Monica Bellucci was born in Città di Castello on 30 September 1964. After the secondary school diploma in classics, she attended a Law school, paying the tuition fees with modelling. In 1988, she was contacted by Elite and moved to Milan, where in just two years she became one the most sought-after Italian models in the world. At the heights of her career, she met Dino Risi and in 1991 she made her debut in TV film Vita coi figli. She made her debut on the big screen with Francesco Laudadio’s La Riffa. In 1992, she took a big leap forward: in Bram Stoker’s Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola, alongside Keanu Reeves, she shot one of the most erotic scenes in the history of horror cinema. Between 1993 and the early 2000s, she played in several films, including Vanzina’s I mitici, Maurizio Nichetti’s Snowball and Gilles Mimouni The apartment, with which she was nominated for the César as best promising actress and where she met Vincent Cassel, who she married in 1999. In 1997, she played in Kaputt Mundi directed by Marco Risi, and she received the Golden Globe as best actress.

Monica Bellucci alternated the sets with her modelling work and she has posed for two calendars. In the year 2000, the role of main character in Tornatore’s Malèna, earned her the status of Italian diva, whereas in America her success was confirmed by Stephen Hopkins’ Under Suspicion. Tornatore directed her again in Baarìa, which in 2010 was chosen to represent Italy at the Oscars. After Gaspar Noé’s controversial Irréversible, she starred in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. In 2003, she was directed by Gabriele Muccino in Remember me, my love, and in the following year she played Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. In 2007, she starred in Veronesi’s Manual of love 2 and in 2011 in Manual of love 3 with Robert De Niro. In 2014, she was part of the cast of Alice Rohrwacher’s The Wonders and she was engaged to play in the new James Bond film. Monica Bellucci is the symbol of Italian beauty in the world and she is the most-renowned Italian star outside Italy. She has completed 50 years, but her charm does not show signs of decline. She still plays leading roles in great films and she is the spokesperson of the most important fashion houses.