30 MAY 2002
Sultry Spanish actress Penelope Cruz has been voted Entertainer of the Year by the Imagen Foundation, an organisation which recognises and promotes Latino representation in the entertainment industry. She joins Untouchables actor Andy Garcia, who has garnered a Creative Achievement gong.

While reviews of Pen's work have been patchy, the Madrid-born actress has had a busy time in the last couple of years and shows no sign of slowing down. She is about to kick off filming with American music legend Bob Dylan on Masked And Anonymous - a comedy about a musician released from prison for one last concert, also starring John Goodman, Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges.

Then, she teams-up with fellow Spaniard Antonio Banderas for Tarantula, a film written by Oscar-winning Pedro Almodovar and directed by his brother Agustin. Set ten years in the future, the off-beat vehicle tells the story of a vengeful plastic surgeon who turns his daughter's rapist into a woman, only to fall in love with her.

Pen has also been nominated in the Best Breakthrough Female category of the MTV awards for her role in the drug-running thriller Blow, opposite Johnny Depp.