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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Monica Bellucci


Monica Bellucci


Born :              Monica Anna Maria Bellucci
30 September 1964 (1964-09-30) (age 45),
Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy
Occupation:    Actress and fashion model
Years active   1990 – present
Spouse(s)         Claudio Carlos Basso (1990 –?), Vincent Cassel (1999 – present)
 Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and fashion model.

Personal life

Bellucci was born in Citta 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 the Liceo classico. Initially pursuing a career as a lawyer, Bellucci modeled to pay her tuition at the University of Perugia, but the lifestyle tempted her away from her law studies. She speaks Italian, French, and English fluently, Spanish semi-fluently, and she has had speaking roles in each of these languages as well as in Aramaic for her part as Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ.
Bellucci was married to fashion photographer Claudio Carlos Basso in 1990. She is currently married to fellow actor Vincent Cassel, with whom she has appeared in several films, and has a daughter named Deva (born 12 September 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'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 New York City. She is considered an Italian sex symbol. She is currently a face of a range of Dior Cosmetics. Bellucci is also 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 (2000), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), and Irréversible (2002), though is perhaps best known for her role as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003), followed by her portrayal of Mary Magdelene in The Passion of the Christ (2004).
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 U.S., and in 2005 in the fantasy film The Brothers Grimm as a beautiful evil queen. Her latest films are The Stone Council (2006) by Guillaume Nicloux, 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 (2006), with Daniel Auteuil, Michel Blanc and Eric Cantona.
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 film Robots.
In 2007, she appeared in Heartango (2007), a film for Intimissimi, with José Fidalgo and directed by Gabriele Muccino.

Awards

In 2003, Bellucci won the Nastro d'Argento Best Supporting Actress award for her portrayal of Alessia in Remember Me, My Love. She has been nominated for several others, including the 1996 César Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Lisa in L'Appartement.

Filmography

Year
Film
Role
Notes
1992
Briganti – Amore e libertà (Bandits – Love and Liberty)
Costanza

Vita coi figli (Life With the Sons)
Elda

1992
Bram Stoker's Dracula
One of Dracula's brides

1995
Joseph
Pharaoh's wife

1996
L'Appartement
Lisa

1997
Dobermann
Nat the Gypsy

1998
Ultimo capodanno dell'umanità (Humanity's Last New Year's Eve)
Giulia Giovannini

2000
Under Suspicion
Chantal Hearst

Franck Spadone
Laura

Malèna
Malèna Scordia

2001
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Sylvia

2002
Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre
Cleopatra

Irréversible
Alex

2003
Remember Me, My Love
Alessia

Tears of the Sun
Lena Fiore Kendricks

The Matrix Reloaded
Persephone

Enter the Matrix (video game)
Persephone

The Matrix Revolutions
Persephone

2004
The Passion of the Christ
Mary Magdalene

Agents secrets
Barbara / Lisa

She Hate Me
Simona Bonasera

2005
The Brothers Grimm
The Mirror Queen

How Much Do You Love Me? (Combien tu m'aimes?)
Daniela

2006
The Stone Council
Laura Siprien

2007
Heartango
(short film for Intimissimi)
L'inafferrabile/ La passionale / L'indecisa / La curiosa / L'aggressiva / La mamma / La premurosa

Manuale d'amore 2
(Capitoli successivi)
Lucia

Shoot 'Em Up
Donna Quintano

Le deuxième souffle
Manouche

2008
Sanguepazzo
Luisa Ferida

L'uomo che ama
Alba

2009
Don't Look Back
Jeanne

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Gigi

Baarìa - La porta del vento
Bricklayer's girlfriend

2010
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Veronica

The Whistleblower



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