Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci (born September 30, 1964) is an Italian actress and former fashion model.

Background

Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria. Initially pursuing a career as a lawyer, Bellucci decided to start modeling in order to help pay for 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 in The Passion of the Christ.

After her work in The Passion of the Christ, Bellucci was assumed by many fans to be a Christian. However in a documentary about the film, The Big Question, 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." ^*

Modelling career

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 model in Paris and across the Atlantic, in New York City. She posed for Dolce & Gabbana and French ELLE, amongst others. In that year, Bellucci made the transition to acting and began taking acting classes.

Personal life

She is married to fellow actor Vincent Cassel, with whom she has appeared in several films and had a daughter, named Deva. In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter, Bellucci posed nude for the Italian Vanity Fair Magazine in protest against Italian laws that allow only married couples to use in-vitro vertilization and that prevent the use of donor sperm.^*

Trivia

In 2003, Bellucci was featured in Maxim.
In 2004, she topped AskMen's 100 Most Beautiful Women in the World annual list.
She will be seen essaying the role of Indian politician Sonia Gandhi in the biopic expected to release in 2007. Her resemblance to Gandhi, and the fact that both Bellucci and Gandhi are Italian was an unsurprising choice.
Bellucci has done several nude scenes in her films, most notably in Malèna, and Irréversible.
She is 171 cm. ^*

Partial filmography

Year	Title	English title	Role
2007	Shoot 'em Up	Shoot 'em Up	-
2006	N - Napoléon	-	Emily
n/a	Combien tu m'aimes?	-	Daniela
2005	-	The Brothers Grimm	The Mirror Queen
2005	Agents Secrets	Secret Agents	Barbara / Lisa
2004	-	She Hate Me	Simona Bonasera
2004	-	The Passion of the Christ	Mary Magdalene
2003	Ricordati di me	Remember Me, My Love	Alessia
2003	-	The Matrix Revolutions	Persephone
2003	-	The Matrix Reloaded	Persephone
2003	Irréversible	Irreversible	Alex
2003	-	Tears of the Sun	Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks
2002	Astérix et Obelix: Mission Cleopatre	Asterix and Obelix Meet Cleopatra	Cleopatra
2001	Le Pacte des loups	The Brotherhood of the Wolf	Sylvia
2000	Franck Spadone	-	Laura
2000	Malèna	Malena	Malèna Scordia
2000	Suspicion	Under Suspicion	Chantal Hearst
1999	Comme un poisson hors de l'eau	Like a Fish Out of Water	Myrtille
1996	L'Appartement	The Apartment	Lisa
1992	-	Bram Stoker's Dracula	Dracula's Bride

Other roles

Warrior Within (a video game) as the voice of Kaileena

External links