What is the best Penélope Cruz role of all time?

Across two continents and three languages, she's played desperate mothers, passionate lovers, and volatile geniuses — often for the same director. Which Almodóvar collaboration reigns, or does Hollywood get its due?

1

Jamón, Jamón

A 1992 Spanish erotic drama where Cruz plays Silvia, a young woman caught in a love triangle in rural Spain.

2

Belle Époque

A 1992 Oscar-winning Spanish comedy where Cruz plays Luz, one of four daughters who fall for a young deserter in 1930s Spain.

3

Open Your Eyes

A 1997 Spanish sci-fi thriller where Cruz plays Sofía, the love interest at the center of a man's unraveling reality.

4

All About My Mother

A 1999 Pedro Almodóvar drama where Cruz plays Sister Rosa, a young nun living in Barcelona who becomes entangled in a story of loss and resilience.

5

Vanilla Sky

A 2001 sci-fi romance where Cruz plays Sofia Serrano, the woman at the center of a billionaire's increasingly surreal love story.

6

Blow

A 2001 crime drama where Cruz plays Mirtha Jung, the volatile wife of cocaine smuggler George Jung.

7

Volver

A 2006 Pedro Almodóvar drama where Cruz plays Raimunda, a working-class mother in Madrid who must confront her troubled past when her dead mother appears.

8

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

A 2008 Woody Allen romantic drama where Cruz plays María Elena, the volatile ex-wife of a passionate Spanish artist, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

9

Broken Embraces

A 2009 Pedro Almodóvar neo-noir where Cruz plays Lena, an actress whose affair with a director spirals into danger.

10

Nine

A 2009 musical drama where Cruz plays Carla, the passionate mistress of a struggling Italian film director.

11

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

A 2011 blockbuster where Cruz plays Angelica, a pirate and Jack Sparrow's former love interest searching for the Fountain of Youth.

12

Pain and Glory

A 2019 Pedro Almodóvar autobiographical drama where Cruz plays Jacinta, the mother of a filmmaker reflecting on his life.

13

Parallel Mothers

A 2021 Pedro Almodóvar drama where Cruz plays Janis, a photographer whose life becomes intertwined with a teenage mother after they share a hospital room.