The quintessential Italian bombshell and the face of Dolce & Gabbana makeup, Monica Bellucci. Bellucci was born in 1964 in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy, to a painter mother and a businessman father. She began modeling in her teens after abandoning her plans to pursue a legal career in favor of the opportunities and independence modeling provided.
Other women would be very conscious of how they look as they grow older and would do to avoid looking old. Especially women in any acting industry. However, this isn’t the case for Monica Belluci. Monica Bellucci is a woman who celebrates her physical appearance and advanced age rather than being afraid of it. She doesn’t lament the loss of her youthful bloom despite being one of the most incredible beauties in the world.
The actress who emanates unrestrained sexuality in scorching cinematic portrayals is at ease in her flesh, wrinkles, and all and is more concerned with feeling beautiful than being beautiful. She accepts a new kind of beauty that has emerged at age 49 because she is aware that beauty changes with time and experience.
She has achieved success in cinema parts portraying mature ladies, following in the footsteps of actresses like Charlotte Rampling and Catherine Deneuve. She knows the immense pressure placed on Hollywood actors to maintain a certain appearance. Still, she refuses to give in to it since she believes life is too short to worry about aging and that it adds a fascinating dimension to her field of work.
In 1988, she relocated to Milan, then the following year to Paris and New York, where she worked and studied acting while attending acting workshops for companies like Dolce & Gabbana and Dior.
Monica Bellucci’s journey to her career and her collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana Make-up begins
Monica shares a tale about her very first encounter with Dolce and Gabbana and how their bonding begins to spark. Bellucci was transferred to Milan in 1988 and revealed she got a call as soon as she got there. She explained further, “When they called me, I’d just arrived in Milan. I was with my book, like every young model.”
“Friendship is a story of energy, and there was this beautiful energy between us, and I think that we keep working together today because we are inspired by the same things – even movies and actresses – which come from our culture,” she said.
Moreover, she listed “the films of Fellini, Rossellini, Visconti and De Sica, leading ladies like Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Silvana Mangano, and Monica Vitti, and this kind of femininity that’s very Italian.”
Bellucci has served as Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s longtime model. She epitomizes the feminine, refined, and sensual Dolce & Gabbana woman. The products in the makeup range they created specifically for her have names based on those qualities.
When questioned about how her collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana Makeup began, she stated that she was a young model and they were her stylist. Then she elucidates explained, “It’s the second year that we’ve done this together, but we’ve been friends for more than 20 years. I was a young model; they were young stylists whose careers became so huge. I did my first fashion show with them when I was a model.”
“Even though I moved from one career to another, I’ve dressed so many times in Dolce & Gabbana for my red carpets. And it’s beautiful that after all these years, we keep doing things together. When they called me again for this collaboration, I was very happy because it’s not just a story of working together, but also one of friendship and affection.”
Bellucci has now achieved a level of fame that most models can only hope to accomplish after appearing in almost 60 films and TV programs. She emanates an unmatched raw sensuality, making her one of the most seductive actors now on the scene. It is easy to see why she continues to outperform her younger counterparts.
People may anticipate a prima donna from her illustrious career, but in reality, she’s anything but. She was working on a photo shoot for the newest Dolce & Gabbana Makeup collection when she was spotted in Paris.
Domenico Dolce has stated that Monica is a constant source of inspiration for him and that she represents the original Dolce & Gabbana woman: naturally, timelessly beautiful. She said, “I’m honored because I respect so much what they do. For me, they’re artists. I love what they do in fashion because everything is so elegant and sensual at the same time.”
“To be one of their muses is an honor, and also because they think about me, and I’m an adult woman. Everything is about youth today, but this is about respect. It proves that they respect women, and the beauty of a woman is not just about her age but much more than that. So it’s a beautiful message for women,” she added.
Monica Bellucci is widely regarded as the most beautiful lady in the world, as well as being fashionable and elegant in her late forties.
Monica Bellucci, a symbol of Mediterranean beauty with raven hair, possesses the coloring, the elegance, and the curves in addition to a lighthearted, open attitude toward her body and finding the perfect balance in life.
Monica goes through sharing her ideas regarding the difference between who you are and the image that goes around. Not that she meant that two characters must be different. For instance, one person privately must differ from the character shown to other people.
She said, “I think the most important thing is knowing the difference between who you are and the image that goes around because I do films, covers of magazines and publicity like Dolce & Gabbana, then the image goes away and becomes one thing, then it’s a part of you, which doesn’t mean all of you.”
“Of course, when I receive a compliment, I like it. But I don’t believe in the image. It’s important to have a distance between you and the image. You’re not the image. You’re a real woman.” she added.
However, does she feel pressure, as a Hollywood actress, to remain to look young? Monica Bellucci answered that ones must embrace the age and respect it. She stated, “I think it’s important to respect your age. At the same time, I think today women are very lucky because they stay young for a long time, also because they’re very healthy compared with the past.”
She continued her explanation, “Women take care of themselves. They respect their health. For example, I don’t smoke, and this helps me to stay in good health. Also, it’s all about your inner energy. You must cultivate your inner energy and take care of it. If the light inside is off, it’s impossible to have light outside.”
“The light outside comes from the light inside, especially when you grow older because when you’re young, you have a natural light that comes from youth. Then it depends on how you live your life and how you react to things in your life – the light can be on and off. It depends on how you deal with everything,” she said.
Furthermore, that is why she believes beauty is a matter of energy rather than beauty itself. And that she believes that as a person ages, the power may get stronger as you work on yourself.
All her “whys” questions regarding her career path and her experience
Monica Bellucci took up law in college, quite far from her current profession, which is modeling. So, how did a prominent Monica go from studying law to modeling? She answered, “Because I was under pressure and because I started to work from very young, so I was very independent, and I liked the feeling that at 18, I could live like a 30-year-old woman.
Bellucci continued, “I had my apartment already. I was traveling. I didn’t have to ask anything from anybody. My friends were still in university, and they had to ask their parents for money, while I was completely like an adult. I liked this feeling of adult life very much, and then it was impossible to go back to university because of work.”
It took some time for her modeling career, and she noted how she liked the feeling of her adult life when she was in college, even given the fact that it went to the point it was impossible for her to go back to a university because of her profession.
Monica Bellucci revealed that being an actress was her long-time dream when she was young. She said, “It was a dream from when I was very young, like nine or 10 years old. With my parents, I would go see movies a lot, and I was really charmed by this world. I was a very shy little girl, and maybe for me, it was almost therapeutic to get into movies, and for now, it’s still my life.”
She continued, “We’ll see…but I really like what I do. And actually, I explained to my child, the oldest one, that it’s important to find a job that gives you the opportunity to live and, at the same time, to have pleasure. I think it’s very important to have a passion in life.”
People would believe that her modeling career and experiences provide her every advantage in pursuing her dream of becoming an actress. However, this is not the case for Bellucci. She abandons the proposed idea, stating that those are, after all, two separate realities.
She explained, “No, because they’re two different worlds. I think that’s why there are not many models who move to acting, and it works because when you have your photo taken, there are some attitudes that become fake. You’re beautiful in front of the camera, but you have a way of being that doesn’t work in movies.”
She further explained, “Movies are life, reality; you have to be natural. So in some way, you have to clean all that’s fake in the attitude of the model, sometimes in the way they walk, the way they move, the way they talk even. They have to clean all that, and it’s not easy when you’ve done this for many years.”
Furthermore, the film industry is one of the most challenging professions. Despite the difficulties, most celebrities seemed to like their roles and stated that if you love what you do, everything will be bearable. But what does Monica Bellucci love when it comes to acting? Knowing that modeling and acting are two different jobs.
She answered, “The creativity. I like the moment when you create your character and being on set with people. You almost create a family. It can be one, two, three months. We create something special.”
“When I was a model, I liked it but, at the same time, there was a lot of traveling: one day you’re in Miami, one day in Los Angeles, one day in Paris. So you don’t have the time sometimes to build relationships. With movies, it’s different – sometimes you create friendships that can last forever,” she added.
Throughout the 1990s, Bellucci worked continuously, acting in various films. Following appearances in films such as Malèna (2000), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), and Irreversible (2002), She found success as sci-fi vixen Persephone in The Matrix sequels (2003), as well as roles in Shoot’ Em Up (2007), co-starring Clive Owen, and The Whistleblower (2010), co-starring Rachel Weisz.
She is fluent in Italian, French, and English, as well as some Portuguese and Spanish. And has appeared in films in each of these languages, as well as Aramaic for her role: Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004), Farsi in Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi’s Rhino Season (2012), and Serbian in Emir Kusturica’s upcoming On the Milky Road.
Since Bellucci is also multilingual, how does it helped her to win roles in foreign-language films?
It’s seldom for people to know multiple languages, and it is pretty astonishing to see someone do it, especially being a celebrity. Monica Bellucci is also known as a multilingual, and it helped her win roles in foreign-language films. She said, “I think that all actors have a good ear, so many of them speak many languages. For me, it was a necessity because I come from Italy.”
She recalled, “In the past, it was easy to become an international actress through Italian movies. But now Italian movies are not international. So if you want to have a career, of course, you have to speak French and English because, like that, you can open yourself to new countries.”
And so she said, “So that’s why I have the chance through speaking different languages to work with French, American, and Iranian directors.”
Monica Bellucci in motherhood and her personal life
As a celebrity would state about their work, being a model and actress is already difficult to maintain a balance in life and schedule. However, becoming a mother is an entirely different matter to tackle. It is a big responsibility to take as well.
In Monica Bellucci’s case, behind being a model and actress, she is also a mother. How would Monica Bellucci handle her life? Bellucci talks about how she balances her work and her motherhood. She said, “Like all women. All women in the world say they have this problem. Actually, we do everything men do, plus we make children. So it becomes a huge responsibility, and I think it’s a problem for all women having to deal with these things.”
She continued, “It’s so complicated: love, children, family life, career…I wanted first to work, travel, find my own place, and understand better who I was before having children. I’m one of those women who need to get into motherhood to understand things about myself.”
“For me, having children is one of the most beautiful experiences, but also because I did it at a moment in my life when I was ready for it. I decided when I wanted to become a mother; it didn’t happen by coincidence. I knew it was a big moment in a woman’s life, so I wanted to be ready for it,” she added. Monica Bellucci was also asked what is more important to teach her children, to which she only replied, “To respect themselves and others.”
Despite her busy schedule, Monica also shared what would a typical day be for her. She stated, “I don’t have a typical day. It doesn’t exist because everything is different, every day is different, and every period is different. Sometimes I’m here, and then they call me up to go to Shanghai.”
And so she said, “I also don’t like to have a typical day – maybe that’s why I live in different countries. I move a lot because I always like to be in front of something that’s unexpected.”
Monica Bellucci was revealed to have residences in Paris, London, Rome, and Rio de Janeiro. To have pads in different places is quite a dream to have. When asked if there was a city she spent most of her time, she said, “No, I travel. And then it depends on when I work. Now I’ll be in Serbia for four months. I was in Rio de Janeiro for six months.”
She continued, “My children travel with me. They went to school in Rio de Janeiro, and now, because I’m going to work, they’ll have a private teacher. They speak four languages: Italian, French, English, and Portuguese. How can I explain it? We are gypsies.”
Bellucci’s personal beauty and makeup routine
Being a model and actress is always required to wear makeup. For Bellucci, are there any particular makeup routines for her? She answered, “I clean my face, like all women, before going to bed. I use a good moisturizer, very light, and try to drink a lot of water because I think it’s good to have good hydration from the inside.”
She continued, “I also like products from Dr. Hauschka because they’re very natural. I love makeup, and I think that I would use makeup even if I wasn’t working in the image industry because I like to have some makeup on during the day when I have to go out for my own things,”
“To have on some mascara and lipstick, I like that. My relationship with femininity has a long history because in my family – my mother, aunts, and two grandmothers – women are very feminine, and they take care of themselves,” She added.
Monica Bellucci and her childhood
Childhood stories are part of the memories people look back to be aware of where they first started. Having a great childhood and memories to hold is only an additional part of reminiscing. Monica Bellucci tells the story of her childhood: “My parents were very young when I was born and, of course, there are beautiful things and bad things in a family.”
“But what I can say for sure is that I had love around me, which I think is very important, so I was under a lucky star. And when a kid is loved, even though you can then have very bad moments in life, this love that you have in the beginning gives you strength in life,” she said.
Bellucci also shared the place where she felt protected as a child. However, it feels stifling at the same time. She further explained, “Città di Castello was a small place, very provincial. I liked it because I felt protected, but at the same time, I felt suffocated because the choice I made was so different, and I traveled a lot. I saw my parents once or twice a year.”
She continued, “We talked, but I was very independent from very young. When you come from a macho culture, you have to learn how to defend yourself and how to push people to respect you, especially the male attitude and when you work in the world of the image. You have to know how to deal with all that. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible.”
As a prominent model and actress, is there a kind of legacy Monica Bellucci wants to leave behind?
She answered, “I don’t think about that. I think I have to grow and learn things. I don’t think, “Oh my God, when I die, I’m going to leave that.” It’s incredible because sometimes, when you do this, then what comes out from you is exactly the opposite. What I think is important is just to be real with yourself and to follow what is good for you.”