Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (Italian: ; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana, Cartier, and Dior, before transitioning to Italian films and later American and French films.
Bellucci made her film debut in Francesco Laudadio's Italian comedy La Riffa (1991). The following year she played a bride of Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's gothic horror romance film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). For her leading role in The Apartment (1996), Bellucci received a nomination at the 1997 César Award for Most Promising Actress. She played Malèna Scordia in the Giuseppe Tornatore's acclaimed Italian romantic drama Malèna (2000). Bellucci starred in one of the highest-grossing French language films in the United States, Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001). She starred in Gaspar Noé's controversial arthouse thriller film Irréversible (2002), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2004, she portrayed Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson's biblical drama The Passion of the Christ (2004). Bellucci portrayed Persephone in the 2003 science-fiction films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. At the age of 50, by appearing in the 2015 James Bond film Spectre, she became the oldest Bond girl in the history of the franchise. Bellucci has since acted in films such as The Whistleblower (2010), The Wonders (2014), On the Milky Road (2016), The Best Years of a Life (2019), The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020), and Memory (2022).
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 insignia of the Legion of Honour in 2016. She is a permanent member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Early life
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, on 30 September 1964. She is the only child of Brunella Briganti, her mother, an amateur painter, and Pasquale Bellucci, her father, who owned a trucking company. Bellucci grew up in Lama (now Selci-Lama), in the comune of San Giustino.
Bellucci was known to be an "intelligent child". Her parents described her as "discreet" and "aware of her advantageous physique", with a growing interest in fashion. She was distant from other children her age, regularly making detours to get home after school and did not spend time with them around the comune's public space, with her father recalling that she complained that everyone stared at her. By then, her father had helped her to gain self-confidence.
