She manages to be Italian, French and even a little British, and play in Hollywood. At 50, she became the new Bond girl. And at 51 – an opera diva in the popular American TV series Mozart in the Jungle. It shocks, surprises, inspires. Although it doesn’t aspire to it. At our meeting in 2008, Monica Bellucci told why it is easier for her to communicate with women, avoid mirrors, and what is the magical property of age.
She appears somehow imperceptibly, apologizing for being fifteen minutes late. After our long conversation and several cups of tea, alone, without any accompaniment, she gets into a taxi in the parking lot nearby … This is Monica Bellucci: everything is across her from the “star”. No black glasses, no special manners, no codes of conduct. She is a star and does not pretend to be a star: neither at 20, nor at 30, nor at 50.
In a conversation, she addressed me in her own way: “Do you know?”, And that’s why I also involuntarily wanted to switch to you. Thank you Monica for your sincerity and generosity.
Psychologies: Three films with your participation should be released this year, and your daughter Deva will be three years old. Does that mean she goes to shoot with you?
Monica Bellucci: Yes, when I go to shoot, I always take it with me. I have a nanny and my mother often travels with me, so they help me. This is the rarest chance – to have a profession that does not separate you from your child. When we were filming How Much Are You Worth?, after the love scene, I apologized and said that I needed to feed Deva. Breast. Here, in the pavilion. The assistant director was amazed, she had never seen anything like this before!
Do you consult with your mother about raising your daughter?
M. B .: Not particularly, but I’m her child. And she was always a child, surrounded by care, loved. That helped me a lot in life. And I try to make the same life for Deva. Only I grew up in one place, nothing has changed, but she still travels.
They say you call her a “luxurious gypsy” …
M. B .: Quite right. She changes houses, hotels, surroundings and does not experience any problems with adaptation. When we arrive somewhere, she opens her eyes, looks where she is, and again calmly falls asleep, as if she knew yesterday that she would be here in the morning. It always retains its center, its landmark.
You love surprises, travel… Where does it come from?
M. B .: I was born in a small village where I lived a rather ordinary life. This quiet life helped me develop. But at some point, I started to choke. And she said to herself: that’s it! And when she became an adult and was able to decide for herself, she went to explore the world. Since then, I have not parted with my suitcase.
Do you ever feel like there is a missing center in your life?
M. B .: For me, the center is Europe. I live in London. I have a house in Italy. My husband is French. London is the bridge between Europe and the United States. The English have a colder temperament and I like that, I don’t feel the same pressure as in France or Italy.
And you manage to protect your privacy…
M. B .: Sometimes I just need moments of peace. Of course, this was important to me even before Deva was born, and now even more so.
It seems that not a single photo of her has been published …
M. B .: It seems that none of the journalists particularly insisted on this. But besides, I don’t go with her to places where we can be seen.
Deva beautiful?
M. B .: Rather divine. Matches its name.
What if she wasn’t beautiful?
M. B .: For me it would still be. Or maybe she’s not beautiful at all! In Italy, in Naples, we have a saying: “Even a cockroach is beautiful for its mother.”
When a Deva falls ill, you are said to use only homeopathic remedies. Are you a supporter of natural medicine?
M. B .: I try, as far as I can, not to give her drugs that aggressively affect the child’s body. It started with the fact that she had a terrible otitis media, and antibiotics did not help. And after homeopathy, he immediately passed.
What language does she speak?
M. B .: With me – in Italian, sometimes mixing with French and English. With my father – in French. But in general, she has her own vocabulary. At first I thought: “Poor thing, what will she do with three languages?” But so far, nothing is working.
Do you know what determines whether we are happy or not?
M. B .: Recently, one evening during the holidays, I was talking with friends about why I am truly happy now: because my daughter does not suffer from my profession. Because she’s with me and I don’t work all day, and if I want to take six months off, I can afford it. I do not even admit the thought that I will have to sacrifice her comfort for the sake of a career – mental, of course … but also everyday. Never. And now I feel at ease. Because I surround her with care, because I am always there …
Luxury is everyday for you. What does real luxury look like?
M. B .: Have time to live your life. Everyone around is involved in the race for no reason. I especially feel it when I come to America. The energy there is completely different, and I like it. But at some point I reach the limit: no vacation, all the time working – this lifestyle depresses me. You have to be able to enjoy what life gives, otherwise you run, you run… And then you die. And you don’t get to experience anything.
Is the ability to be happy an innate trait for you?
M. B .: If the path to happiness is difficult for many people, it is not their fault. In general, I am convinced that most often this is due to the experiences that they experienced in the womb, at birth and immediately after it. If difficulties arose at the very beginning, then voids form inside a person and nothing can fill them. A weak spot is formed, a gaping that does not depend on itself. We must try to understand where, from whom or what it comes from.
Are you more attracted to happy or not so happy people?
M. B .: To everyone. I am attracted by the joyful, positive energy that comes from some… But the negative energy from others, too, because it is interesting. Dramatic is interesting. Suffering, internally dysfunctional people often become creators. I understand that it sounds almost blasphemous, but suffering is like a fuel on which creativity is produced.
Life is a constant change, but to see the suffering of those you love, to see death is, of course, the most difficult thing
Do you often choose roles in author films, provocative films, in which the world seems to be distorted … Are you attracted to something crazy, strange, wrong?
M. B .: I am attracted to what deviates from the norm, slips from it. And all of us are only busy with the fact that we are trying to collect ourselves, to direct ourselves in the right direction, so as not to slip into madness. Look at the wars, when all instincts – especially base ones – are set free, the law does not exist and everyone around seems to go crazy. It seems to me that the human soul consists of such deviations that we hold back with barriers – politics, religion …
And you yourself could cross the barrier, break loose?
M. B .: Could. This has happened to me before, and I pulled through. I did things I didn’t know I was capable of and put myself in danger, but when you come back to your life from there, it’s an exciting feeling.
Usually you say that you are an agnostic. Is the world really unknowable to you? Do you tend to doubt everything?
M. B .: I can’t talk about things I can’t explain, that’s all. I had a Catholic upbringing, but I’m not a Catholic. My spirituality is of a different kind. I believe in the emergence of an energy field between living beings. I think that we are all connected and my short stay on earth will help others to continue the chain of human births. I don’t believe there is anything for us after death.
A few months ago, you faced death, a loss that your husband especially experienced when his father, Jean-Pierre Cassel, a wonderful actor and singer, died …
M. B .: It was a test. I knew that he was sick, but on the day of the funeral I was simply destroyed, I was very worried. He was a very reserved, very elegant man. He was both funny, joking all the time, and very withdrawn. I know that life is a constant change, but to see the suffering of those you love, to see death is, of course, the most difficult thing.
Do you have a wide social circle?
M. B .: Certainly. I have many girlfriends. This is a real, very good relationship. I also have school friends who have now become doctors, lawyers … But there are also friends whom I met later when I worked as a model and then as an actress: these are architects, journalists, actresses – the circle is very wide and varied. In fact, I have almost no male friends, I have a few, but not many.
Because there is a danger of a feeling different from friendship, and passion destroys relationships?
M. B .: Well no. To be honest, I find it much easier with women. With men, I have a different style of communication, less spontaneous, more filters. I can only be completely myself with a woman.
You and your husband live separately: you are mostly in London, he is in Paris. Why?
M. B .: We trust each other very much. But, as it turns out, not each of us is himself – we are afraid to get bored with each other, get tired of each other. We live separately to avoid the routine of family relationships, all this “living together”.
You were named among the friends-actors of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Really, are you friends?
M. B .: I had the opportunity to meet him at one dinner and another when he presented me with the medal of the Chevalier of Arts and Letters. The most charming person.
I will never be skinny. I’m pretty lazy by nature. I love to eat. I am the real one. And I don’t intend to become fake
You don’t seem like a fan of secular entertainment…
M. B .: Exactly. At parties where people drink one glass of champagne after another and smoke one cigarette after another, listening to talk about nothing, the style of dressing or the latest bag design, at such parties I am deadly bored. I’d rather meet my friends. Some of them also belong to the acting circle or the world of fashion, but our communication is enriching. It is not to demonstrate that you belong to a certain circle. Not to “shine” in the light. Yes, I have a need for a real, sincere relationship.
Are you good at spotting false friends?
M. B .: Oh yes, two seconds. I feel it right away: this one – yes, this one – no. With age it comes, thank God! At least something positive!
Is 40 years old a milestone?
M. B .: Today, women have every chance not to become worn out, ugly with age. It’s fantastic! Over the years, we gain strength, confidence, demeanor, which we did not have at 20. Women, as they say, in their age carry some kind of special power. And it’s so nice to look at, it has a calming effect on me. By the way, that’s why I rejected a Hollywood career, and there were offers to move after The Passion of the Christ. It’s just that the strongest objection in me is the way Hollywood uses female actresses. “Uses” is the right word. If you have crossed the line of 40, that’s it – you are slipping into the second grade. That’s why I couldn’t live there. They are obsessed with youth and the beauty of youth, only youth. After 40, my colleagues fall into a uniform madness, as if they are in danger of being shot … And then … I’m just a different type than the actresses traditionally demanded by the American film industry. My value system was changed by the birth of a child – a career for me is not at all the main thing. I will never be skinny. I’m pretty lazy by nature. I love to eat. I am the real one. And I don’t intend to be fake.
Once you admitted that after the birth of the Devas, they began to look less in the mirror …
M. B .: It’s true. At first, I didn’t look at it at all. And it wasn’t worth it! She slept catastrophically little, breastfed every two hours, woke up with this on her head (spreads her arms above her head) and with bags under her eyes. I changed Deva’s diapers, bathed her, and when I looked up, I saw myself in the mirror… ah! But it made me laugh, as if I had forgotten the woman in myself. In my eyes there was only a daughter, but I was not there.
But then you found yourself again, what you were before?
M. B .: Yes, but recently. For three years I was in a relaxed maternal state. And I do not regret this time at all – it has not been lost, that’s for sure. It is as much a consequence of my beliefs as my posing naked for the cover of Vanity Fair at the age of seven months, to show that pregnancy is not deforming, that birth is not an act of self-sacrifice, but a perfectly natural thing.
But isn’t this a shock for the body, for the appearance?
M. B .: Having a child is the most natural thing in the world, but also the most difficult. Every woman does it differently. I just “bathed” in my motherhood. I really wanted to experience it. And she was ready for any changes. In fact … neither my chest nor my stomach – almost nothing has changed with me! I was just a little fatter, but now I’m back in my normal shape. The body reflects human psychology, doesn’t it? I think a person is not who he is, but who he feels himself to be.
Do you recognize yourself in glamorous magazine photos?
M. B .: This is also me, a part of me, defiantly feminine. Motherhood is another part of my femininity. I like to play with my image, it’s fun to play the game of passion. And to be a muse and a source of inspiration for photographers and directors is absolutely wonderful.
Were you already a “very girl” as a child?
M. B .: My mother is very feminine, so this is probably from her … No, in fact, it’s all because I’m Italian, of course! (Laughs.) We have a very special attitude towards the body. I immediately recognize an Italian by the way she moves. Italian women have a natural sensuality and a special way to control the body. It’s in our culture. There’s nothing to be done here.
Read also an interview with Monica Bellucci from our colleagues:
interview with Vladimir Pozner, May 2016
Marie Claire, August 2013
Tatler, December 2013