Vintage Photos Trace Penélope Cruz's Rise from Alcobendas to Stardom

A Vogue gallery compiles 18 vintage photographs of Penélope Cruz, documenting her early career from the 1990s to early 2000s. Born in Alcobendas, Madrid, to a hairdresser and a mechanic, Cruz studied ballet at Madrid's National Conservatory before transitioning to acting. After initial rejections for being too young, she found an agent at 15 and appeared in music videos and Bigas Luna's 'Jamón Jamón' opposite future husband Javier Bardem. Her international breakthrough came through collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar on films like 'Live Flesh,' 'All About My Mother,' and 'Volver.' The images capture her at age 17 in Madrid, on the set of Alejandro Amenábar's 'Open Your Eyes' (1997), at the Berlin Film Festival (1999) promoting 'The Girl of Your Dreams,' and at Cannes (1999) for 'All About My Mother,' which won Almodóvar the best director prize. Later photos show her at the New York Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Golden Globes (where 'All About My Mother' won best foreign language film), Independent Spirit Awards, her first Oscars with Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas presenting the award to Almodóvar, and premieres of 'Woman on Top' and 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin.' At 52, Cruz recently starred in Olivia Wilde's 'The Invite' at Sundance and Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi's 'The Black Ball' at Cannes.