Monica Bellucci

“In the beginning, I didn't know if I was still a model, if I was an actress. I knew I wanted to be an actress, but it was so difficult to be believed.”

“The most important thing with children is to give them your time. Actually, that's all that matters.”

“After a while in marriage, it doesn't work anymore. There is something missing, there is something wrong. There are few marriages that stay alive forever. We like something, and after a while, we hate what we used to love.”

“I like to do on screen what I'm not in life. In life, I'm much more weak and insecure, and so then you know I like to play characters that are stronger than me.”

“I went to a modeling agency and said I wanted to be a model. I worked, worked, worked so much while I was studying.”

“Directors don't call you for your beauty but for your talent.”

“I'm Italian; I take my time. We're not really fast. We're very slow. I had my first child at 40, my second child at 45, James Bond at 50. I'm so curious as to what's next!”

“I don't work all the time. That's why I waited to have children until I was ready for that. I try to organise my time according to them because they need me. I don't want to put my work first anymore because it's not as important as my children.”

“The first time I was in London, I went to an English greasy spoon to get some breakfast and realised that all the waiters were speaking Italian. That's when it hit me what an international city this is.”

“To be a lawyer was too boring for me, for my personality.”

“I like a movie that brings out many discussions. From my experience, every time I have done movies, they create this kind of situation. Like 'Irreversible,' 'The Passion of the Christ,' 'Malena'; it's so interesting. I like to explore the dark side of humanity. That's why I'm an actor.”

“My body is so important to me... my face, my arms, my legs, my hands, my eyes, everything. I use everything I have.”

“When I'm relaxed, jeans and a shirt are my uniform.”

“In France, they call the beauty of youth 'the evil beauty.' You don't have it because of you but because you're born with it. The other kind of beauty is your own work, and it takes forever.”

“I speak a little Portuguese, but my daughter speaks it better than me. I always feel that Italy is my home, but it is important for my husband that we also live in France. Sometimes we live as a family all together, but as we are two working actors, sometimes we have to be apart. Sometimes I'm shooting a movie; sometimes he is.”

“I like when I have to act and direct; then, when you have to dub, you're by yourself in front of the wall, and I'm always scared that you're not good like when you are in real when you act.”

“When I have to go to Cannes, that is boring to me.”

“A woman has so many facets, and when you create an image, you have to play with all the different moments of your femininity, not just one thing, because everybody can get bored.”

“I wanted to do 'Matrix' because when I saw the first one, I was in Paris, and I came out from the movie and said, 'Wow - I've never seen something like that; it's so incredible.'”

“I love jewelry - gold and diamonds. I'm a woman.”