Many Spanish actresses are not far behind in popularity from their colleagues from the USA, Great Britain, France and other countries of the world. Beautiful women who were born in the homeland of flamenco and bullfighting, achieve world fame, conquer Hollywood. Not only the famous Penelope, the muse of Pedro Almodovar and the former lover of Tom Cruise, but also other talented movie stars who are her compatriots, about the achievements of which can be read in this article, managed to win fame around the world.
Penelope Cruz - Star No. 1
The name of this actress will first come to mind the majority of viewers, if you ask them to name the most famous Spanish woman in the world of cinema. Penelope Cruz was born in Madrid, there was a joyful event in April 1974. The parents of the girl were not related to cinema, her father was engaged in trade, her mother worked as a hairdresser. Penelope has a sister and brother who also linked their lives with creativity, but have not yet been able to repeat the success of their talented relative.
In childhood, Penelope Cruz could not imagine life without dancing, for the sake of training, she neglected the lessons. However, her dream of becoming a famous dancer disappeared at age 13 thanks to the film “Tie Me Up,” starring Antonio Banderas. The girl decided that she would achieve fame as an actress and would star in the paintings of Pedro Almodovar.
Her first film was the drama "The Greek Maze", which was released in 1991, in which the young Spaniard played a small role. This was followed by participation in the filming of "Trap" and "Love, Sex and Ham", after which local directors drew attention to it. Penelope received her first fans and a "ticket" to Hollywood thanks to the film "The Beautiful Era", which collected a huge number of awards. To consolidate the success, Cruz helped the role in the drama "Living Flesh", so her dream to star in Almodovar came true. The most famous films with her participation: “Return”, “Vicki, Cristina, Barcelona”.
Biography of the Queen Chauntecleer
Sara Montiel is an actress from Spain, the existence of which the world learned long before the birth of Penelope. “The Queen of Chauntecleer” was born in March 1928, there was a joyful event in a small Spanish town with the unpronounceable name Campo de Criptana. The girl’s parents dreamed that she devote herself to serving God, but at the age of 11 she decided that she would become an actress, having won the main prize for participating in the song contest.
Over her long life, Sarah Montiel managed to star in more than 80 films, giving preference to musical melodramas in which she could sing. The most striking tapes with the participation of the Spaniards: "Queen Chauntecleer", "Casablanca - the nest of spies." The actress was able to declare herself as a singer, captivating the audience with a special manner of singing and introducing the bolero into use. Among the fans of the film star included such celebrities as Fidel Castro, Ernest Hemingway, Harry Cooper. She died in 2013, having managed to celebrate the 85th anniversary.
The story of Clara Lago
Young Spanish actresses who have achieved fame relatively recently also deserve attention. For example, Clara Lago, who received her first role at the age of 8 years. Such an early interest in the work of the girl, who was born in 1990 in Madrid, is not surprising. Lago's mother is a famous writer, her father is a successful designer. The first years of Clara’s life were surrounded by creative personalities, many of whom were associated with cinema. The role in the series "Partners" of the eight-year-old Lago went to thanks to a friend of his father, who acted as the producer of the show.
The beautiful Spanish actress got her first fans already at the age of 12, fame came to her after the release of the Carol's Journey tape, in which she played the main role. To consolidate the success helped the picture "Three meters above the sky", after which Clara began to be called the Spanish Audrey Tautou. Also, the girl can be seen in such popular films as "The End of the World", "Bunker", "Eight Basque Surnames".
Paz Vega - daughter of a matador
Many Spanish Hollywood actresses mastered the English language only for the sake of a career in the "dream world". Among them is Pas Vega - a sultry beauty, whose homeland is Spanish Seville. The girl was born in 1976 in the family of a matador. The desire to become an actress came to her in her teens when she got to the play “Bernard Alba’s House”. Parents insisted that her daughter first receive a journalism diploma, but Vega left her studies after two years.
The very first role made the temperamental Spanish woman popular in her country, the TV project “More Than Friends” with her participation has long been known in the homeland of Paz. It is not surprising that the beauty was quickly invited to a big movie, which allowed her to declare herself to the world in 2003, starring in the film "Carmen". Vega got a job in Hollywood with almost no knowledge of English, but quickly managed to learn the language. Starting with the role of a Spanish housemaid in the comedy Spanish English, she began to receive more and more offers. “10 steps to success”, “Avenger”, “I am very excited” - Vega starred in all these famous films.
Paz considers his main achievement the role of Maria Callas; she played the star of the opera in the Princess of Monaco.
Elena Anaya - a girl from the street
What other famous Spanish actresses are there whose names are familiar to the whole world? Among the brightest stars, of course, is Elena Anaya. The beauty was born in Palencia, it happened in 1975. The first years of Elena’s life were not cloudless, her parents had four children, the family was constantly experiencing financial difficulties. In adolescence, the girl dreamed about the career of an athlete, neglecting the lessons for the sake of swimming. However, to her adulthood, she suddenly decided to become an actress.
Elena got into the movie thanks to the director Julio Medem, who offered her a role in his drama “Lucia and Sex”. Currently, Anaya is known not only in Spain, she is constantly invited to international projects. The greatest popularity was gained by such films with her participation as “The Skin in which I live”, “Van Helsing”, “Dead Fish”.
Physics or Chemistry Star
The series "Physics or Chemistry" has become a "ticket to life" for many talented young people, including Ursula Corbero. The Spanish motherland is Barcelona, where she was born in August 1989. The first popularity came to the girl thanks to the television projects Countdown, Black Lagoon. However, world fame fell upon her after the show "Physics or Chemistry".
Ursula Corbero played in the popular series a participant in a love triangle, thousands of fans of the show were worried about the fate of her heroine. To their joy, everything ended well. Ursula boasts not only talent and excellent appearance, but also great taste. Many girls try to copy her special manner of dressing. Despite the low growth (163 cm), Corbero is also in demand as a model, collaborates with many prestigious brands.
Achievements Una Chaplin
Like many other Spanish actresses, Una Chaplin became popular thanks to the series. The name of this bright beauty is known to all fans of the cult television project "Game of Thrones." In this show, she got the difficult role of Talisa, the wife of Robb Stark, for the sake of marriage to which he risked his own kingdom.
Participation in the filming of the game “Game of Thrones” is far from the only achievement of the Spanish star born in 1986 in Madrid. The audience knows the girl from the paintings “The Devil's Double” and “The Long Road”, and she can also be seen in the television projects Sherlock, Dating, Black Mirror, and Hour. Una is the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin himself, he performs magnificent flamenco dancing and does not like to leave his beloved Madrid for a long time.
Carmen Maura - Muse of Pedro Almodovar
Not only Penelope Cruz loves to remove the famous Spaniard Pedro Almodovar in his paintings. Among his favorites, for whom he always has roles, is Carmen Maura. Carmen was born in 1945 in a wealthy Madrid family, her parents belonged to the famous aristocratic dynasty. As a child, she was fond of singing, dreamed of declaring herself as a singer, but fate decreed otherwise.
When the actress is asked to name the film in which she most liked to act in films, she selects “Return” - a picture shot by Almodovar. Carmen’s most unusual role is a transgender man from the drama Law of Desire, after which she became known as a gay icon. Maura is not afraid to shock the public, she is proud of her image of a strong woman who can cope with any difficulties.
The famous "understudy"
Monica Cruz is known to the public primarily as the sister of Penelope, extremely similar to her in appearance. The actress received the most famous role due to the pregnancy of a famous relative, who asked to replace her on the set of the adventure film "Pirates of the Caribbean". Of course, the "understudy" was used only in the shooting from afar, since she and Penelope are still not twins.
Monica Cruz was born in March 1977 in Alcobendas. Even in the first years of her life, the girl “fell ill” with ballet, gave many years to dancing. She even once was a member of the troupe of Joaquin Cortez, however, for unknown reasons, gave up performances. Now Monica is focused on raising her little daughter, her career has temporarily faded into the background.
Blanca Suarez and her achievements
Like many young Spanish actresses, Blanca Suarez can still be proud of only one striking role that she played in the drama "The Skin in which I live." In this film of Almodovar, she played the role of the daughter of the central character Norma, Antonio Banderas became her on-screen “dad”. Blanca owes its popularity to a high-profile romance - for several years she had a romantic relationship with Spanish star Mario Casas.