2017 Cannes: At Home With Monica Bellucci
At her Paris home during the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, Monica Bellucci reflects on personal style, cinema, family, France and the changing place of women on screen.
![<p>Dressed in a curve-hugging black knit dress by Alexander McQueen, the actress, with her classical beauty, oozes dolce vita glamour, but is quick to brush off such allusions, saying she likes to keep her style effortless. “Maybe unconsciously it’s very Italian. I use simple lines most of the time because my body is shapely, and change the colors, but my style is quite classic.</p><p>When I pick up my daughters from school, I wear a T-shirt and jeans,” she shares. Bellucci, who modeled through to her mid-20s before pursuing an acting career, attended the recent Met Gala in New York on the arm of Valentino Garavani — “the epitome of class.” But when asked who her favorite designers are, she replies: “There are too many to mention.</p><p>I don’t follow fashion as such, but I look for fashion that works for me.” Even in hanging-at-home mode, glamour comes naturally to Bellucci. Before getting ready for the shoot, the actress snacks on mini croque-monsieurs in her kitchen, dressed in a red and white kimono with Christian Louboutin mules (she recently bought a residence in Portugal, near Louboutin’s home.)</p><p>In full-on “mamma” style, the actress passes around cakes. At the table, her personal assistant, Silvia, sits patiently removing modeling clay — the handiwork of one of Bellucci’s daughters — from an Azzedine Alaïa belt with a fork as the team gathers round the television to watch the French presidential inauguration, exchanging comments. For hairdresser John Nollet, France’s new first lady, Brigitte Trogneux, could have done with a fresher, more natural ’do; Bellucci praises her “great legs,” saying: “I think they make a lovely couple.”</p><p>But for all the banter, the event, says Bellucci, whose eldest daughter goes to school near to where one of the recent terrorist attacks took place, sends a strong message of hope. “French people with this vote really proved they needed a big change, and young people love [Emmanuel] Macron so much. It shows that you don’t have to be old to make things happen, it’s a symbol that maybe we should have more confidence in youth, which is beautiful,” she says.</p><p>Finding beauty in hard times is the theme that drives her latest movie, “On the Milky Road,” directed by Emir Kusturica and billed as a love story between a Serbian milkman (played by the director) and his Italian-Serbian object of desire, which is her character. With past film roles that have included Mary Magdalene in “The Passion of the Christ” (2004); a Bond “girl” — at age 51 — in “007 Spectre” (2015), and an opera singer for the 2016 Amazon-funded series “Mozart in the Jungle” — Bellucci had to learn to speak Serbian for her latest incarnation. “The Balkans is a very dangerous place, there’s this sense that it can all kick off at any moment.</p><p>It’s a land full of beauty, but also so much sadness because you feel the war. Even though it’s not there, it’s palpable,” she says. “Kusturica does those films where you feel the duality of reality and poetry because through the poetry, it’s as if you can exorcise darkness and things such as a war.”</p><p>For her next project, Bellucci, who has appeared in films directored by Francis Ford Coppola, Sam Mendes, Spike Lee and Gaspar Noé, among others, plans to produce a film about Communist Italian photographer Tina Modotti, who was active from the Twenties to the Forties. “I’m fascinated by her modernity and courage. She was so poor but had the courage to go to America and travel around the world to Mexico, Russia and Spain during the civil war.</p><p>She was a muse to many artists, from Edward Weston to Pablo Neruda to Diego Rivera, and from muse she became an activist, and a great photographer. She was a woman of passion with a freedom of spirit which, for the time in Italy, when a woman could not exist without a man, was so pioneering.”</p>](/_next/image?url=%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2017-cannes-monicabellucci3.jpg&w=3840&q=75&dpl=dpl_2kUXg6Xbu2tno2i2VZLRVna6Yjgw)
Dressed in a curve-hugging black knit dress by Alexander McQueen, the actress, with her classical beauty, oozes dolce vita glamour, but is quick to brush off such allusions, saying she likes to keep her style effortless. “Maybe unconsciously it’s very Italian. I use simple lines most of the time because my body is shapely, and change the colors, but my style is quite classic.
When I pick up my daughters from school, I wear a T-shirt and jeans,” she shares. Bellucci, who modeled through to her mid-20s before pursuing an acting career, attended the recent Met Gala in New York on the arm of Valentino Garavani — “the epitome of class.” But when asked who her favorite designers are, she replies: “There are too many to mention.
I don’t follow fashion as such, but I look for fashion that works for me.” Even in hanging-at-home mode, glamour comes naturally to Bellucci. Before getting ready for the shoot, the actress snacks on mini croque-monsieurs in her kitchen, dressed in a red and white kimono with Christian Louboutin mules (she recently bought a residence in Portugal, near Louboutin’s home.)
In full-on “mamma” style, the actress passes around cakes. At the table, her personal assistant, Silvia, sits patiently removing modeling clay — the handiwork of one of Bellucci’s daughters — from an Azzedine Alaïa belt with a fork as the team gathers round the television to watch the French presidential inauguration, exchanging comments. For hairdresser John Nollet, France’s new first lady, Brigitte Trogneux, could have done with a fresher, more natural ’do; Bellucci praises her “great legs,” saying: “I think they make a lovely couple.”
But for all the banter, the event, says Bellucci, whose eldest daughter goes to school near to where one of the recent terrorist attacks took place, sends a strong message of hope. “French people with this vote really proved they needed a big change, and young people love [Emmanuel] Macron so much. It shows that you don’t have to be old to make things happen, it’s a symbol that maybe we should have more confidence in youth, which is beautiful,” she says.
Finding beauty in hard times is the theme that drives her latest movie, “On the Milky Road,” directed by Emir Kusturica and billed as a love story between a Serbian milkman (played by the director) and his Italian-Serbian object of desire, which is her character. With past film roles that have included Mary Magdalene in “The Passion of the Christ” (2004); a Bond “girl” — at age 51 — in “007 Spectre” (2015), and an opera singer for the 2016 Amazon-funded series “Mozart in the Jungle” — Bellucci had to learn to speak Serbian for her latest incarnation. “The Balkans is a very dangerous place, there’s this sense that it can all kick off at any moment.
It’s a land full of beauty, but also so much sadness because you feel the war. Even though it’s not there, it’s palpable,” she says. “Kusturica does those films where you feel the duality of reality and poetry because through the poetry, it’s as if you can exorcise darkness and things such as a war.”
For her next project, Bellucci, who has appeared in films directored by Francis Ford Coppola, Sam Mendes, Spike Lee and Gaspar Noé, among others, plans to produce a film about Communist Italian photographer Tina Modotti, who was active from the Twenties to the Forties. “I’m fascinated by her modernity and courage. She was so poor but had the courage to go to America and travel around the world to Mexico, Russia and Spain during the civil war.
She was a muse to many artists, from Edward Weston to Pablo Neruda to Diego Rivera, and from muse she became an activist, and a great photographer. She was a woman of passion with a freedom of spirit which, for the time in Italy, when a woman could not exist without a man, was so pioneering.”
You may also like
GALLERY22 photosLittle Known Snapshots of Monica Bellucci
Discover a collection of little-known snapshots of actress and model Monica Bellucci. From the 18-year-old woman with curly hair to the sensual feline-eyed actress, discover in images the mysterious beauty of the glamorous icon, considered one of the most beautiful women in the world...
GALLERYNew6 photosMonica Bellucci, Poise in Black
Monica Bellucci photographed by Matthew Rolston for InStyle Magazine in 2002.
GALLERYNew10 photosIntimate Portraits of Monica Bellucci, 1997
These intimate portraits capture Monica Bellucci in 1997, poised between her fashion beginnings and an increasingly international film career. Photographed in Paris by Frédérique Veysset, the series reveals the natural elegance, intensity, and self-possession that would become signatures of her image.
MOVIES14 photosTears of the Sun Movie Pictures
Tears of the Sun is a action film directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci. We have compiled the glorious moments of Tears of the Sun movie.
MOVIES18 photosHow Much Do You Love Me?
In this gleeful, bawdy sex comedy, Francois, a balding, downtrodden office worker tells the gorgeous prostitute, Daniela (Monica Bellucci), that he's won the lottery and invites her home to spend his money.
MOVIES29 photosTop 30 Monica Bellucci Movies
From starring in independent dramas to huge blockbusters, Bellucci is at ease playing a variety of characters. The Italian star, who began her career as a 13-year-old model, has remained an evergreen presence on the international cinematic landscape. Here the top 30 movies of Monica Bellucci...
Latest Contents
New13 photosMonica Bellucci by Ellen von Unwerth, 2012
New8 photosAgeless Beauty: Monica Bellucci
New6 photosMonica Bellucci Black & White, 2002
NewMonica Bellucci: Tim Burton’s Vision for Vogue Italia — 4K
New25 photosMonica Bellucci’s Timeless Beauty Looks
New30 photos