Monica Bellucci
I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I'm beautiful.
I'm a true woman, not a Bond girl. That's why I say all the time, 'James Bond lady,' 'James Bond woman.'
We had a moment in the '40s and '50s, where female characters were very strong in film, where these incredible roles were written for women like Joan Crawford, like Bette Davis. But then there was a space of time where - I don't know why - it wasn't like that. It became difficult for women to find certain roles after a certain age.
Sometimes when we think about femininity, we think also fragile. But I think you can be feminine and very strong. I think make-up goes with that femininity. I think it's a natural gesture for women and one they do more for themselves than for others.
I grew up in Perugia, Umbria, in a world outside of fashion, so I didn't learn about it until I was older and moved away. In Milan, the women are really into fashion, and all the big fashion brands are based there, but I don't think they feel pressure to look good all the time.
I believe that time destroys everything. You can take one beautiful apple, red. After a while, it becomes shrivelled and full of worms, just like what happens to us.
I love fairy tales because I think that behind fairy tales, there is always a meaning.
I'm not someone who wakes up at 6 A.M. to go to the gym.
If a man sees a woman with red lipstick, he admires her, but often he won't feel like kissing her.
British people don't express when they are in pain. They don't think it's elegant.
When you're in front of the camera, for a small budget or a big budget movie, there's no difference.
Mel is a great director because he's not just a director, he's an actor, so he knows how to direct actors. I loved working with him. He's great as a director. He's so intelligent. He's generous. I really loved him.
My body is very shaped, and I like to be simple. I don't like to use so many colors. My best colors are black, white and blue.
If you believe what you are on the red carpet, then you would have to go see a doctor, and there are so many actors like that. You have to know very well this is a moment of glamour, and when I go back home, I don't have the airbrush, and I have dark circles because I don't have the make-up on.
An actor works with their soul and their thought.
I'm not a movie star. I'm just an actress.
I know many beautiful people and their lives are just so terrible. They feel so uncomfortable with themselves. Being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel.
I think the lawyers are such incredible actors. Can you imagine the performance they have to do every day?
In acting process, it's very difficult to explain. It's something very intimate, very private.
Sometimes it's more difficult to exist as a female lead, especially in action movies because all those men are around you. They take so much place.
When a relationship doesn't work anymore, it's terrible to stay with someone that you don't love.
When I have to go to Cannes, that is boring to me.
When I make an American movie it's going to come out all over the world-it doesn't happen the same way for an Italian film or a French film.
When you see a silent movie, you understand everything that's going on from the images because the images are so strong.
Now, all the movies are for teenagers. It's very difficult for an actress to find really deep, beautiful characters to play.
Being an actress is the sublimation of feminity.
I like comedies, I like thrillers, I like love stories. Everything is beautiful; it depends if the film is good, who cares? Everything is interesting.
I like when I have to act and direct; then, when you have to dub, you're by yourself in front of the wall, and I'm always scared that you're not good like when you are in real when you act.
In the beginning, I didn't know if I was still a model, if I was an actress. I knew I wanted to be an actress, but it was so difficult to be believed.
My body is so important to me... my face, my arms, my legs, my hands, my eyes, everything. I use everything I have.
I live in Paris but I feel I am a daughter of Europe.
There is this thing in America where actresses reach 40 and go mad. The film industry wants all these young people.
Do you know who I would love to play? Morticia Addams - then I could use all that darkness to be funny.
In so many places in the world, women have been prisoners for so long that they feel they have to scream about their rights. But when you scream, nobody listens to you. Real authority comes when you no longer need to scream - and that's something we women still need to learn.
I can't say I'm a Bond girl because I'm too mature to be a Bond girl. I say Bond lady; Bond woman. But I'm proud to be a Bond lady, because actually, Bond is the most amazing man.
My body is an object of work. That's why I think to be an actor is one of the most violent jobs. If you're a pianist, you have your piano. If you're a guitarist, you have your guitar. But if you're a dancer, or you're an actor - your instrument is your body.
When someone is suffering, you have to see this in the body and the face. I say all the time that actors use their bodies like objects of war.
I think the person creates the artist. And I think when you get lost within your person, your artistry get lost, too. It's like in 'Birdman.' Because the artist inside you is attached to your soul. And when you're not attached to yourself anymore, the soul goes away. You can't let that happen.
If I do a role where I have to lose weight, I can do that. I eat meat, fish, vegetables, and I lose it right away. But sometimes I do a role where I have to gain weight, and I can tell you I prefer that.
Directors don't call you for your beauty but for your talent.
Because I'm pretty, everybody thinks I'm stupid. But it is like a mask, and you have to break the mask to show that there is something else behind it. You have to show who you are to make the others come to discover you.
I don't work all the time. That's why I waited to have children until I was ready for that. I try to organise my time according to them because they need me. I don't want to put my work first anymore because it's not as important as my children.
I always wear some make-up, even on quiet days when I am not doing so much with my time. I like to start using Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Finish Creamy Foundation as a base, as it's lighter than air and doesn't make me feel 'caked.'
It's complicated coming from a culture where to be a mother is more important than to have a career.
I like to be in the spotlight once in a while, and then I like to be in the shadows. It's really regenerating.
Sometimes I've done small parts, like with Spike Lee, but it doesn't matter because you want to work with the director.
I know very well the difference between my image and who I am.
I wanted to do 'Matrix' because when I saw the first one, I was in Paris, and I came out from the movie and said, 'Wow - I've never seen something like that; it's so incredible.'
When I first met Sam Mendes, I was a bit confused and said to him, 'I'm 50 years old. What am I going to do at 50 in a Bond film?'