Monica Bellucci

Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy,[2][3]  the daughter of Maria Gustinelli, a painter, and Luigi Bellucci, who owned a trucking company.[4]  Bellucci started modelling at 16, when she was attending the Liceo classico. Initially pursuing a career as a lawyer, Bellucci modeled to pay her tuition at the University of Perugia,[5]  but the lifestyle tempted her away from her law studies. She speaks Italian, French, and English fluently, Spanish semi-fluently, and she has had speaking roles in each of these languages as well as in Aramaic for her part as Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ.

Bellucci was married to fashion photographer Claudio Carlos Basso in 1990. She is currently married to fellow actor Vincent Cassel, with whom she has appeared in several films, and has two daughters, Deva (born 12 September 2004) and Léonie (born 21 May 2010).[6][7] In 2004, while pregnant with Deva, Bellucci posed nude for the Italian Vanity Fair Magazine in protest against Italian laws that prevent the use of donor sperm.[8] She posed pregnant and semi-nude again for the April 2010 issue of Italian Vanity Fair.[9]

In the documentary movie The Big Question, about the film The Passion of the Christ, she 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



Modeling

At the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.
At the 2009 Women's World Award.
Photographed by Studio Harcourt Paris in 2008

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'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.[11] In 2004, she topped AskMen's 100 Most Beautiful Women in the World annual list. Bellucci's modelling career is managed by Elite+ in New York City. She is considered an Italian sex symbol.[12][13][14] She is currently a face of a range of Dior Cosmetics. Bellucci is also signed to Storm Model Management in London.


Film

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 L'Appartement[16] and strengthened her position as an actress. She became known and popular with worldwide audiences, following her roles in Malèna (2000), Irréversible (2002) and has played in many films from Europe and Hollywood like Tears of the Sun (2003), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Passion of the Christ (2004), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Le Deuxième souffle (2007), Don't Look Back (2009), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010), etc.

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 (2007).[17] 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

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