Monica Belluci walks us through her legendary career, discussing her roles in 'Under Suspicion,' 'Maléna,' 'Irréversible,' 'The Matrix Reloaded,' 'The Passion of the Christ,' 'Spectre,' 'Mozart in the Jungle,' 'Call My Agent!,' 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' and more.
Director: Adam Lance Garcia
Director of Photography: Franics Bernal
Editor: Cory Stevens
Talent: Monica Bellucci
Producer: Madison Coffey
Line Producer: Romeeka Powell
Associate Producer: Lyla Neely
Production Manager: Andressa Pelachi
Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes
Talent Booker: Lauren Mendoza
Camera Operator: Caleb Weiss
Gaffer: David Djaco
Audio Engineer: Lily Van Leeuwen
Production Assistant: Kelsey Cuellar
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Additional Editor: JC Scruggs
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Director: Adam Lance Garcia
Director of Photography: Franics Bernal
Editor: Cory Stevens
Talent: Monica Bellucci
Producer: Madison Coffey
Line Producer: Romeeka Powell
Associate Producer: Lyla Neely
Production Manager: Andressa Pelachi
Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes
Talent Booker: Lauren Mendoza
Camera Operator: Caleb Weiss
Gaffer: David Djaco
Audio Engineer: Lily Van Leeuwen
Production Assistant: Kelsey Cuellar
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Additional Editor: JC Scruggs
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Category
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00My agent called me and told me Sam Mendes wanted to meet you for James Bond,
00:05and I was 50 at the time, the oldest Bond lady ever.
00:20Hi, I'm Monica Bellucci, and this is the timeline of my career.
00:25Obviously, Henry has talked to us about your marriage.
00:28How you wish you had married a younger man, someone closer to your own age, like Paco.
00:34You're saying Henry's jealous of my sister's husband?
00:38Are you having an affair with Paco?
00:40Am I on trial now?
00:44No.
00:45I was working in fashion business, and Roman Coppola saw pictures of me,
00:51and I met Francis Ford Coppola, and I was in Dracula.
00:55It was my first cameo, but it was so important for me,
00:58because I realized that I wanted to be an actress.
01:02And then I went back to Rome, and I started acting lessons,
01:07and then I was in my first American film with a bigger role, of course.
01:12I was in Under Suspicion with Morgan Freeman and Gina Hackman.
01:16So I went to Los Angeles, and they were so nice, so generous,
01:22and I felt completely welcome to the project.
01:36I went to Cannes Film Festival, and was trembling, actually, I remember.
01:41And Gina Hackman touches me, and he told me,
01:43I don't have to feel like that.
01:45I mean, you have to be relaxed.
01:48Just go.
01:49And so he gave me the courage.
02:01Malena speaks through the eyes and her body.
02:05It's a lot about body language.
02:07And the body, for actors, is really an instrument,
02:11how to connect with the others.
02:14And in this film, it's really about that.
02:17Tonotori knew me because we did a commercial together.
02:20And at that time, he told me, I have a story in my mind.
02:24And if one day I'm going to make this movie, it's going to be with you.
02:28And he called me, like, three years later.
02:31And he told me, you know, do you remember this project, Malena?
02:35I want to make it.
02:36And we were shooting in Sicily for a few months.
02:40And I love Sicily.
02:41Because I think that in Italy, without Sicily, we don't have cinemas.
02:45Because I think all the most beautiful stories, they come from Sicily.
02:54The sequence is very violent.
02:57But I have to say that those actresses, they were amazing with me.
03:01In the end, you know, nothing happened to me.
03:03Even though the scene is very violent, of course.
03:06But we tried everything before.
03:09So I knew how to move without being in danger.
03:12And Tonotori was so protective as well.
03:15So actually, I was saved.
03:18Even though the situation looks really, really terrible.
03:21But it gives the strength to the story.
03:25And this woman, Malena, she's in a situation where the women hate her.
03:30Because she provoked desire.
03:33And even the men, they don't protect her.
03:35And there is this scene that is so famous.
03:37You know, when she smokes a cigarette.
03:39And all the men come closer.
03:42And actually, it's just about desire.
03:45Nothing to do with love.
03:46We are in a male-dominated society.
03:49So a woman doesn't exist without a man.
03:52And so when she comes back in the end with her husband,
03:56that moment, the people respect her again.
04:06Now, slowly, slowly.
04:14Irreversible is the most violent film I ever made.
04:18At the same time, it's also very poetic.
04:21It shows the beauty and monstrosity of human beings.
04:26Even in the scene that we all know that was very, you know, dangerous.
04:31I mean, for the audience, it looks dangerous.
04:34But I was completely protected, even in this one.
04:37Because it was like a choreography.
04:39So I knew every step I had to make.
04:41So it was like a dancing scene in some way.
04:44This film is also interesting, the way it was made.
04:48Because there were 20 minutes long sequence shots.
04:52So I could act for 20 minutes non-stop, like in theater.
04:57And this, in cinema, never happened.
04:59So even the way it was made was something really special.
05:07I'll give you what you want.
05:09But you have to give me something.
05:11What?
05:12A kiss.
05:14Excuse me.
05:17I want you to kiss me as if you were kissing her.
05:23Why?
05:24You love her.
05:25She loves you.
05:26It's all over you both.
05:28When I did Dracula with Francis Ford Coppola, Keanu Reeves was in the film.
05:34So it was easier.
05:36It's always great when you know someone in a big cast like that.
05:47I felt more secure, you know, because I knew him already.
05:52And he was very nice, very generous.
05:55And it was an experience.
05:56And Carrie Ann Moss, she was so protective with me.
06:00And I was in Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolution.
06:05So they all knew each other.
06:06So I was a new one.
06:07Persephone, she comes from a Greek mythology.
06:11In the Greek mythology, she's between hell and human beings.
06:18She had to be secretive, mysterious, dangerous.
06:24At the same time, she needs love.
06:28She wants to feel sensuality.
06:32So I had to play this character in a very elegant way.
06:45When I did The Passion of Jesus Christ, I was in Rome at that time.
06:50And I met the costume designer of the movie.
06:53I asked him, who's going to play Mary Magdalene?
06:56I met Mel Gibson.
06:58And he offered me the part.
07:00Mary Magdalene was such an incredible figure.
07:04Because to me, Mary Magdalene represents the humanity.
07:08Someone that is in front of something that is bigger than her.
07:14And she can't explain.
07:15Because in the beginning, she doesn't have a face.
07:18So she gets into that little by little.
07:22So to me, Mary Magdalene was such an interesting role.
07:26Because she represents the human condition.
07:46To be in a Bond movie is almost a secret dream for many actresses.
07:52And what happened to me was so funny.
07:54Because my agent called me and told me, Monica, do you want to laugh?
07:59Sam Mendes wanted to meet you for James Bond.
08:02And I was 50 at the time.
08:05So I said, but he wants to meet me for M?
08:11Because of course, I was so happy to play M.
08:14I have so much respect for Dame Judi Dench.
08:17But he told me, no, he wanted to meet you for a James Bond girl.
08:21Donna Lucia Schara, the oldest Bond lady ever.
08:39To be in the movie, for me, at my age, was a kind of revolutionary.
08:44And it was.
08:45Because this subject came out all the time.
08:48It was really something new that a mature woman could be close to James Bond.
08:55Also because Daniel Craig is younger than me, I mean, in reality.
09:00It proves that things are changing.
09:02And we are in a new era.
09:05And women have such an impact in society.
09:09And I think it's an example, this movie.
09:18Well, I'm not here to conduct your cooking.
09:20And if my singing is overcooked?
09:23I will never allow that. Never.
09:26You want to talk about the blood?
09:28Well, my heart, it has been bleeding for a while.
09:34And I think your voice is the only thing that can save it.
09:38Mozart in the Jungle is my first TV series.
09:41And Roman Coppola produced this TV series.
09:46So it was such a beautiful coincidence to get in touch with him for the second time.
09:54In this TV series, I had to play an opera singer.
09:58Completely obsessed with her voice.
10:01And she has this passionate love for a man that is younger than her.
10:07Played by Guy Garcia Bernal.
10:09He's a conductor.
10:10I had to sing in many different languages.
10:14So in German, Italian, English.
10:18And my singing had to be perfect.
10:21So I had to work very hard for this role.
10:24Ave Maria
10:38Alexandra was a woman that she was suffering because she was losing her voice.
10:45So this instrument was so delicate.
10:48And also she's scared of getting older.
10:51At the same time, what saves her, that she's very childish.
10:56And she comes out of the tragedy.
10:58She has this way to escape of the situations.
11:06Monica, you're fucking beautiful.
11:09I want to share with you my life, my ranch, everything.
11:13When Marc Fittousi, the French director, came to me with this project,
11:19I said, my God, what are you going to write down?
11:21It's about me.
11:22He told me, no, it's going to be just an inspiration.
11:25Then, of course, the script is going to be bigger than life.
11:27So don't be scared.
11:28Go and let it go.
11:31And this is what I did.
11:32And actually, I was inspired by me as an actress.
11:37But at the same time, I had to play someone who doesn't believe in love.
11:42Who doesn't believe in love anymore.
11:44And it was so fun.
11:45But she wants an affair with her agent.
11:48Because she thinks he's the only one who can see her for who she is.
11:53It was really well written.
11:56And so it was easy for me to play this role.
11:59I had so much fun.
12:00And also I was happy.
12:02Because I didn't have so many chances to play in comedies.
12:07You know, when you see all those films that we are talking about.
12:10Emmaline, Under Suspicion, Irreversible.
12:14They're all so dramatic.
12:16So for me, it was so refreshing to be in a movie that was a comedy.
12:41No, Sissi, you look like her.
12:43Ah, no, wait, I'm saying that as a compliment, because she's sublime.
12:48We want dresses, different dresses that I had.
12:51Really, to give something of myself.
12:54Not just the way I was acting.
12:56Because sometimes it's so interesting and important in our business
13:00to have some distance.
13:02And this role gave me the possibility to be distant of myself.
13:07And also to play with myself.
13:09And to laugh of myself as well.
13:11And I think sometimes it's important to do this.
13:30Of course, I was a big fan of the first one.
13:33And when Tim told me,
13:35there is a key role in this movie for which I thought about you.
13:41So I was very happy to accept it and to play it.
13:45Dolores.
13:46She's a Beatles' bride.
13:48The connection between them is that they have a dark side.
13:54And they connect it by their soul.
13:56It's like poison love drama.
14:04Soon, my beloved, soon.
14:27What was incredible is that we didn't know each other.
14:30And we had to play an intimate, funny scene right away.
14:35With them, it was easy because he was really generous and protective.
14:41And at the same time, it was so beautiful for me
14:43to see the relation through the years between Tim and Michael.
14:49And also, what is so interesting in the film
14:52is to see all these actors that have grown with their characters.
14:57And they still have fun to play those characters.
15:00An incredible honor to be part of this amazing cast
15:04and to enter into Tim's poetic, fantastic world.
15:10There is so much substance for an actor in his fairy tales.
15:16It's the passion that drives you.
15:18And I believe in synergy.
15:20I mean, if you want something and you fight for it,
15:24things are going to happen.