Unveiled: Tom Cruise's model girlfriend

A LITTLE more oil paint on her cheeks, run a comb through her hair Once her head was put on straight, Penelope Cruz was ready to meet her adoring public.

Hollywood's latest screen siren can be assured that she really has made it, joining such exalted company as Sylvester Stallone, Liz Taylor and, er, Chris Tarrant.

The Spanish actress's waxwork was unveiled yesterday at Madame Tussaud's - perhaps with a little less dignity than she might have liked, wheeled across the floor of the Premier Night room while astonished tourists looked on.

First though, as befits an actress at the very pinnacle of the A- list, Ms Cruz submitted to the ministrations of the makeup artists.

"She had a very nice face to do, very pleasant," said Tracey Lindsay, 32, hair and colourist supervisor. "I looked at photographs of her, studied them really well, to get the skintone as close as possible. I think she has come out looking very good."

Each waxwork costs 40,000 and takes six months to prepare, so Tussaud's wanted to be certain its new star would have sufficient staying power.

Fortunately Ms Cruz, 27, is reported to have introduced her latest boyfriend to her family in Madrid, and newspaper headlines are all about her plans to marry. Lucky Tom Cruise, a million men might think, and lucky Tussaud's, because its latest celebrity is still very hot news.

The Latin lovely, as she has inevitably been christened, also has a new film coming out - Vanilla Sky - in which she stars with the very same Mr Cruise.

It was Captain Corelli's Mandolin that made Ms Cruz's name, so it was appropriate that her waxwork was unveiled next to that of Nicolas Cage, her co-star in that film.

But fame can be a fleeting thing, and Ms Cruz should be careful, as William Hague knows only too well. The former Tory leader suffered the ignominy of being "retired" from Tussaud's in September, his head placed on a shelf next to Terry Wogan and Sir Jimmy Savile. In the studio where the final adjustments were made to the actress's hair and sequinned gown, there are other reminders of the transient nature of power and fame. On a shelf nearby are the wax arms of Lech Walesa, Fidel Castro and Dwight Eisenhower.

But today Ms Cruz is top of the pile at Tussaud's. "She will be very popular," said spokeswoman Diane Moon. "She will evoke all sorts of emotion - jealousy and lust, probably, in men."

They know all about emotion at Tussaud's - people weep before the model of Princess Diana and frequently harass Saddam Hussein.

Ms Cruz is the most requested female among male visitors to the attraction in the last few months. None was more delighted to see her make her appearance than Brett Kirby, 37, a firefighter from Connecticut on holiday in London.

"She is one of our favourites at the fire station," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek as his girlfriend, Joanne, looked on. "She's really beautiful."

Ms Cruz should enjoy the limelight while she can because she will be joined at Tussaud's next year by her boyfriend - and Nicole Kidman.

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