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Monica Bellucci
At the premiere of The Matrix Reloaded, May 7, 2003 at Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Occupation(s)	Actress and fashion model
Spouse	Vincent Cassel (1999-present)

Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (born September 30, 1964 or 1968) is an Italian actress and fashion model.

Personal life

Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy, the daughter of Maria Gustinelli, a painter, and Luigi Bellucci, who owned a trucking company. Bellucci started modelling at 16, when she was attending to the Liceo Classico. Initially pursuing a career as a lawyer, modeling helped Bellucci finance her tuition at the University of Perugia, but the glamourous lifestyle tempted her away from her law studies. She speaks Italian, French, and English fluently, Spanish semi-fluently, and has acted in each of these languages, as well as in Aramaic.

Bellucci is married to fellow actor Vincent Cassel, with whom she has appeared in several films and has a daughter, named Deva (born September 12, 2004). In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter, Bellucci posed nude for the Italian Vanity Fair Magazine in protest against Italian laws that prevent the use of donor sperm.

Career

Modeling

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 Magazine'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. In 2004, she topped AskMen's 100 Most Beautiful Women in the World annual list. Bellucci's modelling career is managed by Elite+ in NYC. She is considered an Italian sex symbol. She is currently a face of a range of Dior Cosmetics. Bellucci is alson signed to Storm Model Management in London.

Entertainment

Bellucci's film career began in the early 1990s. In 1992 she made her first appearance in a major English-language film as one of Dracula's brides in Bram Stoker's Dracula. She became known and popular with worldwide audiences following her roles in Malèna, Brotherhood of the Wolf and Irréversible, though is perhaps best known for her role as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions followed by her portrayal of Mary Magdelene in The Passion of the Christ.

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."

In 2003, Bellucci starred in Tears of the Sun as a doctor in Nigeria being rescued by the US, and in 2005 in the fantasy film The Brothers Grimm as a beautiful evil queen. Her latest films are The Stone Council, directed by the Frenchman Guillaume Nicloux (2006) and Manuale d'amore 2 (2007) where she portrays a physiotherapist who is the object of the desire of her patient. She was supposed to be seen portraying Indian politician Sonia Gandhi in the biopic Sonia, originally planned for release in 2007 but now shelved. September 2007 saw the release of Shoot 'Em Up, where she plays a prostitute opposite Clive Owen. She dubbed her own voice for the French and Italian releases of the film.

She filmed Le Deuxième souffle with Daniel Auteuil, Michel Blanc and Eric Cantona (2006).

Bellucci 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 movie Robots.

In 2007, she appeared in Heart Tango, a movie for Intimissimi, with José Fidalgo and directed by Gabriele Muccino.

Filmography

• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Dracula's Bride
• L'appartement (1996) - Lisa
• Dobermann (1997) - Nat the Gypsy
• Franck Spadone (2000) - Laura
• Under Suspicion (2000) - Chantal Hearst
• Malèna (2000) - Malèna Scordia
• Le Pacte des Loups (aka Brotherhood of the Wolf) (2001) - Sylvia
• Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre (2002) - Cleopatra
• Irréversible (2002) - Alex
• Tears of the Sun (2003) - Lena Fiore Kendricks
• Ricordati di me (2003) - Alessia
• The Matrix Reloaded (2003) - Persephone
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003) - Persephone
• The Passion of the Christ (2004) - Mary Magdalene
• She Hate Me (2004) - Simona Bonasera
• The Brothers Grimm (2005) - The Mirror Queen
• Combien tu m'aimes? (2005) - Daniela
• Manuale d'amore 2 - Capitoli successivi (2006) - Lucia
• Shoot 'Em Up (2007) - Donna Quintano
• Heart Tango (2007)
• Le deuxième souffle (2007) - Manouche
• Wild Blood (2008) - Luisa Ferida
• The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) - Gigi

References

1. ^ Richard Corliss (2003-03-10). "It's Monica Mania". Time Magazine.
2. ^ "Danger woman". Guardian Unlimited - The Observer Magazine. 2005-10-23.
3. "Movies at MSN.com".
4. Monica Bellucci Biography (1969?-)
5. Richard Owen (2005-06-04). "Actresses fight Pope over fertility". The Times.
6. "Monica Bellucci Photos". Maxim.
7. Hugh Davies (2003-01-23). "Gibson brings his passion for Christ to the big screen". Telegraph.co.uk.
8. "Monica baronessa divertente per Virzì "Bello quel ruolo un po' da mignotta"". La Repubblica. 2006-10-14.Template:It
9. "Monica-Bellucci.net".
10. "Monica Bellucci's balancing act".

External links

• Monica Bellucci at IMDb
• Template:Amg name.
• Template:Ymovies name

Template:Blpwatch

• 1964 births
• 1968 births
• Italian agnostics
• Italian film actors
• Italian female models
• Living people
• People from Città di Castello