Monica Bellucci is a world-famous Italian film actress born in 1964. She is best known for her portrayal of the young and beautiful widow Malena in Malena (2000) and for her internationally acclaimed role as Alex in Gaspar Noé’s controversial film Irréversible, which brought her worldwide recognition. Bellucci is frequently listed among the most beautiful women in the world.

Monica Bellucci was born on September 30, 1964, in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy. Her surname derives from the Latin word Bellutus. While studying law at the University of Perugia, she developed an interest in modeling. Standing 1.79 meters tall, Bellucci shifted her focus from becoming a lawyer to pursuing a professional modeling career and moved to Milan in 1988, one of Europe’s fashion capitals.

She signed with Elite Model Management and quickly gained prominence in Paris before becoming internationally recognized in New York. After posing for numerous magazines, including ELLE, she appeared in a Dolce & Gabbana Black & White commercial directed by Giuseppe Tornatore.

Bellucci began studying acting in 1989 and appeared in several television films in the early 1990s. Her first major international film role came in 1992 when she portrayed one of Dracula’s brides in Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, starring alongside Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves. By the year 2000, she had appeared in nearly twenty films in roles of varying prominence.

Her breakthrough arrived with Tornatore’s Malena, where she played Malena Scordia, a young widow whose beauty isolates her within a conservative Sicilian town. The role brought Bellucci critical acclaim and international fame. She followed this success with her portrayal of Cleopatra in Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre (2002) and achieved global recognition the same year with her leading role in Irréversible.

In 2003, Bellucci starred opposite Bruce Willis in Antoine Fuqua’s Tears of the Sun. That same year, she appeared as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. In 2004, she portrayed Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

Following this role, many viewers associated her personally with Roman Catholicism. Bellucci addressed this perception in the documentary The Big Question, where she made the following statement:

I am an agnostic, yet I have respect for and curiosity about all religions. If I believe in anything, it is in a mysterious energy—one that fills the oceans and unites humanity with nature.

Throughout her career, Bellucci has frequently appeared in international “most beautiful” and “sexiest women” rankings, including lists by Maxim, GQ, AskMen, and FHM. In 2006, she served as a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. She speaks Italian, French, and English fluently and has also performed in Aramaic.

Bellucci was married to Claudio Carlos Basso from 1984 to 1985 and was engaged to actor Nicola Farron between 1989 and 1995. She married French actor Vincent Cassel on August 3, 1999. The couple had two daughters, Deva Cassel (born 2004) and Léonie Cassel (born 2010), and divorced in 2013. In 2016, Bellucci starred opposite Emir Kusturica in On the Milky Road, directed by Kusturica. In 2017, she hosted the 70th Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography and Television Work:
Actor:
2020 – Eye: The Life and Times of Tina Modotti (Tina Modotti) (Feature Film)
2019 – The Best Years of a Life (Elena) (Feature Film)
2019 – In the Web (Angela) (Feature Film)
2018 – Nekrotronic (Finnegan) (Feature Film)
2018 – Call My Agent! (Herself) (TV Series)
2016 – Mozart in the Jungle (Alessandra) (TV Series)
2016 – On the Milky Road (The Bride) (Feature Film)
2015 – Ville-Marie (Sophie Bernard) (Feature Film)
2015 – Spectre (Lucia Sciarra) (Feature Film)
2014 – Le meraviglie (Feature Film)
2013 – It Happened in Saint-Tropez (Feature Film)
2012 – Rhino Season (Feature Film)
2011 – Burning Bright (Angèle) (Feature Film)
2011 – Love Is All You Need (Viola) (Feature Film)
2011 – Guardian of the Harem (Hatice Turhan Sultan) (Feature Film)
2010 – The Whistleblower (Laura Levin) (Feature Film)
2010 – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Veronica) (Feature Film)
2009 – The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (Gigi) (Feature Film)
2009 – Baarìa (Feature Film)
2008 – Sanguepazzo (Luisa Ferida) (Feature Film)
2007 – Manuale d’amore 2 (Lucia) (Feature Film)
2006 – Sheitan (Feature Film)
2004 – The Passion of the Christ (Mary Magdalene) (Feature Film)
2003 – The Matrix Reloaded (Persephone) (Feature Film)
2003 – The Matrix Revolutions (Persephone) (Feature Film)
2002 – Irréversible (Alex) (Feature Film)
2002 – Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre (Cleopatra) (Feature Film)
2001 – Brotherhood of the Wolf (Sylvia) (Feature Film)
2000 – Malena (Malena Scordia) (Feature Film)
1997 – Dobermann (Nathalie) (Feature Film)
1992 – Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Dracula’s Bride) (Feature Film)

Source: Biyografiler.com