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Penelope Cruz, won for best supporting actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona at the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood, California - Source: Reuters -
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Spanish actress Penelope Cruz won her first Oscar as best
supporting actress for her performance as tempestuous artist Maria
Elena in Woody Allen's romantic comedy Vicky Cristina
Barcelona.
"I dedicate this to all the actors from my country," Cruz said in
Spanish as she accepted the award.
Born in Madrid to a hairdresser and an auto mechanic, Cruz, 34, got
her big break in the Spanish film industry in 1992 with Jamon
Jamon.
She captured the attention of Oscar-winning director Pedro
Almodovar, who cast her in various movies including the 2006 film
Volver, which earned her a best actress Oscar nomination for her
turn as a woman who kills her abusive husband.
That nod made Cruz the first Spanish woman to be nominated for a
best actress Academy Award for a non-English speaking role.
Cruz's Oscar win on Sunday follows a British BAFTA award and other
US critics' awards this season for her performance in Vicky
Cristina Barcelona as the fiery ex-wife to a bohemian artist
portrayed by Javier Bardem who has wooed a pair of young American
women vacationing Spain.
