Monica Bellucci. “My girls, I warned them, they know abuse is everywhere as soon as there is power”

What does a movie star’s kitchen look like? Blue and white furniture, cereal and cookie boxes, children’s pictures on the fridge, mugs in the cupboard… Family life. One detail, however, on the wall, framed in black and white, is Sophia Loren’s big smile. We are really with the Italian actress. In Paris, on the Left Bank, Monica Bellucci greets us on a summer morning. Sweetness and grace, dressed in black, she kisses warmly and makes tea. Passing through the capital for just a few hours, with his holiday starting the next day, he talks about quirks, travel, filming, his two teenage daughters and a new romance.

He just finished filming Beetle juice 2 Set in London, the second part of the 1988 fantasy comedy directed by Tim Burton, a celebrated storyteller and adored filmmaker. It was in Lyon that they would meet in the fall of 2022 during the Lumière Festival. Since then, their secret affair has become a love story by day. And Burton told Bellucci. “There is a key character in my next film, I would like it to be you.”

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A new life ahead

He immediately accepted and joined the prestigious cast, which stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, as originally. The new muse of the American director has yet to say anything about this long-awaited feature film, scheduled for 2024, which marks Burton’s return to cinema after a five-year absence.

He speaks of the “sensitivity” of Burton’s man, “someone very exciting.” “His films reveal his magnificent soul.” She’s soon to be 59, he’s 65, so much harmony, their pairing marrying dolce vita and Hollywood gothic fantasy, Mediterranean glamor and American magic. He played the Callas he created Edward Scissorhands. Their worlds, apparently distant, now overlap between France and Italy for him, he in London; “We meet when we can, but a lot,” she says with a smile. Without wanting to reveal more.

Theater in the skin

Hit the screens in August mafia momcomedy by Kathryn Hardwick, starring Monica Bellucci consigliere: the role of the leader of the mafia clan, played by Toni Collette. Among her latest projects is a documentary film of a play directed by French Tom Wolfe, in which she plays Maria Callas. This role, to which he is attached, he successfully played on all stages: in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, England, France and even in New York. “The theater is a pain, he assures. Stage fright grips me, then I breathe the same breath as the public for an hour and a half. I feel everything, every night is like the first.” These days, he’s starting a film with Franco-Iranian Marjane Satrapi, then he’s off to Italy to present a feature film inspired by comics. DiabolicalThe success of the Milan edition signed by sisters Angela and Luciana Giusani in the 1960s. It’s been like that since the day I started, I go from one country to another. It makes me free, even if sometimes I feel uprooted.” Her young years as a model taught her to love this nomadic existence, the “bohemian” she dares, always between two dimensions and two languages.

I go from one country to another. It frees me, even if I feel uprooted at times

Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci’s specialty is that she has been able to pursue an international career while remaining deeply European. Appeared Dracula By Francis Ford Coppola, in 1992, he was noticed across the Atlantic, then in France he became famous. the apartment, where she met a certain Vincent Cassel whom she married in 1999. Gilles Mimouni’s film, which was awarded at England’s Bafta, allowed him to take on his first real American role. Meanwhile, he appeared in several Italian-made films and rose to prominence in France in the late 2000s. Doberman, Covenant of the Wolves and especially Asterix and Obelix. Mission Cleopatra. Thanks before you go back to America Matrix. In short, a virtuous circle that makes it selective, elusive, unique. Playing in Italian is where he is most at ease, even if he continues to receive help from the coach on tone and speech at times.

But he only has one passport, he proudly waves it around, the stamped one Italian Republic. His parents live in Umbria, and he plans to spend more time with them. From Paris, he praises the village atmosphere where “everything happens”. She has been living there for ten years for the education of her daughters. The eldest, 18-year-old Deva Cassel, is following in her footsteps: a model, particularly for Dior and Dolce & Gabbana, a budding and promising actress. It is in Italy that the young premiere is proving its worth, currently shooting a remake of the film Cheetah, by Luchino Visconti, taking over the role of Angelica Sedara, then played by Claudia Cardinale. He speaks five languages: French, Italian, English, Spanish and Portuguese, his mother proudly notes. Her youngest, 13-year-old Leonie, too. “They grew up in Brazil, Italy, France, but I explain to them that we cannot say ‘from everywhere’. French culture is their foundation. You need to have a strong identity to open up to others. You need a backbone.’ Together with their mother, the two sisters switch from one language to another depending on the circumstances. Their childhood was only cinema. Growing up with such popular actor parents gives you every reason to follow suit.

Transmission power

“They have an artistic fiber. Deva loves cinema. Leonie is still too young to know what she wants to do. I am very touched that they are inspired by the atmosphere that was theirs. Most importantly, it is obvious that they are happy with the path they have chosen. Therefore, the transfer happened naturally, but some things had to be said. The liberation of women’s speech, which accompanied the MeToo movement and revealed a large number of sexual and gender-based violence, is changing the often idealized perception of artistic circles. “My Girls, I Warned Them,” released by Monica Bellucci. They know that there are abuses, everywhere, as soon as there is power, in this profession, as elsewhere.

Thank you to all the women who fought for our rights

Monica Bellucci

Is she a feminist? “I thank all the women who fought for our rights. One day our girls will be able to speak without shouting, they will be heard, that is the big difference. Things change and that’s okay. We pay more attention to how we address others, and that is commendable.” Several times, he says, he had to “manage” men’s behavior towards him, managed to avoid the worst. “I’m not stronger than anyone, but I’m lucky, it’s never been extreme.” He hopes men will also find more freedom to escape macho stereotypes. Recently, he was marked by a scene. The young father sitting next to him on the plane, alone, took care of his child in such a way that he was moved. “As a woman, that made me really happy. There are still so many inequalities, but this scene gives hope.”

From now on, during the filming of movies, intimate relationship coaches pay a lot of attention to love scenes. Controversial set Irreversible, she was assisted by director Gaspar Noe during a lengthy rape sequence. “I was trained to avoid real blows, I learned every gesture, like in a choreography. But I never thought about that for other films.

Great cinema

There is no more tea in the cups, time is running out, he must go soon. The oval of her pale face, big eyes, flexible outline, years have not changed her beauty. What does she say to her older self, as beautiful as her age and posed on glossy paper? He warned the young girl that the image, when it is more than the rest, is imprisoned. Monica Bellucci has long understood that beauty alone is not enough. Two drums are playing in the kitchen, the actress is looking at the clock, she has made an appointment with her agent. He spins. The cinema does not wait.