Monica Bellucci
Encyclopedia
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (born 30 September 1964) is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 actress and fashion model.

Early life

Bellucci was born in Città di Castello
Città di Castello
Città di Castello is a city and comune in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of the Umbria region of Italy. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain of the river Tiber. The city is north of Perugia and south of Cesena on the S3bis. It is connected to the A1...

, Umbria, Italy as the only child of Luigi Bellucci, who was born in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Pakistan (now part of India). Her parents, originally from the Gujarat region of the then province of Bombay Presidency in British India.[12][b] The family surname is derived from the town of Bulsar (also known as Valsad) in southern Gujarat.

Modeling

Monica Bellucci began modeling at age 13 by posing for a local photo enthusiast.
In 1988, Bellucci moved to one of Europe's fashion centers, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, where she signed with Elite Model Management
Elite Model Management
Elite Model Management is a large modeling agency based in New York and Paris. It is a subsidiary of Elite World S.A.-History:Founded in France in 1972 by John Casablancas and Alain Kittler, it was rebought in 1990 by Nicholas Farrae. Elite World S.A. is the parent company of Elite Model...

. By 1989, she was becoming prominent as a fashion model in Paris and across the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

, in New York City. She posed for Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian luxury industry fashion house. The company was started by the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Milan, Italy. By 2005 their turnover was €597 million....

 and French Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...

, among others. In that year, Bellucci made the transition to acting and began taking acting classes. The February 2001 Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

's feature on Desire featured Bellucci on the cover and in an article on the five senses. In 2003, she was featured in Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....

. In 2004, she topped AskMens 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
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...

. She is currently a face of a range of Dior Cosmetics. Bellucci is signed to D'management group in Milan and also to Storm Model Management in London.

In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter Deva, Bellucci posed nude for the Italian Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...

 Magazine in protest against Italian laws that prevent the use of donor sperm. She posed pregnant and semi-nude again for the magazine's April 2010 issue.

Acting

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
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....

 for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Lisa in L'Appartement
L'Appartement
L'Appartement is a 1996 French film directed by Gilles Mimouni and starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci and Romane Bohringer.-Plot:Max is a former bohemian and an amateur writer who gets a job in New York and leaves his girlfriend Lisa, who he was madly in love with, in mysterious circumstances...

 and strengthened her position as an actress. She became known and popular with worldwide audiences, following her roles in Malèna
Malèna
Malèna is a 2000 Italian romantic drama film starring Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro. It was directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni.-Plot:...

 (2000), Brotherhood of the Wolf
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Brotherhood of the Wolf is a 2001 French film directed by Christophe Gans, starring Samuel Le Bihan and Mark Dacascos, and written by Gans and Stéphane Cabel...

, and Irréversible
Irréversible
Irréversible is a 2002 French drama film written and directed by Gaspar Noé, starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel. The film employs a non-linear narrative and follows two men as they try to avenge a brutally raped girlfriend...

 (2002). She has since played in many films from Europe and Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 like Tears of the Sun
Tears of the Sun
Tears of the Sun is a 2003 American war film, depicting a United States Navy SEAL team rescue mission amidst a civil war in the West African country of Nigeria. Lt. A.K. Waters commands the team sent to rescue U.S. citizen Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks from the civil war en route to her jungle hospital...

 (2003), The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...

 (2003), The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...

 (2004), The Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm (film)
The Brothers Grimm is a 2005 fantasy Adventure film directed by Terry Gilliam. The film stars Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in an exaggerated and fictitious portrait of the Brothers Grimm as traveling con-artists in French-occupied Germany during the late 18th century...

 (2005), Le Deuxième souffle (2007), Don't Look Back
Don't Look Back (2009 film)
Don't Look Back is a 2009 French thriller film directed by Marina de Van, and starring Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci.- Plot :Jeanne, a married woman with two young children, starts to notice small changes taking place in the arrangement of objects in her family's home—furniture, pictures,...

 (2009), and The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010 film)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a 2010 fantasy adventure film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, directed by Jon Turteltaub, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the team behind the National Treasure franchise...

 (2010).

She was supposed to be seen portraying Indian politician Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...

 in the biopic Sonia, originally planned for release in 2007, but it has been shelved
Shelved
In politics, the term can be used for policy drafts, that have never been officially brought into legislation.In the film industry, a film is considered shelved if it is not released for public viewing after filming has started, or even completed....

.

Bellucci dubbed her own voice for the French and Italian releases of the film Shoot 'Em Up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...

 (2007). She also voiced Kaileena in the video game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is a video game and sequel to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Warrior Within was developed and published by Ubisoft, and released on December 2, 2004 for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Microsoft Windows. It picks up where The Sands of Time left off,...

, and the French voice of Cappy for the French version of the 2005 animated film Robots
Robots (film)
Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and was released theatrically on March 11, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and William Joyce, a children's book author/illustrator. The two were trying to create a film version of...

.

Personal life

Bellucci is married to French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 actor Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel is a Cesar award winning French actor probably best known to English-speaking audiences through his performances in the Ocean's Trilogy of films and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.-Personal life:...

, with whom she has appeared in several films. They have two daughters, Deva (born 2004) and Léonie (born 2010).

In the documentary movie The Big Question, about the film The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...

, she stated: "I am an agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....

, 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."

Wins

  • 2003 - Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actress (Ricordati di me)
  • 2005 - Golden Globes, Italy
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

    : European Golden Globe

Nominations

  • 1997 - César Awards for Best Promising Actress (L'appartement
    L'Appartement
    L'Appartement is a 1996 French film directed by Gilles Mimouni and starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci and Romane Bohringer.-Plot:Max is a former bohemian and an amateur writer who gets a job in New York and leaves his girlfriend Lisa, who he was madly in love with, in mysterious circumstances...

    )
  • 2001 - European Film Awards: Audience Award for Best Actress (Malèna
    Malèna
    Malèna is a 2000 Italian romantic drama film starring Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro. It was directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni.-Plot:...

    )
  • 2002 - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress (Brotherhood of the Wolf
    Brotherhood of the Wolf
    Brotherhood of the Wolf is a 2001 French film directed by Christophe Gans, starring Samuel Le Bihan and Mark Dacascos, and written by Gans and Stéphane Cabel...

    )
  • 2003 - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award for Best Female (The Matrix Reloaded
    The Matrix Reloaded
    The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...

    ) and (The Matrix Revolutions
    The Matrix Revolutions
    The Matrix Revolutions is a 2003 American science fiction film and the third installment of The Matrix trilogy. The film was released six months following The Matrix Reloaded. The film was written and directed by the Wachowski brothers and released simultaneously in sixty countries on November 5,...

    )
  • 2003 - David di Donatello Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Ricordati di me)
  • 2003 - Teen Choice Awards
    Teen Choice Awards
    The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with...

     for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star (The Matrix Reloaded
    The Matrix Reloaded
    The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...

    ) & (Tears of the Sun
    Tears of the Sun
    Tears of the Sun is a 2003 American war film, depicting a United States Navy SEAL team rescue mission amidst a civil war in the West African country of Nigeria. Lt. A.K. Waters commands the team sent to rescue U.S. citizen Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks from the civil war en route to her jungle hospital...

    )
  • 2004 - MTV Movie Awards
    MTV Movie Awards
    The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general...

     for Best Kiss (The Matrix Reloaded
    The Matrix Reloaded
    The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...

    )
  • 2005 - Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actress (The Passion of the Christ
    The Passion of the Christ
    The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...

    )
  • 2007 - Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actress (N (Io e Napoleone))

Filmography

Title Year Role Notes
Vita coi figli (Life With the Sons) 1990 Elda
Briganti – Amore e libertà (Bandits – Love and Liberty) 1990 Costanza
La riffa 1991 Francesca
Bram Stoker's Dracula 1992 One of Dracula's brides
Brides of Dracula
The Brides of Dracula are characters in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. They are three seductive female vampire "sisters" who reside with Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania, where they entrance male humans with their beauty and charm, and then proceed to feed upon them...

ostinato destino 1992 Marina/ Angela
I Mitici 1994 Deborah
Pala di Neve 1995 Melina
Il cielo é sempre piú blu 1995
Joseph
Joseph (film)
The Bible: Joseph is a German/Italian/American television movie from 1995, which tells the story of Joseph from the Old Testament.- Plot :Joseph, a Canaanite Hebrew, is an Egyptian slave to Potiphar, chief of Pharoah's palace guard. When Joseph is placed under the charge of Ednan, Potiphar's...

1995 Pharaoh's wife
L'Appartement
L'Appartement
L'Appartement is a 1996 French film directed by Gilles Mimouni and starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci and Romane Bohringer.-Plot:Max is a former bohemian and an amateur writer who gets a job in New York and leaves his girlfriend Lisa, who he was madly in love with, in mysterious circumstances...

1996 Lisa Nominated—César Award for Best Supporting Actress
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....

Sorellina e il principe del sogno (uncredited) 1996 Princess
Stressati 1997
Dobermann
Dobermann (film)
Dobermann is a French film directed by Jan Kounen and starring Vincent Cassel.-Plot:The charismatic criminal Dobermann , who got his first gun when he was christened, leads a gang of brutal robbers with his beautiful, deaf girlfriend Nat the Gypsy . After a complex and brutal bank robbery, they...

1997 Nat the Gypsy
Mauvais genre 1997 Camille
Come mi vuoi 1997 Nellina
Le plaisir 1998 Girl
Compromise 1998 Monique
Ultimo capodanno dell'umanità 1998 Giulia Giovannini
A los que aman 1998 Valeria
Comme un poisson hors de l'eau 1999 Myrtille
Mediterranées 1999 Marguerite
Under Suspicion
Under Suspicion (2000 film)
Under Suspicion is a 2000 American film directed by Stephen Hopkins. It stars Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Monica Bellucci and Thomas Jane. The film is based on the 1981 French film Garde à vue and the 1970s British novel Brainwash, written by John Wainwright...

2000 Chantal Hearst
Franck Spadone 2000 Laura
Malèna
Malèna
Malèna is a 2000 Italian romantic drama film starring Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro. It was directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni.-Plot:...

2000 Malèna Scordia
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Brotherhood of the Wolf is a 2001 French film directed by Christophe Gans, starring Samuel Le Bihan and Mark Dacascos, and written by Gans and Stéphane Cabel...

2001 Sylvia
Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, originally titled Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre, is a 2002 French-German film based on the comic book Astérix et Cléopatre by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo and a sequel for the 1999 movie Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar. It was the most expensive French...

2002 Cleopatra
Irréversible
Irréversible
Irréversible is a 2002 French drama film written and directed by Gaspar Noé, starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel. The film employs a non-linear narrative and follows two men as they try to avenge a brutally raped girlfriend...

2002 Alex
Remember Me, My Love
Remember Me, My Love
Remember Me, My Love is a 2003 Italian movie directed by Gabriele Muccino.Tagline: Some loves are never forgotten.-Plot:...

2003 Alessia Nastro d'Argento award
Nastro d'Argento
The Nastro d'Argento is a movie award assigned each year, since 1946, for cinematic performances and production by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics...

 for Best Supporting Actress
Nastro d'Argento Best supporting Actress
Nastro d'Argento is a film award assigned each year, since 1947 for cinematic performances and production by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics....

Tears of the Sun
Tears of the Sun
Tears of the Sun is a 2003 American war film, depicting a United States Navy SEAL team rescue mission amidst a civil war in the West African country of Nigeria. Lt. A.K. Waters commands the team sent to rescue U.S. citizen Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks from the civil war en route to her jungle hospital...

2003 Lena Fiore Kendricks
2003 Persephone
Persephone (The Matrix)
In the movies The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Persephone is the wife of The Merovingian. She seems bored with her existence in the Matrix, and is disaffected by her husband ....

Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix is the first video game based on The Matrix series of films. It was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Atari and WB Interactive for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube game systems, and for the PC. It was published in Japan by Bandai...

 (video game)
2003 Persephone
2003 Persephone
2004 Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...

Secret Agents 2004 Barbara / Lisa
She Hate Me
She Hate Me
She Hate Me is a 2004 independent comedy-drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Bai Ling and John Turturro....

2004 Simona Bonasera
2005 The Mirror Queen
How Much Do You Love Me?
How Much Do You Love Me?
How Much Do You Love Me? is a 2005 French romantic comedy film written and directed by Bertrand Blier. It was released on 26 October 2005 in France and Belgium, and had a limited United States release on 18 March 2006.-Plot:...

2005 Daniela
Sheitan 2006 La belle vampiresse
N (Io e Napoleone) 2006 Baronessa Emilia Speziali
The Stone Council 2006 Laura Siprien
Heartango
(short film for Intimissimi)
2007 L'inafferrabile/ La passionale /
L'indecisa / La curiosa /
L'aggressiva / La mamma /
La premurosa
Manuale d'amore 2
(Capitoli successivi)
2007 Lucia
Shoot 'Em Up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...

2007 Donna Quintano
Le deuxième souffle 2007 Manouche
Sanguepazzo
Wild Blood (2008 film)
Wild Blood is an Italian film directed in 2008 by Marco Tullio Giordana.-Synopsis:This film tells the story of two renowned actors of Fascist cinema, Luisa Ferida and Osvaldo Valenti, who were supporters of the Salò Republic...

2008 Luisa Ferida
Luisa Ferida
Luisa Ferida was an Italian stage and motion picture actress.-Career:Born Luigia Manfrini Frané in Castel San Pietro Terme, Ferida started as a stage actress and first appeared in films with La Freccia d'oro , in a supporting role but because of her photogenic looks and talent as an actress, she...

L'uomo che ama 2008 Alba
Don't Look Back
Don't Look Back (2009 film)
Don't Look Back is a 2009 French thriller film directed by Marina de Van, and starring Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci.- Plot :Jeanne, a married woman with two young children, starts to notice small changes taking place in the arrangement of objects in her family's home—furniture, pictures,...

2009 Jeanne
2009 Gigi Lee
Baarìa – La porta del vento 2009 Bricklayer's girlfriend
Omaggio a Roma 2009 Tosca
2010 Laura Levin
2010 Veronica
Rose, c'est Paris 2010 L'esprit de gala
Manuale d'amore 3
Manuale d'amore 3
The Ages of Love is a 2011 Italian romantic comedy film composed of three episodes. It was directed by Giovanni Veronesi, and it is a sequel of Manuale d'amore and Manuale d'amore 2 – Capitoli successivi .-Plot:The film is composed of three episodes, each following a different...

2011 Viola
Guardian of the Harem 2011
That Summer
That Summer (film)
That Summer is a 2011 drama film directed by Philippe Garrel, starring Monica Bellucci, Louis Garrel, Céline Sallette and Jérôme Robart. Its original French title is Un été brûlant, which means "A burning summer". The film tells the story of a stormy relationship between an actress and a painter...

2011

External links

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