Monica Bellucci Biography

Fast Facts

• While studying law at Italy's University of Perugia, began modeling to earn money for school; soon dropped out to pursue modeling full-time
• Moved to Milan in 1988 and joined the Elite Model Management agency
• Met director Giuseppe Tornatore---who eventually cast her in the acclaimed Malèna (2000)---while shooting a commercial for a Dolce & Gabbana perfume in 1990
• Made her U
• S
• film debut with a small part in the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola hit Bram Stoker's Dracula
• Breakthrough role came in 1996 French drama L'Appartement, which costarred Bellucci's future husband, Vincent Cassel
• Created a stir when Gaspar Noé's Irréversible (2002)---in which Bellucci endures a brutal, nine-minute rape scene---premiered at the Cannes Film Festival
• Speaks English and French, in addition to her native Italian