Editing Penélope Cruz (section)

==Early life==
Cruz was born on 28 April 1974 in the town of [[Alcobendas]], [[Community of Madrid|province of Madrid]], Spain, to Encarna Sánchez, an [[Andalusia]]n hairdresser and personal manager, and Eduardo Cruz, an [[Extremadura]]n retailer and car mechanic.<ref name="Bio">{{cite web|title=Penélope Cruz Biography|url=http://www.biography.com/people/penelope-cruz-9262753|publisher=[[Biography.com]]|access-date=15 July 2014|archive-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407041312/https://www.biography.com/people/penelope-cruz-9262753|url-status=dead}}</ref> She has two siblings, [[Mónica Cruz|Mónica]], also an actress, and Eduardo, a singer. She also has a paternal half-sister, Salma.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/penelope-cruzs-father-has-passed-away/ar-AAbMe0B|title=Penelope Cruz's father has passed away|website=[[MSN]]|access-date=18 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619002817/http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/penelope-cruzs-father-has-passed-away/ar-AAbMe0B|archive-date=19 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/penelope-cruzs-father-dies/ar-AAbMHIQ |title=Penelope Cruz's father dies |website=[[MSN]] |access-date=18 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619010819/http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/penelope-cruzs-father-dies/ar-AAbMHIQ |archive-date=19 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="cbsnews"/> She was raised [[Roman Catholic]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/javier-bardem-and-penelope-cruz-are-engaged-2009510|title=Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem Are Engaged!|work=[[Us Weekly]]|date=5 October 2009|access-date=13 May 2010|archive-date=14 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014190726/http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/javier-bardem-and-penelope-cruz-are-engaged-2009510|url-status=live}}</ref> Cruz grew up in Alcobendas, and spent long hours at her grandmother's apartment.<ref name="cbsnews">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/15/60minutes/main6101587_page2.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody |title=The Rising Star of Penelope Cruz (Page 2) |work=CBS News |first=Charlie |last=Rose |date=17 January 2010 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728040439/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-rising-star-of-penelope-cruz-15-01-2010/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="mariéclairepage3" /> She said she had a happy childhood.<ref name="cbsnews"/> Cruz remembers "playing with some friends and being aware that I was acting as I was playing with them. I would think of a character and pretend to be someone else."<ref name="I"/>

Initially, Cruz focused on dance:<ref name="cbsnews"/> she studied [[classical ballet]] for nine years<ref name="mariéclairepage3" /> at Spain's [[Madrid Royal Conservatory|National Conservatory]].<ref name="peoplebio" /> She took three years of Spanish ballet training and four years of theatre at [[Cristina Rota]]'s school.<ref name="askmenquestions">{{cite web |url=http://www.askmen.com/celebs/interview_200/230_penelope_cruz_interview.html |title=10 Questions With Penelope Cruz |first=Todd |last=Gilchrist |publisher=[[AskMen]] |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006095303/http://www.askmen.com/celebs/interview_200/230_penelope_cruz_interview.html |archive-date=6 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Hola>{{cite web|url= http://www.hola.com/biografias/penelope-cruz/biografia/|title= Últimas noticias y biografía de Penélope Cruz|language= es|work= Hola|date= 7 November 2006|access-date= 3 May 2010|archive-date= 17 October 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121017131419/http://www.hola.com/biografias/penelope-cruz/biografia/|url-status= live}}</ref> She said that ballet instilled discipline that proved important in her acting career.<ref name="cbsnewspage3"/> When she became a [[cinephile]] at ten or eleven, her father bought a [[Betamax]] machine, which was then quite rare in her neighborhood.<ref name="I">{{cite web|url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/penelope-cruz/|title=Penelope CRUZ|last=Cotillard|first=Marion|date=28 April 2010|work=[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]]|access-date=2 April 2011|archive-date=8 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008104100/http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/penelope-cruz/|url-status=live}}</ref>

As a teenager, Cruz became interested in acting after seeing the film ''[[Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!]]'' (1990) by Spanish director [[Pedro Almodóvar]].<ref name="cbsnews"/><ref name="vanityfairpage2">{{cite web |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/11/penelope-cruz200911?currentPage=2 |title=The Passions of Penélope |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |first=Ingrid |last=Sischy |date=November 2009 |access-date=26 April 2010 |archive-date=28 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528111457/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/11/penelope-cruz200911?currentPage=2 |url-status=live }}</ref> She did [[casting call]]s for an [[Talent agent|agent]] but was rejected several times because the agent felt that she was too young.<ref name="cbsnews"/><ref name="sydenyinfo" /> Cruz commented on the experience, "I was very extroverted as a kid.... I was studying when I was in high school at night, I was in ballet and I was doing castings. I looked for an agent and she sent me away three times because I was a little girl but I kept coming back. I'm still with her after all these years."<ref name="sydenyinfo" /> In 1989, at the age of fifteen, Cruz won an audition at a talent agency at which more than 300 other girls had applied.<ref name="peoplebio">{{cite web |url=http://www.people.com/people/penelope_cruz/biography |title=Penélope Cruz Biography |work=People |publisher=Time Warner Inc |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-date=20 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020064004/http://www.people.com/people/penelope_cruz/biography |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1999, [[Katrina Bayonas]], Cruz's agent, commented, "She was absolutely magic [at the audition]. It was obvious there was something ... impressive about this kid.... She was ... green, but there was a presence. There was just something coming from within."<ref name="peoplebio" />

Her father, Eduardo, died at his home in Spain in 2015, aged sixty two, from a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Penélope Cruz's Father, Eduardo, Dies at 62|url=http://www.people.com/article/penelope-cruz-father-died-eduardo-cruz|publisher=[[People (magazine)|People]]|access-date=1 September 2015|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905093246/http://www.people.com/article/penelope-cruz-father-died-eduardo-cruz|url-status=live}}</ref>