Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (born September 30, 1964 in Citta di Castello, Italy) is an Italian model and actress.
She became a model in 1987 to finance her studies, most notably for the luxury goods brand Dolce&Gabbana, which gave her international exposure. She grew tired of modelling after a few years and took up acting lessons on stage and appeared in some Italian films, before moving to France in 1995.
Her career in acting took a decisive turn with the 1996 French film L'Appartement directed by Gilles Mimouni, which got her nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress. Her fame and sex symbol image grew steadily in French and Italian cinema from there, and she made her Hollywood debut in 2000 with Under Suspicion.
She's fluent in several languages, to the point where she has dubbed her own roles for some of those languages, French most notably. She was married to French actor Vincent Cassel from 1999 to 2013, with whom she has two daughters, Deva and Léonie. As of 2023, she is in a relationship with American film director Tim Burton.
Roles Include:
- The Raffle (1991) as Francesca
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) as one of Dracula's brides
- Dobermann (1997) as Nat la Gitane ("Gipsy Nat")
- Under Suspicion (2000) as Chantal
- Malèna (2000) as Malèna Scordia
- Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) as Sylvia
- Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002) as Cleopatra
- Irréversible (2002) as Alex
- Tears of the Sun (2003) as Dr. Lena Kendricks
- The Matrix as Persephone
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
- The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
- Enter the Matrix (2003)
- The Matrix Online (2004)
- Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (2004) as Kaileena
- The Passion of the Christ (2004) as Mary Magdalene
- The Brothers Grimm (2005) as the Mirror Queen
- Sheitan (2006) as La belle vampiresse (cameo)
- Shoot 'Em Up (2007) as Donna Quintano
- Don't Look Back (2009) as Gianni
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) as Veronica
- Spectre (2015) as Lucia Sciarra
- Mozart in the Jungle Season 3 (2016) as Alessandra
- Twin Peaks (2017) As Herself
- Nekrotronic (2018) as Finnegan
- The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020) as Soraya
- Memory (2022) as Davana Sealman
- Diabolik - Ginko Attacks! (2022) as Altea of Wallenberg
- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) as TBA
Tropes & Trivia in her works:
- Advertised Extra: She was given a lot of attention in the press for appearing in Spectre as the oldest Bond Girl to date. She has just five minutes of screen time.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Tends to be cast as beautiful but withdrawn women with dark hair, such as Persephone and Malèna.
- Casting Gag:
- In The Matrix Reloaded, she stars alongside fellow Italian actress and model Silvia Colloca, who had been touted as her successor in the 2000s, and both had played Dracula's queen bride - Monica in Bram Stoker's Dracula and Silvia in Van Helsing.
- She was also the first choice for Mina Harker in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which would have been an obvious one to Dracula.
- Enforced Method Acting: To put Giuseppe Sulfaro (at the time, a teenaged boy) at ease when filming their scenes in Malena, she would greet him every morning with a kiss.
- Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Her sultry Italian accent when speaking French in both her locally-made works and self-dubbed works has made her fame about as much as her goods looks in France.
- Hide Your Pregnancy: She was pregnant when The Whistleblower was filmed.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She plays a kindhearted prostitute in How Much Do You Love Me?. Her prostitute character in Brotherhood of the Wolf is also on the side of good, but turns out to be quite ruthless and dangerous, and could almost pass as a Lady of War in her later scenes. And in Malèna, her character is a kind-hearted woman who has to turn to prostitution after the women of the town shun her.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's clearly comfortable with her looks, and they aren't exactly under-exploited in her filmography, nudity included. However, the most suggestive scenes where she appears naked are mixed with the worst expressions of disgusting violence, as happens in Malèna and Irréversible.
- Multiple Languages, Same Voice Actor: She usually dubs herself in French, which is much to French viewers' delight due to her sultry voice and accent.
- Pretty in Mink: Modeled some furs, and wore some in Shoot 'Em Up and the French film How Much Do You Love Me?.
- Silver Vixen: She is still very attractive well into middle age and can still play sexy characters. She was even hyped up as the oldest Bond Girl for her appearance in Spectre which, while shorter than the trailers would have you believe, still highlights her beauty and sex appeal.
