Monica Vitti

“I adore gelato; it's a pleasure I shared for years with my friend Gabriel Garcia Marquez.”

“I am unwilling to strip completely before the cameras.”

“The theater is so big and dark and private. Nobody knows that I am there. I am relaxed. I forget completely I am an actress. I laugh, I applaud, I cry.”

“I was an anguished little girl with just one wish: to become an actor. I debuted in live theater at 14 with Dario Niccodemi's 'La Nemica.'”

“I played at being someone else in movies and live theater, and at being myself in life's most intense, fascinating game - the game of love.”

“I had very strict parents. My two brothers were power and freedom. I was powerlessness and seclusion.”

“Despite what people say about my major film roles, I'm not a dull or monotonous woman searching for self-identity.”

“In the morning, I'm like the Antonioni movies. I'm little sad. I haven't the courage to start the day. In the evenings, I'm happier, more alive - like the character I play in 'An Almost Perfect Affair.'”

“I'm lively and gay by nature.”