INTERVIEWS•2 photos

Love and sexuality

Monica Bellucci talks about On the Milky Road, trusting directors, playing a Bond girl and why love and sexuality are a matter of energy, not age.

As has seemingly been par for the course since Bellucci first started modelling as a 13-year-old, the film features a man going gaga at the sight of her. He even risks the wrath of a warlord to be with her. An experience that French bad boy Vincent Cassel can attest to, who married his co-star after meeting her on the set of The Apartment in 1996. That film also served to confirm Bellucci’s transfer from the catwalk to the big screen. The actress was nominated for a Cesar Award for her role as a stage actress whose best friend destroys her relationship. She is probably best known for her turn in Gasper Noe’s time bending rape revenge drama Irreversible , which opened the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 and made headlines around the world for it’s disturbing 9-minute rape scene. It was another role played alongside Cassel, with whom she has two children. When the couple split in 2013, it created Brangelina levels of reactions in Paris, where Bellucci still lives. Able to speak four languages, she has done roles in French, Italian, English and Farsi. Her best known American credits include playing bored wife Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions and Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ . So she was a bit surprised when two-time Palme d’Or winner Kusturica asked her to speak Serb: “I needed to have a [voice[ coach with me all the time,” says Bellucci, “because I had to learn what I had to say [phonetically]. There was a lot of improvisation on set, as Emir used the script as a base and then things can change a lot with him.” She says that the director had more faith in her, than she did herself. An experience she says is not unusual in her career, in which directors have cajoled her to think outside the box: “When Emir gave me the film, I said to him, you do realise the whole film is in Serb, but he said, ‘you can do it’. How do they know? Like when Sam Mendes came with Spectre . I mean it’s not a normal day when a woman of 50 years gets to be a Bond girl. And now I’ve just finished a role where I play an opera singer in Mozart in the Jungle , and I’ve never done this in my life, so sometimes with directors, they see further.” Mendes for his part, said he thought Bellucci would be perfect because she has “mystery and depth...I just thought Monica Bellucci made sense for the story, the ages of the characters we are dealing with and she has an incredible seductive presence in life and in the movie.” As for On the Milky Road , the film took four years to make, as Kusturica added a series of special effects that augment the magical realist elements, which he combines with his usual cacophony of loud music and crazy shenanigans. The film features a marvellous opening sequence that highlights the confusion of war with bloodied animals, most notably pigs heads and geese, and soldiers shooting from all sides, at whom and for what purpose is difficult to know.
As has seemingly been par for the course since Bellucci first started modelling as a 13-year-old, the film features a man going gaga at the sight of her. He even risks the wrath of a warlord to be with her. An experience that French bad boy Vincent Cassel can attest to, who married his co-star after meeting her on the set of The Apartment in 1996. That film also served to confirm Bellucci’s transfer from the catwalk to the big screen. The actress was nominated for a Cesar Award for her role as a stage actress whose best friend destroys her relationship. She is probably best known for her turn in Gasper Noe’s time bending rape revenge drama Irreversible , which opened the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 and made headlines around the world for it’s disturbing 9-minute rape scene. It was another role played alongside Cassel, with whom she has two children. When the couple split in 2013, it created Brangelina levels of reactions in Paris, where Bellucci still lives. Able to speak four languages, she has done roles in French, Italian, English and Farsi. Her best known American credits include playing bored wife Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions and Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ . So she was a bit surprised when two-time Palme d’Or winner Kusturica asked her to speak Serb: “I needed to have a [voice[ coach with me all the time,” says Bellucci, “because I had to learn what I had to say [phonetically]. There was a lot of improvisation on set, as Emir used the script as a base and then things can change a lot with him.” She says that the director had more faith in her, than she did herself. An experience she says is not unusual in her career, in which directors have cajoled her to think outside the box: “When Emir gave me the film, I said to him, you do realise the whole film is in Serb, but he said, ‘you can do it’. How do they know? Like when Sam Mendes came with Spectre . I mean it’s not a normal day when a woman of 50 years gets to be a Bond girl. And now I’ve just finished a role where I play an opera singer in Mozart in the Jungle , and I’ve never done this in my life, so sometimes with directors, they see further.” Mendes for his part, said he thought Bellucci would be perfect because she has “mystery and depth...I just thought Monica Bellucci made sense for the story, the ages of the characters we are dealing with and she has an incredible seductive presence in life and in the movie.” As for On the Milky Road , the film took four years to make, as Kusturica added a series of special effects that augment the magical realist elements, which he combines with his usual cacophony of loud music and crazy shenanigans. The film features a marvellous opening sequence that highlights the confusion of war with bloodied animals, most notably pigs heads and geese, and soldiers shooting from all sides, at whom and for what purpose is difficult to know.
#Vincent Cassel#Monica Bellucci#Monica Bellucci Gallery#monica bellucci news#Monica Bellucci Interviews#Monica Bellucci Photos#Italian Actress

You may also like

Monica Bellucci, Madame Figaro InterviewINTERVIEWS10 photos

Monica Bellucci, Madame Figaro Interview

For Monica Bellucci, “women should love their femininity”. Interview & photo shoots...

Monica Bellucci in BlackINTERVIEWS11 photos

Monica Bellucci in Black

Italian actress Monica Bellucci featured on the cover of the 7000 magazine.

What does Monica Bellucci like or hate?INTERVIEWS21 photos

What does Monica Bellucci like or hate?

Here you can find answers to questions that Monica Bellucci likes, doesn't like, loves and hates. This exclusive interview is for Monica Bellucci fans!

Monica Bellucci for Marie Claire MexicoINTERVIEWS7 photos

Monica Bellucci for Marie Claire Mexico

Spectre starlet Monica Bellucci on the cover of the September 2015 issue of Marie Claire Mexico. Oh, and her revealing interview, so read on for some HIGHlights!

Monica Bellucci for ELLE FranceINTERVIEWS6 photos

Monica Bellucci for ELLE France

Monica Bellucci covers Elle France 2015 February issue by Derek Kettela. Interview: Monica Bellucci, the beauty

Monica Bellucci in Harper's Bazaar Vietnam 2022INTERVIEWS19 photos

Monica Bellucci in Harper's Bazaar Vietnam 2022

Monica Bellucci takes the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam July 2022 edition. Photographed by Sabine Villiard.

Comments (1)

Gene Price2018-11-02

Monica, my life has been an adventure to complete this epic novel would end with a beautiful lover who finds the man she wants in a most fantastic way . Don't look for me as any mortal, find perfection and intrigue by following your heart , it lives inside me waiting to be claimed by only one glorious woman.

Leave a comment

Comments are moderated before publishing.