Penelope Cruz Wins for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

The first category awarded at Sunday's Academy Awards was for best supporting actress, and the award went to Penelope Cruz. Cruz won the award for her role as wild and passionate Maria Elena in Woody Allen's film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

This was a night of firsts for Cruz. She was the first award winner of the night, but more importantly this was her first Oscar win, as well as the first time a Spanish-born actress won an Oscar, according to Reuters. Cruz was emotional as she gave her acceptance speech. She thanked Allen for trusting her with the character of Maria Elena and for writing great characters for women over the years.Cruz's Oscar win follows many other best supporting actress wins for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She took home awards from the BAFTA Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, the National Board of Review, and the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, to name a few.

Cruz has been able to achieve a dream that was not always in her favor. Reuters reports that Cruz has been struggling with English-speaking movie audiences to take her seriously as an actress despite her strong Spanish accent.

"I'm happy that finally that door seems to be more open and not just to me and three other people, but to a much bigger group," Cruz said, as reported by Reuters.