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An actor works with their soul and their thought.
Monica Bellucci
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.
I love jewelry - gold and diamonds. I'm a woman.
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 don't know Hollywood very well. I've never lived in Los Angeles or New York. But what I can see in Paris, where I live, is that actresses like Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, still get the chance to play strong, sexy roles even though they're not 20.
I like to do on screen what I'm not in life. In life, I'm much more weak and insecure, and so then you know I like to play characters that are stronger than me.
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.
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.
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.'
I always wanted children late; I had my first daughter at 39 and the second at 45.
I went to a modeling agency and said I wanted to be a model. I worked, worked, worked so much while I was studying.
In a couple, sometimes, one or both people have to give up their personal life, dreams and ambitions for the good of the family.
I've been working with good directors - the Wachowski brothers, Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam, Mel Gibson... I love American movies, but I love European movies, too, and I want to do both.
Just a touch of eyeliner and red lips is glamorous.
There is this thing in America where actresses reach 40 and go mad. The film industry wants all these young people.
I'm a lucky person because I've been loved a lot. I have a great family.
I have a lot of adrenaline. I have a naturally fast system. But I love to eat, and I am not skinny.
In France, they call the beauty of youth 'the evil beauty.' You don't have it because of you but because you're born with it. The other kind of beauty is your own work, and it takes forever.
When I have to go to Cannes, that is boring to me.
I was very shy as a girl. Absurdly shy, even. Maybe because I was an only child. And I think that's why I'm so happy to have two kids now.
The first time I was in London, I went to an English greasy spoon to get some breakfast and realised that all the waiters were speaking Italian. That's when it hit me what an international city this is.
I'm not a movie star. I'm just an actress.
I'm not someone that wants to control everything. I like to work with people that bring their talents to the project. So I like it when the makeup artist has a chance to do their work, when the dresser does their work, when the director does their work. They all come with stories and ideas to think about.
People assume I work hard on my body, but I honestly don't.
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.
For me, true beauty has nothing to do with wrinkles and everything to do with the fact that my maternal grandmother raised five children just after the war and remained a fighter throughout her life. True beauty is the slick of red lipstick my paternal grandmother would put on before going to church on Sunday.
When you're in front of the camera, you have to try to create different emotions because even the person making pictures of you needs inspiration. To be 'you' means nothing - you can be so many yous.
It's complicated coming from a culture where to be a mother is more important than to have a career.
We all need illusions. That's why we love movies.
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.
I think the lawyers are such incredible actors. Can you imagine the performance they have to do every day?
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.
I live in Paris but I feel I am a daughter of Europe.
Listen, I had two kids - one when I was 40, one when I was 45. I breastfed for one year, which means I was breastfeeding four years ago. I'm going to move from giving birth to menopause without really realising.
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.
It doesn't surprise me that men in their twenties and thirties are often looking for a much older woman. What is the problem with a man of 30 being with a woman of 50? It is a matter of energy and the soul, not a matter of age of the body.
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 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.
We should not be worried about age when it comes to love and attraction.
Wherever I go, I am Italian. The way I talk, the way I eat, the way femininity is important to me. The way I love Italian food.
British people don't express when they are in pain. They don't think it's elegant.
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.
The single woman is a free woman, and being single does not mean being alone - it means being free to have a relationship or not. This can be scary, but it's also very interesting.
Being an actress is the sublimation of feminity.
When a relationship doesn't work anymore, it's terrible to stay with someone that you don't love.
I'm Italian; I take my time. We're not really fast. We're very slow. I had my first child at 40, my second child at 45, James Bond at 50. I'm so curious as to what's next!
Now, all the movies are for teenagers. It's very difficult for an actress to find really deep, beautiful characters to play.
When I did 'The Passion', nobody believed in the movie. Everybody was telling me, 'You shouldn't do this movie... But I wanted to play Mary Magdalene. I thought that I could do something strong and deep with this character.
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.
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