FAMOUS SPANISH ACTORS NOW IN HOLLYWOOD

Would you fancy to know who the top contemporary male & female Spanish actors are? Please follow on reading this post………….

Penelope Cruz is probably now the most well-known Spanish actress abroad; yet, she is not the only Spanish celebrity internationally recognized………. Antonio, Javier, Paz, Elsa…..

Penélope Cruz

She is widely accepted to be the number one famous Spanish actor or actress currently working. After winning the Goya Award, which is the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars, as best actress it was widely speculated that Cruz would go on to have an amazing career -in Spain and abroad- that no other Spanish actress has ever achieved, and to date it seems that she has fulfilled many of the expectations of those around her.

She was born in Madrid, Spain, on April 28, 1974. Her father, Eduardo, was a retailer, and her mother Encarna, a hairdresser. They had two more children: Monica, who is a dancer an also an actress and Eduardo Jr. , who is dating desperate woman Eva Longoria for a year.

After years of intensive study in ballet and jazz, she broke into acting in 1992. Cruz and fellow Spaniard Antonio Banderas once presented the Oscar for best foreign film to Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, for Todo Sobre Mi Madre, which coincidentally starred her in one of the most difficult roles of her career. In this film, she plays a nun who falls in love with an AIDS-infected man and then dies from the disease. Her list of Spanish credits also include Jamón, Jamón and the Oscar-winning foreign film Belle Epoque that turned her into Spain's leading female actress.

In addition, she's appeared in Woman on Top, The girl of your dreams, All the Pretty Horses, Vanilla Sky, Captain Correlli's Mandolin and with Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen’s 2008 film Vicki Cristina Barcelona.

In 2005, she was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World." Today, having worked hard to achieve Hollywood success (not easy for a non-English speaker), she is a major Hollywood star on the brink of winning an Oscar and having dated famous actors such as Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey and Javier Bardem, whom she finally married in 2010 and have a small child.

Paz Vega

She is another of the Spanish actresses cherished by Hollywood. Paz Campos Vega (her real name, the surname she took from her grandmother) was born 2nd January 1976 in the City of Sevilla.

On finishing her secondary school education in her home City, she started to study I.T. sciences, but her attraction to performing compelled her to leave University to move to Madrid and initiate an artistic career. When she arrived in Madrid she went into the world of television acting in many Spanish television series. From Siete Vidas (a very famous TV serie) she flew to the world of cinema and with the director Julio Medem she received her most recognized role in the film Lucía y el Sexo (Lucía and Sex), which won her the Goya award for best new actress. These two interpretations made her one of the best and most sought-after actresses in Spanish cinema.

Paz Vega is a woman who defines Spanish beauty with large brown eyes. It was for this very reason that in the year 2003 Vicente Aranda called upon her to interpret the role of Carmen, in the film of the same name which narrates the story of the deadly woman by whom a French soldier loses his head during the Napolean occupation.

Her first role in the United States was in the film Spanglish. Currently her life is in Los Angeles (California), where she has recently starred in the films The Six Wives of Henry Lefey, directed by Howard Micheal Gould; Human Contract a film by Jada Pinkett Smith and also a film called The Spirit. Without a doubt, she is following in the footsteps of Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem just to name a few.

 She married to Venezuelan Orlando Salazar in 2002 and they are parents of three: Orson, Ava and Lennon.

Antonio Banderas

A voice like smooth silk, deep brooding gaze that alternately seduces and charms and a chiseled, dimpled profile... Jose Antonio Dominguez Banderas, better known as Antonio Banderas is widely believed to be the most famous Spanish actor in the world.

He was born in Malaga, Spain on August 10, 1960. His dream of ever becoming a professional soccer player was thwarted when he broke his foot at age 14. He transferred his energy to the stage, spending five-years with the prestigious National Theater of Spain, where his talent in the dramatic arts caught the eye of eccentric writer/director Pedro Almodóvar in 1982. Banderas began working in theater around the age of 19. During the 1980s he played roles in a number of Spanish films and gained the attention of audiences in Spain. His most successful role during this period was in Atame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) (1990).

Labyrinth of Passion was the beginning of a mutually rewarding partnership that gave way to such unforgettable releases as 1986’s Matador, Law of Desire (1987), and box office hits Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) which piqued Hollywood's interest in the Latin sensation.

Antonio Banderas first came to the attention of American audiences when he appeared in the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991). Banderas appeared in a few American films in the early 1990s, including in The Mambo Kings (1992), Philadelphia (1993) Interview with the Vampire (1994). The breakout (leading) role that garnered him Hollywood success was in the 1995 failed film Desperado. Banderas starred as the narrator in the 1996 film Evita, which also starred Madonna. Then came The house of Spirits, Miami Rhapsody, Two much (where he met his future wife, Melanie Griffith) and the mask of the Zorro (1998). In addition to acting, Banderas is a director. His directing debut was Crazy in Alabama (1999).

Banderas married American actress Melanie Griffith in 1996. The couple have a daughter, Stella del Carmen.

He also gave voice to Puss the Boots in the 2004 animated movie Shrek and tackled the true-life story of ballroom dancer Pierre Dulaine, who volunteered his time to teach a group of inner-city kids how to dance in the 2006 movie Take the Lead.

With his smoldering good looks and great charismatic personality, it is easy to see why this Hollywood conquistador was chosen as "one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world" by People Weekly. And received in 2008 the Gold Medal of Arts from the hands of the Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía for staying true to his roots as an artist and as a person.

Javier Bardem

Born Javier Angel Encinas Bardem on March 1st, 1969 in the Spanish Canary Islands, he made his film debut at the tender age of 11 in 1980’s El poderoso influjo de la luna, a film starring his mother, actress Pilar Bardem. This small role debut was a family tradition: the Bardem clan is a show business family made up of acclaimed Spanish actors and filmmakers who very often appear in each other's films.

The Spaniard is known for his intense and dramatic performances. Like a quiet icy storm, he is part of the story yet blends into the background whenever necessary. A brooding and mysterious and sometimes downright sinister air is brought about with Javier Bardem's screen presence. And his talent is not unnoticed - an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a SAG, a BAFTA, 4 Goya and 1 Cannes Prize play tribute to this man's talent. He holds the distinction of being the first Spaniard to be nominated for and to win an Oscar. His work in Spain involves his debut Jamón, jamón, Días contados, Boca a boca and recently Biutiful.

Like Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem is a famous star in Spain. He was the first Spanish actor to receive an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of controversial Cuban poet and exiled prisoner Reinaldo Arenas in the 2000 film Before Night Falls. However, it was his role as an assassin in the 2006’s No Country for Old Men, by the Academy Award-winning American Filmmaking pair, the Coen brothers, which finally won him the well-earned Oscar after years of hard work.

with wife Penelope

Bardem has had the privilege to work with some of today’s best directors. Among them are Steven Soderbergh, whom he made Guerrila (2004); Collateral (2002) with Michael Mann; Los Fantasmas de Goya (2006) with Czech director Milos Forman, with British director Mike Nelles in 2007’s Love in Times of Cholera and with American filmmaker Woody Allen in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), co-starring Penélope Cruz.

Elsa Pataky

This sexy and gorgeous Spanish actress is perhaps so far better known for being Adrien Brody’s fiancé than for her career but she’s a safe bet for the future and is working hard trying to pursue a career in Hollywood. And in fact, she is almost flawless: a pretty face and a statuesque body despite she’s only 161 centimetres high.

Elsa Lafuente Medianu was born in Madrid on July 18th 1976 to Cristina and José Francisco. Her mother has Romanian and Hungarian ancestors and Elsa took Pataky as her last name in honor of her grandfather who instilled her her love for acting. Elsa Pataky is not the typical blond bombshell. On the contrary she’s very well prepared because she studied at a drama school in Madrid and journalism at the University although she dropped out when she was cast for the TV series Al salir de clase which paved the wave for her film career.

In addition to that, Elsa speaks four languages: Spanish, French, English and Romanian. After the success of Al salir de clase and some little known movies she got the opportunity to star in El arte de morir a major film which was an important ticket office hit. Since then Elsa has performed in all kind of films: comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror movies although mainly acting in comedies. Finally in 2006 she gets to land in Hollywood with a small role in the cult thriller Snakes on a plane alongside Samuel L. Jackson. In 2007 she worked with Monica Bellucci in Manual d’amore 2 and she also worked with Gerard Depardieu, David Beckham and Michael Schumacher in the star-studded film Asterix aux jeux olympiques (2007) released in 2008.

Apart from acting, the Spanish stunner has also  graced the covers of numerous magazines. Her love life  has also been quite busy. Elsa was involved in a long relation  with a Spanish race motorcyclist, with French comedian Michael Youn, with American actor Adrien Brody and now she is happily married to Chris Hemsworth, star of Thor. Last week, by the week, Elsa announced her first pregnancy. Congrats to the happy couple!

Sources:

www.donquijote.org

http://www.buzzle.com/

http://www.sportandbeauty.blogspot.com/

http://www.wikipedia.es/