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. 1
   Jamón, Jamón

   A 1992 Spanish erotic drama where Cruz plays Silvia, a young woman caught in a love triangle in rural Spain.
2. 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. 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. 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. 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. 6
   Blow

   A 2001 crime drama where Cruz plays Mirtha Jung, the volatile wife of cocaine smuggler George Jung.
7. 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. 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. 9
   Broken Embraces

   A 2009 Pedro Almodóvar neo-noir where Cruz plays Lena, an actress whose affair with a director spirals into danger.
10. 10
    Nine

    A 2009 musical drama where Cruz plays Carla, the passionate mistress of a struggling Italian film director.
11. 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. 12
    Pain and Glory

    A 2019 Pedro Almodóvar autobiographical drama where Cruz plays Jacinta, the mother of a filmmaker reflecting on his life.
13. 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.