Ewa Da Cruz (born Ewa Benedicte Övre Skulstad; July 9, 1977), also known as Ewa Skulstad or Ewa Benedicte Övre Skulstad, is a Norwegian-American

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. Da Cruz is best known for her portrayal of the high-roller heiress Vienna Hyatt on ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other so ...

''.

Early life and education

Da Cruz was born in Tromsø and raised in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. She began her modeling career in her native Norway, at eight years of age, for a major clothing line. She continued to model for print ads, editorials and runways in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. Da Cruz came to the United States to attend the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

in New York and graduated in 2004. She was then selected to become a member of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts Theatre Company for 2004 and 2005.

Career

Da Cruz has also appeared in the video "Su Veneno" ("Her Poison") by Aventura. Since moving to New York, she has appeared in such films as ''Bella'', '' Kettle of Fish'', ''Sex & Sushi'', ''Dice'', ''Charlie'', ''Abingdon'', ''I Think I Thought'', and ''Dogs Lie''. She played Vienna Hyatt on CBS's ''

'' from 2006 to 2010.. Retrieved on 2007-06-07. Da Cruz also appeared in supporting roles, on such TV shows as '' Lipstick Jungle'', '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' and ''

Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

''.

Modeling

Da Cruz's modelling career includes numerous print ads, editorials, runways, covers and commercials both in Europe and the United States. She posed

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and no ...

in the Norwegian edition of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine and was the

Playmate A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playm ...

of the month for May 1999. She has also appeared in magazines such as ''Film Tidskrift'', ''Shape-Up'', ''KK'', ''Det Nye'', ''Mascara'', ''Rouge'', '' Watch! Magazine'', ''Capitol File'' and ''

French Vogue ''Vogue France'' (stylised in all caps) is the French language, French edition of ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine, formerly called ''Vogue Paris'' from its inception until 2021. The magazine started publication in 1920 and has since been re ...

''. Da Cruz has also been the cover model for several romance novels, including Elizabeth Hoyt's ''Scandalous Desires''.

Writing

She is a freelance journalist with monthly columns in the Norwegian editions of magazines such as ''Rouge'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' and ''Mascara''.

Awards

Da Cruz was named one of Soap's most beautiful women in

Soap Opera Digest ''Soap Opera Digest'' was a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It featured onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional ...

in 2007. She was also voted ATWT's hottest "newcomer" in Soap Opera Digest in 2007. At Soap Central she was nominated and won the 2007 Dankies as an Outstanding Special Guest or Recurring Role. She was also nominated at the 2007-2008 Dankies for a host of awards, including Outstanding Supporting Actress, Outstanding Newcomer, Favourite Onscreen Couple or Duo, Outstanding Overall Performer and Most Attractive Female Star (which she won).

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Da Cruz, Ewa 1977 births People from Tromsø Actresses from Bergen Living people Norwegian film actresses Norwegian soap opera actresses Norwegian television actresses American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Female models from New York (state) Norwegian emigrants to the United States American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni 21st-century Norwegian actresses 21st-century American women