Penelope Cruz Has Received A Huge Honor
Over the weekend Penelope Cruz was honored with Spain's National Cinematography Prize.
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Pirates of the Caribbean star Penelope Cruz was just honored in her home country of Spain with The National Cinematography Prize, which recognizes outstanding work in Spanish film for the year, and a career advancing the Spanish film industry. The 48-year-old Cruz was presented the award at 70th San Sebastián Film Festival on Saturday, where she gave a tearful speech to an adoring crowd that gave her two standing ovations. She thanked her colleagues, her husband Javier Bardem (Dune), and her fans for their support as she marked her 30th year in the film industry.
“It is truly an honor for me to receive this National Cinematography Prize,” Penelope Cruz said in Spanish to the crowd, according to Variety. “Cinema is and has been my passion since I was a child. Since I dreamed in the living room of my parents’ house of worlds to explore beyond our neighborhood. The streets of my neighborhood sometimes became sets for incredible stories.”
Earlier this year, Penélope Cruz earned her fourth Academy Award nomination for acting, a Best Actress nod for the Pedro Almodóvar film Parallel Mothers. She has won one Oscar, a Best Supporting Actress Award in 2009 for the Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for 2009’s Nine and for Best Actress in a Leading Role for 2006’s Volver, another Almodóvar film.
The 48-year-old got her start in acting with a handful of small television roles in Spain, but had a breakthrough role in 1992’s critically-acclaimed Jamón, Jamón, which also starred her future husband, Javier Bardem. Her role in 1997’s Live Flesh was her first film with renowned Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, and began a working relationship that continues to this day. They have made seven films together, earning Penélope Cruz two Oscar nominations and worldwide acclaim for them both.
Cruz made her English speaking debut in 1998’s The Talk of Angels. Among Cruz’s other American films are 2001’s Blow with Johnny Depp (they would work together again in 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), All the Pretty Horses, Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise (whom she dated for a few years), and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin with Nicolas Cage, Murder on the Orient Express, and Zoolander 2. Earlier this year, she starred in the action flick The 355 with Jessica Chastain.
Cruz not only remains active in Spanish cinema, she does television on occasion. In 2018, she earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role for a Limited Series for playing Donatella Versace in American Crime Story.
Penélope Cruz’s latest film, the Spanish language drama On the Fringe, is currently playing the film festival circuit and hits American theaters in October. She is currently filming Ferrari, directed by Michael Mann, which has yet to get a release date. She plays Laura Ferrari in the real-life story of the family behind the legendary cars.
The San Sebastián Film Festival is Spain’s premier film event, and this is not their first time honoring Penélope Cruz. In 2019, she was given the Donostia Award for career achievement, its highest honor.
