All About Penélope Cruz's Younger Look-alike Sister, Monica Cruz

Penélope Cruz and her younger sister, Monica Cruz, are two of a kind — so much so that even they sometimes can’t tell themselves apart.

"The other day we were sitting together in the back of the car, and I was looking in the rearview mirror and a very strange thing happened: I thought I was looking at my face, and it was hers!" Penélope told Contact Music in 2008, per British Vogue.

Born three years apart to the late talk show host Encarna Sánchez and Eduardo Cruz, who died of a suspected heart attack in 2015, the two girls grew up together in a suburb of Madrid, Spain, with their younger brother Eduardo.

Though Penélope eventually left her hometown for the bright lights of Hollywood, the sisters never lost their connection with each other. "We talk all the time and tell each other everything, even if sometimes we have to do it on the BlackBerry," Monica told The Daily Mail in 2007.

She also shut down any rumors of a sibling rivalry, saying, “I have been raised to value my family. Penélope and I never fight, we have a really, really good relationship. It makes me angry and sad when people ask if we argue because I can't imagine a family being any other way."

Though the women are both entertainers, having danced and acted from a young age, Monica told the publication that they always maintained their individuality as well. “v was hyperactive — she didn't sleep or eat — and I was always the calm child,” she told The Daily Mail. “I was the good girl – at least until I was 16 or 17!"

Keep reading for everything there is to know about Penélope Cruz’s younger sister, Monica Cruz.

She is three years younger than Penélope

Monica was born to Encarna Sánchez and Eduardo Cruz on March 14, 1977, just under three years after Penélope arrived on April 28, 1974.

“Penélope was always the clown — acting, singing, fooling around — and I would just be sitting there looking at her,” Monica previously told The Daily Mail of their dynamic growing up. “Just quietly sitting staring at my big sister.”

In March 2017, Penélope shared an adorable throwback of the two girls together on Instagram in honor of Monica’s 40th birthday. “Happy birthday my beautiful sister!! I love you," she wrote in her caption.

She and Penélope design clothes together

Penélope and Monica have been designing clothing collections for various fashion companies since 2007, when they created a handbag line for Samantha Thavasa.

Penélope has publicly said that the work is something that comes naturally to the sisters, who would “hide in the bathroom together [and sit] on the floor with magazines … drawing on top of the designs and changing the designs” as children.

They have since done lines for Charles Vögele, Mango, Agent Provocateur, Loewe and Geox. "It is something that keeps happening here and there,” Penélope said in October 2023. “So, we are very grateful because we continue to learn from these great brands."

The women said it also gives them a chance to bond in a different way. “It's funny actually, we very rarely clash,” Penélope told Harper’s Bazaar in 2015. “I guess we know each other so well, we work very well together, which is lucky! In fact, we often go away to look at inspiration and come up with creative content and ideas, and come back with the same thoughts.”

Monica shared a similar sentiment with The Daily Mail in 2011, saying, “It’s easy for us to work together. With one look, we instantly know what the other is thinking. We often come up with exactly the same idea, without having discussed it first. And we can be more honest with one another."

It also helps that they have the same style: “We are the same size and we borrow each other's clothes all the time,” Monica told The Daily Mail in 2007, noting that she would often take items from her sister’s closet when she traveled to L.A., adding that Penélope did the same when she came back to Spain. “She takes things from my wardrobe," she said.

Monica and Penélope were pregnant at the same time

Monica announced her pregnancy via artificial insemination in January 2013. Just weeks later, Penélope’s rep confirmed to HOLA that the Vanilla Sky star was also pregnant, saying that the actress was “tremendously happy and very excited.”

According to Hello!, Monica gave birth to daughter Antonella Cruz Sánchez on May 14, 2013. The outlet reported that Penélope was by her sister’s side at the time of the birth, as was the sisters’ mother, Encarna, and their brother, Eduardo.

Penélope then welcomed her second child with husband Javier Bardem, daughter Luna, just two months later on July 22, 2013.

Penélope and Monica’s younger brother is a famous singer

The sisters also grew up with a third sibling — younger brother Eduardo Cruz — who is a famous singer in Spain.

Monica spoke about her brother’s profession to The Daily Mail in 2011, saying, “It is very important for us to be seen as individuals with our own careers. I think it is very intelligent of Eduardo to pursue his music in the way he has.”

In addition to Eduardo, Penélope and Monica also share a half-sister named Salma from their late father Eduardo’s second marriage to Carmen Moreno.

She and Penélope are both professionally trained dancers

Though Penélope is best known as an actress, she and Monica both studied ballet from the age of 4, per The Daily Mail. Monica continued to dance into her teens and beyond, later joining the Joaquín Cortés Dance Company at the age of 17.

“Dancing is my first passion,” she told the publication in 2014. “Dance is about telling a story with your body.”

In addition to providing her with a creative outlet, the former ballerina said it also gave her and her older sister a sense of structure. “It teaches a wonderful discipline and that discipline stays with you,” she said. “My sister and I talk all the time about how much it has helped us.”

She is also an actress

After her stint with the Joaquín Cortés Dance Company, Monica followed her big sister into acting, appearing in the Spanish TV series Un Paso Adelante.

She followed that up with roles in The Final Inquiry, Velvet Colección and UPA Next.

Monica spoke about her career pivot to The Daily Mail in 2007, saying, "A dancer's life is hard — it is so physically demanding and at any moment you could have an injury that could end your career. … I am going to focus on my acting.”

Though Monica said she didn’t foresee a career in Hollywood for herself, she did note that she takes her acting roles seriously. “I do see myself more and more as an actress rather than a dancer,” she said.

She was Penélope’s body double in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Unlike Penélope, Monica’s acting roles have largely been in foreign titles. The younger Cruz did star alongside her sibling in the 2011 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, however, even if the audience didn’t know it.

According to the Irish Independent, Monica was tapped to play her big sister’s body double while Penélope was pregnant with son Leo.

The film’s director, Rob Marshall, reportedly spoke about Monica’s role in the film at a 2011 Cannes Film Festival conference, saying, “We actually asked Monica to help us out with some of the wide shots and some of the long shots when we needed a different silhouette."

He added that The Final Inquiry star was “fantastic and a real friend to the film.”

She has starred in several music videos

In addition to her onscreen roles, Monica has appeared in several music videos.

In 2014, both she and Penélope appeared in brother Eduardo’s music video for “Cosas Que Contar.” Monica spoke to The Daily Mail about how important it was for the musician to make it on his own before involving his sisters in his work. “It's only now that he is established that he has asked us to be in his new video,” she said in 2007.

Three years later, Monica made a cameo in Jamiroquai’s music video for “Cloud 9” as an entrancing woman dancing in a nightclub.