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.
1992
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Radiant at 17, doing a photo shoot in Madrid.
1997
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Now 22, and soaking up the sun on the set of Alejandro Amenábar’s Open Your Eyes (Spanish: Abre los ojos).
1999
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At the Berlin Film Festival, aged 24, promoting The Girl of Your Dreams.
1999
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Bringing a bright red lip and Spanish flair to LA.
1999
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Posing at a Cannes photocall for All About My Mother.
1999
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On the waters near Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes.
1999
Photo: Getty Images
In all black and sporting super glossy hair for a New York Film Festival screening of All About My Mother.
2000
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In the ultimate bombshell uniform—a red slip dress—at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
2000
Photo: Getty Images
In LA with her friend and longtime collaborator, Pedro Almodóvar.
2000
Photo: Getty Images
In an ethereal white ballgown, attending the Golden Globes with Almodóvar. All About My Mother would go on to take the prize for best foreign language film later that night.
2000
Photo: Getty Images
A freckled, sun-kissed beauty at a GQ party in LA.
2000
Photo: Getty Images
2000
Photo: Getty Images
Now 26 and in a quintessentially early aughts ensemble for a Cannes photocall for Woman on Top.
2000
Photo: Getty Images
Pulling off a choppy fringe at the Latin Grammy Awards in LA.
2000
Photo: Getty Images
In a suit for the LA premiere of Woman on Top.
2000
Photo: Getty Images
Simply stunning at the LA premiere of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
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Radhika Seth is the film & culture editor at British Vogue. She works across both the magazine and the website’s Arts & Lifestyle section, writing and editing pieces on film, TV, and awards season, as well as travel and food. She previously held the same role at Vogue Global Network, ... Read More