Italian actress and model Monica Bellucci is best recognised for her roles in The Matrix films and as a Bond girl in the film Spectre.
On September 30, 1964, she was born in the Italian village of Città di Castello, Umbria, to parents Brunella (née Briganti) and Pasquale Bellucci.
Being an only kid, Bellucci speaks Italian, English, French, Persian, and Spanish with ease. She speaks Portuguese as well.
Early Career
Modeling was Monica Bellucci’s first line of work, which she started at the age of 13. She briefly pursued a legal education, but in 1988 she transferred to Milan from the University of Perugia.
She joined Elite Model Management while in Milan with the help of agent Piero Piazzi.
She became one of the most well-known fashion models in Paris and New York City within a year. She posed for Dolce & Gabbana and the French Elle magazine throughout her career.
Based on her appearance and fame in the modelling industry, she started acting in 1990. She has walked the catwalk numerous times throughout her modelling career and has modelled for Esquire, Men’s Health, Maxim, Dior, Vanity Fair Italy, and GQ Italia.
Two 1991 films would feature her in her debut acting roles. One was an Italian TV drama film called Via coi figli.
In the movie, she would be given secondary billing. The comedy-drama La riffa (The Raffle), in which she played the lead, was her second project to be released that year.
Acting Career
In her career, Monica Bellucci has had the good fortune to take part in a number of enduring Italian and American movies.
She made a big impression on audiences throughout the world in a brief but memorable performance as one of the vampire’s brides in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
The seminal 1990s horror boom movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola also marked Monica Bellucci’s US acting debut.
She would continue to produce films in Italy, and in 1996, she would star alongside Romane Bohringer and Vincent Cassel in L’appartement (The Apartment).
This suspenseful film won a BAFTA and received positive reviews. For the best supporting actress César Award, Bellucci would be a nominee.
In the early 2000s, she would start to feature more frequently in American movies, but she would continue to produce noteworthy Italian movies, such Malena (2000), an influential coming-of-age movie about a young guy during World War II who falls in love with a beautiful woman played by Bellucci. The film is regularly a fan favourite in contemporary Italian cinema.
Controversial movies are nothing new to Bellucci either. She gained notoriety for her part in the contentious drama Irréversible (2002), which was directed by Gaspar Noé and contains a harrowing scene of sexual assault.
The movie gained notoriety for its honest portrayal of such a tragic event and its use of reverse chronological order.
The Matrix
Bellucci would go on to direct successful American movies. She made appearances in The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and Tears of the Sun in 2003.
She would portray the computer programme Persephone in the Matrix movies. She would be one of the more experienced computer programmes from past iterations of The Matrix’s virtual reality and a type of ally to the humans therein.
She shared the lead role in the action comedy Shoot ‘Em Up in 2007 with Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti. Given the ludicrous action sequences and off-color humour, the movie would go on to become a cult favourite.
Spectre
won a lead role in Daniel Craig’s James Bond movie Spectre in 2015. She was the oldest Bond Girl aged 51 at the time of her appearance in that movie.
She has made prominent television appearances, thus she is likewise no stranger to American television.
She played Alessandra in many episodes of the Amazon Prime series Mozart in the Jungle in 2016.
In 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return, directed by David Lynch, she would also star as herself.
What is Monica Bellucci doing now?
In 2022, Monica Bellucci, who is still acting today, made appearances in three movies, the most recent of which was Diabolik – Ginko all’attacco!, which was based on a well-known European crime and adventure comic book. She is Altea di Vallemberg in the drama.
Alongside Liam Neeson, Monica appeared in the 2022 film Memory.
Additionally, she is currently finishing up two projects for 2023. The first is a Mafia Mamma-themed American comedy in which Toni Collette and Bellucci will co-star.
She will also make an appearance in six episodes of the television miniseries Radical Eye: The Life and Times of Tina Modotti, which is based on the life of Communist revolutionary Tina Modotti.
In a Yahoo interview, Bellucci shares how she is accepting her age. Particularly after her performance in Spectre, where the media made much of her age, this was the case. Given her career history, she seemed at ease in 2021.
Personal Life
yastmastmastmasticlericardsti a She has been secretive about her relationship with sculptor and former model Nicolas Lefebre.
During a Chanel show in 2019, they made their relationship official, but they broke it off soon after.
From January 1990 until June 1990, Bellucci was married to fashion photographer Claudio Carlos Basso; however, the union ended in divorce. She had just turned 20.
She wed actor Vincent Cassel in a second marriage. The two started dating in 1996 after meeting on the set of L’appartement.
In August 1999, the couple got married in Monaco. In addition, they collaborated on nine movies between 1996 and 2006.
August 2013 saw the couple’s separation announcement, and they divorced soon after. Even though they share a city and co-parent their two kids, the two are nonetheless close.
With Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci’s second husband, they had two daughters. On September 12, 2004, Deva Cassel was born. On May 21, 2010, Léonie Cassel was born.
Deva Cassel recently started her own modelling career, but the coronavirus outbreak interrupted the early stages of her career. Like her mother, she was found when she was a little child.
Although Monica Bellucci is active on social media, her profiles are managed by third parties. She is accessible on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.