Description
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (Italian: [ˈmɔːnika belˈluttʃi]; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana, before transitioning to Italian and later American and French films. She has continued to be involved in modelling for Cartier, Dior and Dolce & Gabbana. In 2018, Forbes Italy named her one of the 100 most successful Italian women.
Bellucci made her film debut in Francesco Laudadio's Italian comedy La Riffa (1991) and went on to play a bride of Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's gothic horror romance film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). Her breakthrough role was in The Apartment (1996), for which she received a César Award nomination for Most Promising Actress. She captured American audiences' attention in Stephen Hopkins' Under Suspicion (2000). She gained greater international recognition by portraying Malèna Scordia in Giuseppe Tornatore's Italian romantic drama Malèna (2000). Bellucci starred in Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) and in a comedic role in Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002) and in Gaspar Noé's controversial arthouse thriller Irréversible (2002) carried with her fearless performance.
Bellucci portrayed Persephone in the 2003 science-fiction films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. She portrayed Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson's biblical drama The Passion of the Christ (2004). She starred in The Brothers Grimm (2005), How Much Do You Love Me? (2005), Shoot 'Em Up (2007), The Whistleblower (2010), The Ages of Love (2011), The Wonders (2014), and Ville-Marie (2015). At the age of 50, by appearing in the 2015 James Bond film Spectre , Bellucci became the oldest Bond girl in the history of the franchise. Continuing her international multilingual acting career, she has since acted in films such as On the Milky Road (2016), The Best Years of a Life (2019), The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020), and Memory (2022). Her television appearances include the series Mozart in the Jungle and Dix pour cent. Bellucci made her stage debut in 2019, initiating a long series of interpretations of the Letters and Memoirs of Maria Callas.
Among her accolades are two Globo d'oro Awards, two Nastro d'Argento Awards, a Donostia Award, and a David Special Award. Bellucci received the knight insignias of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2006 and the Legion of Honour in 2016. She is a permanent member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.