BIOGRAPHY
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (born September 30, 1964) is an Italian actress and fashion model.
Born in 1964 in the Italian village of Citta di Castello, Umbria, Bellucci originally pursued a career in the legal profession. While attending the University of Perugia, she modeled on the side to earn money for school, and this led to her modeling career.
In 1988, she moved to one of Europe's fashion centers, Milan, and joined Elite Model Management.
Although enjoying great success as a model, she made her acting debut on TV in 1990, and her American film debut in 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1990).
Her role in the 1996 French thriller, Appartement, L' (1996), shot her to stardom as she won the French equivalent of an Oscar nomination.
Other credits include Malena (2000), Under Suspicion (2000) and Pacte des loups, Le (2001).
Career
Modeling
In 1988, Bellucci moved to one of Europe's fashion centers, Milan, where she signed with Elite Model Management. By 1989, she was becoming prominent as a fashion model in Paris and across the Atlantic, in New York City. She posed for Dolce & Gabbana and French ELLE, among others. In that year, Bellucci made the transition to acting and began taking acting classes. The February 2001 Esquire Magazine's feature on Desire featured Ms. Bellucci on the cover and in an article
on the five senses. In 2003, she was featured in Maxim. In 2004, she topped AskMen's 100 Most Beautiful Women in the World annual list. Bellucci's modelling career is
managed by Elite+ in NYC. She is considered an Italian sex symbol. She is currently a face of a range of Dior Cosmetics
Entertainment
Bellucci's film career began in the early 1990s. In 1992 she made her first appearance in a major English-language film as one of Dracula's brides in Bram Stoker's Dracula. She became known and popular with English-speaking audiences following her lead role in the acclaimed Italian film Malèna, as well as through the portrayal of a rape victim in the highly controversial Irréversible, though is perhaps best known for her role as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions followed by her portrayal of Mary Magdelene in The Passion of the Christ.
In a documentary about the film, The Big Question, she s tated: "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 2003, Bellucci starred in Tears of the Sun as a doctor in Nigeria being rescued by the US and in the 2005 fantasy film The Brothers Grimm as a beautiful evil queen. Her latest films are The Stone Council, directed by the Frenchman Guillaume Nicloux (2006) and Manuale d'amore 2 (2007) where she portrays a physiotherapist in the first segment of the film who is object of the desire of her patient. She was supposed to be seen portraying Indian politician Sonia Gandhi in the biopic Sonia, originally planned for release in 2007 but now shelved. September 2007 saw the release of Shoot 'Em Up, where she plays a prostitute opposite Clive Owen. She dubbed her own voice for the French and Italian releases of the film.
She is currently filming Le Deuxième souffle with Daniel Auteuil, Michel Blanc and Eric Cantona.
Bellucci also voiced as Kaileena in the video game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and Cappy for the french voice in the 2005 animated movie Robots.
In 2007 she appeared in Heart Tango, a movie for Intimissimi, with José Fidalgo and directed by Gabriele Muccino.
Personal life
Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy, the daughter of Maria Gustinelli, a painter, and Luigi Bellucci, who owned a trucking company. Bellucci started modelling at 16, when she was attending to the Liceo Classico. Initially pursuing a career as a lawyer, by modeling Bellucci helped finance her tuition while at the University of Perugia, but the glamorous lifestyle tempted Monica away from her law studies. She speaks Italian, French, and English fluently and has acted in each of these
languages, as well as Aramaic.
Bellucci is married to fellow actor Vincent Cassel, with whom she has appeared in several films and had a daughter, named Deva (born September 12, 2004). In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter, Bellucci posed nude for the Italia
n Vanity Fair Magazine in protest against Italian laws that allow only married couples to use in-vitro fertilization and that prevent the use of donor sperm.
Made a nude calendar for the Italian magazine Max in 1998 and another one for the Italian magazine GQ in 2000.
Bellucci Slams Skinny A merican Actresses
13 June 2003 (WENN)
Sexy actress Monica Bellucci has slammed "childish-looking" American actresses for being so skinny - accusing them of being scared to be "real women." The Matrix Reloaded star loves the fact she is naturally curvy, and describes herself as "old-fashioned" in the way she likes to be treated like a lady by men - but Bellucci believes this attitude is far better than her suppo sedly 'liberated' American counterparts. She explains, "Too many American actresses and models are slender and childish-looking. Perhaps it's because some men are frightened of real women and are drawn to childlike looks as they want to protect them. I've never been frightened of being a real woman. It might seem old fashioned, but I think many men want to see real women with full figures. They don't want skin and bo ne, yet all the time actresses try to be thinner than thin. In America, if a man tells a woman she's beautiful, the woman might be full of plastic surgery, work out two hours a day and spend a fortune on cosmetics and clothes. Then the woman gets offended because she's being treated like a piece of meat." The 34-year-old Irreversible actress prides herself in her status as an absolute natural by refusing to work on her stunning good looks. She says, "I don't work out and I would never have surgery - b ut I'm flattered if men say they appreciate me. I like doors being opened for me and I appreciate it when men make a fuss. This is not to reject women's rights - because I'm free and independent. It's just facing facts. That's just the way it is."
Monica Bellucci's hubby hate
December 23 2005 -
by AskMen.com Editors
Monica Bellucci The beautiful star says she thought French actor Vincent Cassel was pretentious when she saw him on the set of 'L'Appartement'.
She revealed: "It was not love at first sight. In fact, it was the opposite. I thought, 'This guy is very pretentious - who does he think he is?'
"But we got to know each other over time. I realised he was not as he seemed. He put up a public face, like many of us."
The 36-year-old former model added: "He also told me later, 'I thought you were just a model pretending to be an actr ess. Then, I realised you could act.'"
The actress also says she doesn't know how her high-profile marriage has managed to stay so strong.
She told Britain
"For me it is a miracle every day." disliked her husband when they first met.
Bellucci's Pregnant Pose Infuriates Vatican
6 August 2004 (WENN)
Italian screen siren Monica Bellucci's naked and pregnant pose on the country's edition of Vanity Fair magazine has infuriated The Vatican. The Passion Of The Christ beauty and he r French husband Vincent Cassel are expecting their first child in the autumn. Bellucci decided to strip off as a protest against the new Italian laws, which allow only married couples to use in-vitro fertilization (Ivf) and prohibits the use of donor sperm. In the magazine, Bellucci rages, "Over here, if you aren't married with all the proper rubber stamps, they stop you using science to have a child. Religious and ethical dogmas have prevailed upon common sense. This kind of legal obstacle is not so different from the physical limitations tha t women have long endured. In Muslim countries women are forced to cover their heads and keep silent. In Italy, they are prevented from asking the help of science to become mothers, unless they are married." The Holy State's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano fumes, "The child who will be born is no longer a human being to protect in the womb, but becomes the unw itting accomplice of a sad game."
Bellucci and Cassel's "Divine" New Daughter
15 September 2004 (WENN)
Italian movie star Monica Bellucci and her actor husband Vincent Cassel are taking a break from films to care for their first child, Deva, who was born in Rome on Sunday. The Passion Of The Christ star, 35, met Cassel, 37, on the set of the 1996 French film L'Appartement and has since played opposite him in controversial movie Irreversible, action film The Brotherhood Of The Wolf and romantic drama Agents secrets - but they're glad to step away from the limelight to concentrate on their daughter, whose name is of Sanskr it origin and means divine. Bellucci's agent, Laurent Gregoire, said, "Eve rybody's doing well."
Belluci Happy to Strip
Monica Bellucci is happy to strip off in h er films because she's so comfortable with her stunning looks.
The actress - who has peeled in front of the cameras for several roles - insists she never finds movie nudity offensive, and is happy to show off her curves.
She said: "I have shown my body because I do not object to nudity onscreen. That offends some people, I know, but not me."
Bellucci insists she has always been confident about her looks and has never been riddled with the insecurities that affect many actresses.
She added: "I have always felt good about myself."
Filmography
Centricity (2007)
Le Deuxieme Souffle (2007)....... Manouche
Sonia (2007) .... Sonia Gandhi
Shoot 'Em Up (2006)
The Stone Council (2006) .... Diane Siprien
N - Napoléon (2006) .... Emily
Combien tum 'aimes? (2005).... Daniela
The Brothers Grimm (2005) .... Mirror Queen
The Matrix Online (2005) (VG) (voice) .... Persephone
Prince of
She Hate Me (2004) .... Simona Bonasera
Agents secrets (2004) .... Barbara/Lisa
The Passion of the Christ (2004) .... Magdalen
The Matrix Revolutions (2003) .... Persephone
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) (voice: french version) ....
Enter the Matrix (2003) (VG) ....Persephone
The Matrix Reloaded (2003) .... Persephone
Tears of the Sun (2003) .... Dr.
Remember Me (2003) .... Alessia
Irreversible (2002) .... Alex
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002) .... Cléopâtre
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) .... Sylvia
Under Suspicion (2000) .... Chantal Hearst
Franck Spadone (2000) .... Laura
Méditerranées (1999) .... Marguerite
Like a Fish Out of Water (1999) .... Myrtille
Those Who Love (1998) .... Valeria
Humanity's Last New Year's Eve (1998) .... Giulia
Compromis (1998) .... Monique, la jeune première
Pleasure (And Its Little Inconveniences) (1998) .... La jeune fille éplorée
As You Want Me (1997) .... Nellina
Mauvais genre (1997) .... Camille
Dobermann (1997) .... Nathalie/Nat the gipsy
Stressati (1997)
The
(1996) (TV) (uncredited) .... Princess
Joseph (1995) (TV) .... Pharaoh's Wife
Snowball (1995) ...Melina
The Heroes (1994) .... Deborah
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) .... Dracula's Bride
Ostinato destino (1992) .... Marina and Angela
Riffa, La (1991) .... Francesca
Bandits: Love and
Vita coi figli (1990) (TV)
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