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.
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