Ham”). She came to international attention with Belle Epoque (1992; “The Age of Beauty”), a film about an army deserter taken in by an elderly man and his four enchanting daughters. It won an Academy Award for best foreign film. On numerous occasions Cruz worked with the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, appearing in his Carne trémula (1997; Live Flesh) and Todo sobre mi madre (1999; All About My Mother).

Cruz's first English-language role came in Talk of Angels (1998), which was completed in 1994 but not released for several years. She then appeared in the contemporary western The Hi-Lo Country (1998). Cruz quickly established herself as a prominent actress in Hollywood. She appeared in the romantic comedy Woman on Top (2000) and starred alongside Matt Damon (Damon, Matt) in All the Pretty Horses (2000), a film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy (McCarthy, Cormac)'s novel of the same name. She starred opposite Johnny Depp (Depp, Johnny) in Blow (2001), a film based on the life of George Jung, the most prolific cocaine dealer in the United States during the 1970s. In 2001 Cruz also appeared in Vanilla Sky—a remake of a successful film in which she had earlier starred, Abre los ojos (1997; Open Your Eyes)—and afterward was involved in a highly publicized relationship with costar Tom Cruise (Cruise, Tom).

In the early 21st century Cruz continued to act in both English- and Spanish-language productions. She starred in Head in the Clouds (2004) and later appeared as an unhappily married mother in the critically acclaimed Volver (2006; To Return), for which she received an Academy Award nomination. Cruz played a woman dreamed of by a man undergoing a midlife crisis in The Good Night (2007) and appeared as the young lover of an aging college professor in Elegy (2008), a Spanish-language film adaptation of the Philip Roth novel The Dying Animal (2001). She earned another Oscar nomination for her work in Woody Allen (Allen, Woody)'s Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), in which she starred alongside Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem (Bardem, Javier).