Ileana D'Cruz (born 1 November 1987) is an Indian-born Portuguese actress and model who predominantly appears in Telugu and Hindi language films. D'Cruz was born in Mumbai and spent most of her childhood in Goa. D'Cruz made her screen debut in 2006 with Telugu-language film Devadasu, which was a commercial success. She has received several awards including a Filmfare Award South and a Filmfare Award. D'Cruz established herself as a leading actress in Telugu cinema with successful films including Pokiri (2006), Rakhi (2006), Munna (2007), Jalsa (2008), Kick (2009) and Julayi (2012). She made her debut in Tamil cinema with Kedi (2006) and starred in Shankar's Nanban (2012), a commercial success. D'Cruz expanded to Hindi cinema in 2012 with Anurag Basu's comedy-drama Barfi!, for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. She has since played the leading lady in Main Tera Hero (2014), Rustom (2016), and Raid (2018). Early and personal life D'Cruz was born to a Catholic father and Muslim mother in Mahim, Mumbai on 1 November 1987. Ileana D'Cruz confessed being an atheist. Her family moved to Parra, Goa when she was 10 years old. Her first portfolio was created in January 2003; D'Cruz called it a "disaster". Subsequent photo shoots and ramp shows led to a second portfolio the following year, which landed her advertisements from Electrolux, Emami Talc and Fair & Lovely. The latter, in particular, which was directed by Rakesh Roshan, gave her exposure and brought in several offers for acting in feature films. D'Cruz acquired Portuguese nationality in 2014. In an interview with Verve in 2017, she said that Portugal was a part of her ancestry. She was in a relationship with Australian photographer Andrew Kneebone. It was rumored that they had already married. On 28 August 2019, Indian media aired the news that the couple had broken up. Career Debut and early roles (2005–2006) In 2005, D'Cruz was called for an audition by director Teja, but the project was cancelled. She made her feature film debut in the Telugu language romance film Devadasu (2006), directed by Y. V. S. Chowdary. She underwent acting classes with Aruna Bhikshu, before starting to work on the film. She recalls that during filming she felt "pressured ... almost cried and didn't want to go further", but went ahead after her mother encouraged her, giving her "the lecture of a lifetime [...] at 3 am."