Early life

Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy, as the only child of Brunella Briganti and Pasquale Bellucci, and grew up in San Giustino.

Career

Modelling

Monica Bellucci began modelling at age 13 by posing for a local photo enthusiast. In 1988, Bellucci moved to one of Europe's fashion centres, 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's feature on Desire featured Bellucci on the cover and in an article on the five senses. In 2003, she was featured in Maxim. Men's Health also named her one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time", ranking her at No. 21. AskMen named her the number one most desirable woman in 2002. According to two national newspapers, she is considered an Italian sex symbol. In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter Deva, Bellucci posed nude for the Italian Vanity Fair 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. From 2006 to 2010 Bellucci was the face of a range of Dior products. In 2012, she became the new face of Dolce & Gabbana. She is managed by Elite+ in New York City. Bellucci is signed to D'management group in Milan and also to Storm Model Management in London.

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 for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Lisa in The Apartment and strengthened her position as an actress. She became known and popular with worldwide audiences, following her roles in Malèna (2000), Brotherhood of the Wolf, "Under Suspicion", and Irréversible (2002). She has since played in many films from Europe and Hollywood like Tears of the Sun (2003), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Passion of the Christ (2004), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Le Deuxième souffle (2007), Shoot 'Em Up (2007), Don't Look Back (2009), and The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010).

She was supposed to be seen portraying Indian politician Sonia Gandhi in the biopic Sonia, originally planned for release in 2007, but it has been shelved. Bellucci dubbed her own voice for the French and Italian releases of the film Shoot 'Em Up (2007). She 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 film Robots.

Empire magazine selected her as twenty-first on their list of "The Sexiest 25 Characters in Cinema - The Women" for her role of "Persephone" in the Matrix series. Likewise, Nettavisen declared in 2009 that the role of Persephone qualified Bellucci as one of the 25 sexiest women of all time.

At 50, she became the oldest Bond girl ever in the James Bond film franchise, playing Lucia Sciarra in Spectre (2015).

Personal life

Bellucci met French actor Vincent Cassel on the set of their 1996 film The Apartment. They married in 1999, and have two daughters, Deva (born 2004) and Léonie (born 2010). Bellucci and Cassel announced their separation on 26 August 2013.

In the documentary movie The Big Question, about the film The Passion of the Christ, 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 September 2012 at a Toronto International Film Festival press conference for the Iranian movie Rhino Season, Bellucci stated that she can speak four languages: Italian, French, English and Farsi.

Filmography

Title	Year	Role
Vita coi figli	1990	Elda
The Raffle	1991	Francesca
Bram Stoker's Dracula	1992	One of Dracula's brides
Ostinato Destino	1992	Marina/Angela
Briganti - Amore e libertà	1994	Costanza
I Mitici	1994	Deborah
Snowball	1995	Melina
Bits and Pieces	1995
Joseph	1995	Pharaoh's wife
The Apartment	1996	Lisa
Sorellina e il principe del sogno	1996	Princess
Stressati	1997
Dobermann	1997	Nat the Gypsy
Mauvais genre	1997	Camille
Come mi vuoi	1997	Nellina
Le Plaisir	1998	Girl
Compromise	1998	Monique
Kaputt Mundi	1998	Giulia Giovannini
A los que aman	1998	Valeria
Comme un poisson hors de l'eau	1999	Myrtille
Méditerranées	1999	Marguerite
Under Suspicion	2000	Chantal Hearst
Franck Spadone	2000	Laura
Malèna	2000	Malèna Scordia
Brotherhood of the Wolf	2001	Sylvia
Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre	2002	Cleopatra
Irréversible	2002	Alex
Remember Me, My Love	2003	Alessia
Tears of the Sun	2003	Lena Fiore Kendricks
Matrix Reloaded, TheThe Matrix Reloaded	2003	Persephone
Enter the Matrix	2003	Persephone
Matrix Revolutions, TheThe Matrix Revolutions	2003	Persephone
Passion of the Christ, TheThe Passion of the Christ	2004	Mary Magdalene
Secret Agents	2004	Barbara/Lisa
She Hate Me	2004	Simona Bonasera
Brothers Grimm, TheThe Brothers Grimm	2005	The Mirror Queen
How Much Do You Love Me?	2005	Daniela
Sheitan	2006	La belle vampiresse
Napoleon and Me	2006	Baroness Emilia Speziali
The Stone Council	2006	Laura Siprien
Heartango	2007	L'inafferrabile
Manual of Love 2	2007	Lucia
Shoot 'Em Up	2007	Donna Quintano
Le deuxième souffle	2007	Manouche
Sanguepazzo	2008	Luisa Ferida
L'uomo che ama	2008	Alba
Don't Look Back	2009	Jeanne
Private Lives of Pippa Lee, TheThe Private Lives of Pippa Lee	2009	Gigi Lee
Baarìa - La porta del vento	2009	Bricklayer's girlfriend
Omaggio a Roma	2009	Tosca
Whistleblower, TheThe Whistleblower	2010	Laura Levin
Sorcerer's Apprentice, TheThe Sorcerer's Apprentice	2010	Veronica
Rose, c'est Paris	2010	L'esprit de gala
Manuale d'amore 3	2011	Viola
A Burning Hot Summer	2011	Angèle
Rhino Season	2012	Mina
Des gens qui s'embrassent (People who kiss)	2013	Giovanna
Lungo la Via Lattea (On the Milky Road) retitled : Love & War	2014
The Wonders	2014	Milly Catena
Ville-Marie	2015	Sophie
Spectre	2015	Lucia Sciarra

Dubbing

Year	Film	Role
2003	Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	Marina (French voice-dub)
2005	Robots	Cappy (French voice-dub)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated Work	Result
2003	Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actress	Ricordati di me	Won
2005	Globo d'oro	European Golden Globe		Won
1997	César Awards	Best Promising Actress	The Apartment	Nominated
2001	European Film Awards	Audience Award for Best Actress	Malèna	Nominated
2003	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress	Brotherhood of the Wolf	Nominated
2003	Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award	Best Female	The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions	Nominated
2003	David di Donatello Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Ricordati di me	Nominated
2003	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Female Breakout Star	The Matrix Reloaded and Tears of the Sun	Nominated
2004	MTV Movie Awards	Best Kiss	The Matrix Reloaded	Nominated
2005	Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actress	The Passion of the Christ	Nominated
2007	Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actress	N	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]