Penelope Cruz Is Esquire's 'Sexiest Woman Alive' In 2014; 'The Spanish Enchantress' In Pictures Through The Years

Penelope Cruz was recently named "The Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire Magazine, a popular men's lifestyle publication, which will feature the Spanish actress/model on its cover for the magazine's November 2014 issue.

“I’ve played a lot of tricks on myself. I’ve made it hard for me sometimes, especially in my teens and twenties. I had an attraction to drama," the 40-year-old Cruz states in the lengthy article also published on Esquire Magazine's official website.

"Most of us have that, especially if you are an artist—you feel like you are tempted to explore the darkness,"

Cruz broke into the Hollywood scene and pop culture as Sofia Serrano in the movie, "Vanilla Sky" across co-star, Tom Cruise, who was her real life beau during that time.

Her major breakthrough as an actress came in 2009 when she won the Best Support Actress award for her role in "Vicky Christina Barcelona". Cruz was the first Spanish actress to achieve the feat. Cruz also appeared in the highly-popular Johnny Depp movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" in 2011.

Cruz is married actor Javier Bardem in 2010 and the couple has two kids-- a 3-year-old star and a 1-year-old daughter.

Penelope Cruz joins the list of Esquire Magazine's "The Sexiest Woman Alive", which the magazine started awarding in 2004 with Angelina Jolie as the first winner.

Others in the "sexiest" list are Jessica Biel (2005); Scarlett Johansson (2006 and 2013); Charlize Theron (2007); Hally Berry (2008); Kate Beckinsale (2009); Minka Kelly (2010); Rihanna (2011); and Mila Kunis (2012).

View the slideshow for a quick tour of images of Penelope Cruz from 1999 to 2014-- now 40-years-old, the 'sexiest woman alive' has also been consistently beautiful through the years.