[link=/name/nm5097044]Isabela Merced[/link], [link=/name/nm10695146]Leo Woodall[/link], and more stars who are on the rise in 2025.

Top Stars to Watch in 2025

<a class="ipc-md-link" href="/name/nm5097044?ref_=nmwrk_eds_right-3_lk">Isabela Merced</a>, <a class="ipc-md-link" href="/name/nm10695146?ref_=nmwrk_eds_right-3_lk">Leo Woodall</a>, and more stars who are on the rise in 2025.

See these famous faces in some of their first breakout roles in Hollywood.

Before They Were Famous: Actors' Early Roles

Take a peek at the biggest new and returning series coming to your screens in 2025, including new seasons of "Yellowjackets" and "Stranger Things."

IMDb's 2025 TV Guide

Take a peek at the biggest new and returning series coming to your screens in 2025, including new seasons of &quot;Yellowjackets&quot; and &quot;Stranger Things.&quot;

Known outside her native country as the "Spanish enchantress," Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Madrid to Eduardo Cruz, a retailer, and Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser. As a toddler, she was already a compulsive performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's amusement, but she decided to focus her energies on dance. After studying classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, she continued her training under a series of prominent dancers. At 15, however, she heeded her true calling when she bested more than 300 other girls at a talent agency audition. The resulting contract landed her several roles in Spanish TV shows and music videos, which in turn paved the way for a career on the big screen. Cruz made her movie debut in El laberinto griego (1993) (The Greek Labyrinth), then appeared briefly in the Timothy Dalton thriller Framed (1992). Her third film was the Oscar-winning Belle Epoque (1992), in which she played one of four sisters vying for the love of a handsome army deserter. The film also garnered several Goyas, the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards. Her resume continued to grow by three or four films each year, and soon Cruz was a leading lady of Spanish cinema. Live Flesh (1997) (Live Flesh) offered her the chance to work with renowned Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar (who would later be her ticket to international fame), and the same year she was the lead actress in the thriller/drama/mystery/sci-fi film Open Your Eyes (1997), a huge hit in Spain that earned eight Goyas (though none for Cruz). Her luck finally changed in 1998, when the movie-industry comedy The Girl of Your Dreams (1998) won her a Best Actress Goya. Cruz made a few more forays into English-language film, but her first big international hit was Almodóvar's All About My Mother (1999), in which she played an unchaste but well-meaning nun. As the film was showered with awards and accolades, Cruz suddenly found herself in demand on both sides of the Atlantic. Her next big project was Woman on Top (2000), an American comedy about a chef with bewitching culinary skills and a severe case of motion sickness. While in the US, she also signed up to star opposite Johnny Depp in the drug-trafficking drama Blow (2001) and opposite Matt Damon in Billy Bob Thornton's All the Pretty Horses (2000). Cruz says she's wary of being typecast as a beautiful young damsel, but it's hard to imagine disguising her wide-eyed charms and generous nature. Fortunately, with Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001) (a remake of Open Your Eyes (1997)) and a John Madden collaboration looming in her future, Damsel Penelope isn't likely to disappear just yet.

Presenter of TV programs aimed to young people in Spanish channel Tele 5

(2001-02) TV commercial: Ralph Lauren Glamourous

(2002) TV commercials (Japan) Lux Super Rich

(2005) TV commercial (PSA): The ONE Campaign [www.one.org]

Print ad: &quot;Sean by Sean Combs&quot; clothing line (by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0004835/?ref_=nmwrk">Sean &#39;Diddy&#39; Combs</a>).

(2001) TV commercial: &quot;Freixenet&quot; cava

(2006-07) Print ads: L&#39;Oréal Paris &#39;Natural Match Color-Calibrated Creme hair colors.

(2006) Print ad: L&#39;Oréal Paris Elvital.

(2007) Print ads: L&#39;Oréal Paris Endless 8-Hour Lipcolour.

(1989) Music video Appeared in the &quot;La Fuerza del Destino&quot; from the Spanish pop band <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0575284/?ref_=nmwrk">Mecano</a>.

(2007-08) Print ads: L&#39;Oréal Paris Telescopic Mascara.

(2007-08) Print ads: L&#39;Oréal Paris Bare Naturale gentle mineral makeup collection.

(2007) Print ads: L&#39;Oréal Paris Dermo Expertise line of skin care products.

Music video: Appeared in <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm2480990/?ref_=nmwrk">Eduardo Cruz</a> video &quot;Cosas Que Contar&quot;.

(2008) Print ad: L&#39;Oréal Elnett Satin hairspray.

(2008-09) Prints ad: L&#39;Oréal Paris Vive Pro hydra gloss shampoo &amp; conditioner.

(2008) Print ads: L&#39;Oréal Paris Bare Naturale mineral-enriched mascara.

(2009) TV commercial: L&#39;Oréal Paris hairspray.

(1994) Music video: Appeared in <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0134346/?ref_=nmwrk">Nacho Cano</a> video &quot;El patio&quot;

(2010,2012) Print ad: Tresor perfume by Lancôme.

(2009) Print ads for L&#39;Oréal Paris Vive Pro glossy style mousse and spray gel.

(2012) Music video Miguel Bosé: &quot;Decirnos adiós&quot;

(2012) TV commercial: <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt2305604/?ref_=nmwrk">New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2012)</a>

(November 2013) TV commercial &quot;Who Else?&quot; for Nespresso.

(April 5, 2019) Voice-over: <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt9253866/?ref_=nmwrk">Our Planet (2019)</a> - narrator in Spanish language version, Netflix.

(2019) Ambassador for Atelier Swarovski by Penélope Cruz MoonSun collection.

(2017) Print ads for Lancôme Paris L&#39;Absolu Rouge.

(2019) Print ads for Lancôme Hypnôse Mascara L&#39;Originale.

(2018) Print ads for Carpisa Spring in Naples, Capsule Collection Designed by Penélope Cruz.

(2017) Print ads for La Nuit Trésor L&#39;Eau de Parfum by Lancôme Paris.

(2018) Print ads for Lancôme Advanced Génifique with Kate Winslet.

Other works

Penélope Cruz

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