Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...
and
Dior, before making a transition to Italian films and later American and French films.
She made her film debut in
Francesco Laudadio
Francesco Laudadio (2 January 1950 – 6 April 2005) was an Italian director, screenwriter and producer.
Life and career
Born in Mola di Bari, graduated in philosophy, Laudadio started his career as a script supervisor and an assistant director ...
's Italian comedy ''
La Riffa'' (1991). The following year she played a
Bride of Dracula in
Francis Ford Coppola's gothic horror romance film ''
Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992). For her leading role in ''
L'Appartement'' (1997), she received a
César Award for Most Promising Actress
The César Award for Most Promising Actress (french: César du meilleur espoir féminin) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding breakthrough performance of a ...
. She played Malèna Scordia in the
Giuseppe Tornatore's acclaimed Italian romantic drama ''
Malèna'' (2000). She starred in
Gaspar Noé
Gaspar Noé (, ; born 27 December 1963) is an Argentine filmmaker based in Paris, France. He is the son of Argentine painter, writer, and intellectual Luis Felipe Noé.
In the early 1990s, Noé along with his wife Lucile Hadžihalilović were ...
's controversial
arthouse
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily ...
psychological thriller film ''
Irréversible
''Irréversible'' () is a 2002 French experimental psychological thriller film written and directed by Gaspar Noé. Starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel, the plot depicts the events of a tragic night in Paris as two men ...
'' (2002), which premiered at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
.
In 2004, she portrayed
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
in
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...
's biblical drama ''
The Passion of the Christ
''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary ...
'' (2004). She portrayed
Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...
in the 2003 science-fiction films ''
The Matrix Reloaded
''The Matrix Reloaded'' is a 2003 American science-fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is a sequel to '' The Matrix'' (1999) and the second installment in the ''Matrix'' film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Lau ...
'' and ''
The Matrix Revolutions
''The Matrix Revolutions'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the third installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, released six months following ''The Matrix Reloaded''. The film stars ...
''. At the age of 51, by appearing in the 2015
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film ''
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
'', she became the oldest
Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...
in the history of the franchise. She has since acted in films such as ''
The Whistleblower
''The Whistleblower'' is a 2010 biographical drama film directed by Larysa Kondracki and starring Rachel Weisz. Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan wrote the screenplay, which was inspired by the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska police officer w ...
'' (2010), ''
The Wonders'' (2014), ''
On the Milky Road'' (2016), ''
The Best Years of a Life
''The Best Years of a Life'' (french: Les plus belles années d'une vie) is a 2019 French drama film directed by Claude Lelouch. It was screened out of competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It follows the lead characters featured in the ...
'' (2019), ''
The Man Who Sold His Skin
''The Man Who Sold His Skin'' () is a 2020 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Kaouther Ben Hania. Its plot was inspired by Belgian contemporary artist Wim Delvoye's living work ''Tim'' (2006), which was in turn inspired by Roald ...
'' (2020), and ''
Memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
'' (2022).
Early life
Bellucci was born 30 September 1964 in
Città di Castello
Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...
,
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, ...
, the only child of Brunella Briganti and Pasquale Bellucci, and grew up in Lama of
San Giustino
San Giustino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about northwest of Perugia on the Tiber River.
History
In ancient Roman times it was a town named ''Meliscianum''.
Nearby at Colle ...
.
Career
Modelling
![Monica Bellucci (cannesPhotoCall)-](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Monica_Bellucci_%28cannesPhotoCall%29-.jpg)
Monica Bellucci began modelling at age 13 by posing for a local photo enthusiast. In 1988, Bellucci left the Faculty of Law at the
University of Perugia
University of Perugia (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale.
Th ...
, and moved to one of Europe's fashion centers,
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, where she signed with
Elite Model Management
Elite Model Management (MM) refers to two independent chain modeling agencies that originated as one in Paris, France in 1972 with subsequent locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London and Toronto. In 2004, the agencies in New York, Miami, ...
with the aid of model agent Piero Piazzi. By 1989, she was becoming prominent as a fashion model in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and across the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
, in New York City. She posed for
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...
and French ''
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
'', among others. In that year, Bellucci made the transition to acting and began taking acting classes. The February 2001
''Esquire'''s feature on Desire featured Bellucci on the cover and in an article on the five senses.
In 2003, she was featured in ''
Maxim
Maxim or Maksim may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine
** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition
** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition
*Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
''. ''
Men's Health
''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands.
Started as a men's health magazine by Rodale, Inc. ...
'' also named her one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time", ranking her at No. 21. AskMen named her the number one most desirable woman in 2002. According to two national newspapers, she is considered an Italian
sex symbol.
In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter Deva, Bellucci posed nude for the Italian ''
Vanity Fair'' in protest against an Italian law that restricts the provision of fertility treatment to heterosexual couples and excludes single women or same-sex couples, restricts surrogacy and research using human embryos, forbids sperm and egg donation, and limits the number of embryos created with in-vitro techniques to three. She posed pregnant and semi-nude again for the magazine's April 2010 issue. From 2006 to 2010 Bellucci was the face of a range of
Dior products.
In 2012, she became the new face of
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...
.
She is managed by
Elite+ in New York City. Bellucci is signed to D'management Group in Milan and also to
Storm Management
Storm Management is a British model agency based in Chelsea, London.
Background
Storm was founded in 1987 by Sarah Doukas in London. Doukas discovered Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne, Behati Prinsloo, and Anya Taylor-Joy. In 2009, Doukas sold a con ...
in London. Bellucci also posed for ''GQ Italia'' in February 2016.
Bellucci walked the runway for the Spring 2019 Milan Fashion Week for
Dolce and Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...
. Joining her included
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952) is an Italian-American actress, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted ...
,
Eva Herzigová
Eva Herzigová (born 10 March 1973) is a Czech-Italian supermodel and actress.
Early life and career
Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), the daughter of an accountant mother and an electrician father. Growing ...
and
Helena Christensen
Helena Christensen (born 25 December 1968) is a Danish model and photographer. She is a former Victoria's Secret Angel, clothing designer and beauty queen. Christensen was also the co-founder and original creative director for ''Nylon'' magazine, ...
, continuing the influx of 90s supermodels returning to the spotlight of fashion.
Acting
![Monica Bellucci, Women's World Awards 2009 b](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Monica_Bellucci%2C_Women%27s_World_Awards_2009_b.jpg)
Bellucci's film career began in the early 1990s. She played some minor roles in ''
La Riffa'' (1991) and ''
Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992). In 1996, she was nominated for a
César Award for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Lisa in ''
The Apartment
''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, Dav ...
'' and strengthened her position as an actress. She became known and popular with worldwide audiences, following her roles in ''
Malèna'' (2000), ''
Brotherhood of the Wolf
''Brotherhood of the Wolf'' (french: Le Pacte des loups) is a 2001 French period action horror film directed by Christophe Gans, co-written by Gans and Stéphane Cabel, and starring Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Émilie Dequenne, Monica Bel ...
'' (2001) and ''
Irréversible
''Irréversible'' () is a 2002 French experimental psychological thriller film written and directed by Gaspar Noé. Starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel, the plot depicts the events of a tragic night in Paris as two men ...
'' (2002).
She has since played in many films from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
Hollywood like ''
Tears of the Sun
''Tears of the Sun'' is a 2003 American action thriller film depicting a fictitious U.S. Navy SEAL team rescue mission amidst the 21st-century version of the civil war in Nigeria. Lieutenant A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) commands the team sent to ...
'' (2003), ''
The Matrix Reloaded
''The Matrix Reloaded'' is a 2003 American science-fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is a sequel to '' The Matrix'' (1999) and the second installment in the ''Matrix'' film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Lau ...
'' (2003), ''
The Passion of the Christ
''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary ...
'' (2004), ''
The Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...
'' (2005), ''
Le Deuxième souffle'' (2007), ''
Shoot 'Em Up
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs
) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...
'' (2007), ''
Don't Look Back'' (2009) and ''
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (german: "Der Zauberlehrling", link=no, italic=no) is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas.
Story
The poem begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving ...
'' (2010).
She also voiced
Kaileena in the video game ''
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within'' and the French voice of
Cappy for the French version of the 2005 animated film ''
Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...
''. She was supposed to be seen portraying Indian politician
Sonia Gandhi in the biopic ''Sonia'', originally planned for release in 2007, but it has been shelved. Bellucci dubbed her own voice for the French and Italian releases of the film ''
Shoot 'Em Up
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs
) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...
'' (2007).
In 2011, Bellucci was ranked fourth in ''
Los Angeles Times Magazine
The ''Los Angeles Times Magazine'' (also shortened to just ''LA'') was a monthly magazine which supplemented the Sunday edition of the ''Los Angeles Times'' newspaper on the first Sunday of the month. The magazine focused on stories and photos of ...
''s list of the 50 most beautiful women in film.
At 50, she became the oldest
Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...
ever in the
James Bond film franchise, playing Lucia Sciarra in ''
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
'' (2015). Three years later, she appeared in the Australian film ''Nekrotronic''.
In 2021 she was honoured with Stella Della Mole Award for Artistic Innovation at 39th
Torino Film Festival
The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It was f ...
considering her lifetime achievements.
Personal life
At the age of 20, Bellucci married Italian photographer Claudio Carlos Basso; they divorced after six months.
From 1989 to 1995, she had a relationship with Italian actor
Nicola Farron.
She met French actor
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor.
He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film '' La Haine (Hate)'', for which he received two César Award ...
on the set of their 1996 film ''
The Apartment
''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, Dav ...
''.
They married on 2 August 1999 in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
.
Bellucci and Cassel have two daughters, Deva (born 12 September 2004) and Léonie (born 21 May 2010). Their daughters were born in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. Bellucci and Cassel acted together in nine films from 1996 to 2006. The couple announced their separation on 26 August 2013
and later divorced. At the end of 2014, Bellucci said she was still enamoured of Cassel; both have remained close ever since.
After her divorce, Bellucci was in a relationship with French sculptor and former model Nicolas Lefebvre, who was then 37 years old. They made it official in early March 2019 during a
Chanel show at the ''
Grand Palais'' in Paris. She announced the end of their relationship in early July 2019.
Bellucci lived with Cassel and their daughters in Italy, France, Brazil, and England.
Then, in 2015, she decided to settle in Paris. Bellucci says, "Paris is part of my history", but she nevertheless considers herself "completely Italian. Everything in me is Italian." She has houses in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
and Rome. During the
coronavirus lockdowns, Bellucci and Cassel lived in two nearby houses on the
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
coast
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...
(
Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlant ...
) so that the latter could see his daughters and thus continue to share parental duties.
Bellucci is fluent in Italian, French, and English. Deva became
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...
's muse at the age of 15 and, later, their
runway model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...
. Her daughters' native language is Italian; Deva spoke five languages at the age of 16.
In the documentary movie ''The Big Question'', about the film ''
The Passion of the Christ
''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary ...
'', Bellucci stated: "I am an
agnostic, even though I respect and am interested in all religions. If there's something I believe in, it's a mysterious energy; the one that fills the oceans during tides, the one that unites nature and beings."
In 2009, Bellucci signed a petition in support of director
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
, who had been detained while traveling to a film festival in relation to his 1977
sexual abuse charges, which the petition argued would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects."
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Dubbing roles
Awards and nominations
References
External links
* http://www.monicabellucci.net at Official Web Site
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellucci, Monica
1964 births
Living people
People from Città di Castello
Italian female models
Italian film actresses
Italian video game actresses
Italian agnostics
Nastro d'Argento winners
20th-century Italian actresses
21st-century Italian actresses
University of Perugia alumni
Italian expatriates in France
Italian expatriates in Spain
Italian expatriates in Brazil
Italian expatriates in the United States
Magritte Award winners
People named in the Pandora Papers