Monica Bellucci: "Beauty is eating well, laughing a lot and making love as many times as possible. The rest is nonsense"
The Italian actress plays Lucia Sciarra in Agent 007's latest adventure, 'Specter' Her role is revealing for the plot of the film and for women who feel invisible after 50
Topping the typical Sexiest Women list is as prevalent for Monica Bellucci as it is for most mortals to eat hot, and there is no article about the Italian actress in the press that does not mention how absurdly beautiful she is. Specifically, more and more with the passage of time, to how absurdly beautiful she is at her age. Considering that this approach is undoubtedly frivolous and in all probability sexist and, above all, that noticing the attractiveness of the professionally attractive is quite boring, this could be the perfect occasion to write something different. But it won't be. At the request, be careful, of the interested party herself.
"We have to talk about it, it is very important," replies Bellucci, immaculately seated in the armchair of her luxurious London suite, as soon as she is invited to complain about such journalistic laziness. “Because many 50-year-old women feel invisible in front of men, and it shouldn't be that way. As soon as we are no longer capable of having children, society marginalizes us ”. She speaks forcefully but sweetly, almost purring, without stopping gesturing or suggesting any artifice. “It is completely ridiculous. Mature women have a lot to give. We are smart, we are sensitive and, yes, we are sensual. And for us to have confidence in our ability, we have to talk about it. "
EDUCATED IN A "PAINFULLY MACHIST" WORLD
In this sense, she adds without taking a breath, she considers that her origins make her the ideal spokesperson. “I come from a culture in which until 50 or 60 years ago, a husband who murdered his wife did not go to jail because the event was considered a crime of passion. And from a country where, until relatively recently, virginity was still almost a requirement for marriage. I was raised in a painfully macho world ”.
Bellucci posed nude and pregnant for the cover of 'Vanity Fair' magazine, twice, to protest against Italian law that bans sperm donations. ‘’ It is important that we claim our rights, but that our voice is heard is not enough. That is useless to change anything, especially if no one is listening. We will only acquire real power when we do not have the need to complain ”.
True, but isn't it frustrating for a mature actress to have to answer over and over again what she eats to stay in line? After all, no one asks Sean Penn about his age or his beauty tips. "It doesn't seem like an adequate comparison to me because equality is a hoax," he replies. “The organization of the home and the education of the children continue to fall more heavily on women. And it doesn't seem bad to me that this is the case ”. The problem, she continues, is that a woman's body has a particular logic, and in almost everyone that logic is denied. “It is taken for granted that in order to have the same opportunities as men, we have to become men. But we are not men! I loved breastfeeding my daughters, it was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. But if instead of being an actress she worked in an office or as a cashier, possibly she could not have enjoyed it properly ”.
“The organization of the home and the education of the children continue to fall more heavily on women. And it doesn't seem bad to me that this is so "
At this point, and since she herself has made it clear what kind of talk she prefers to have, we can say it without conscience: Monica Bellucci is indeed absurdly beautiful, with that black hair that she often sweeps towards one of her shoulders, and those black eyes - the closest thing to the jewelry she wears for the occasion - and that black dress and that low cut. And just turned 51 somehow makes her seem more alive, while her traces humanize her face. It is as if the symbol had become flesh and blood although, let it be clear, while still exhibiting the kind of 'sex appeal' that would make Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale and Gina Lollobrigida run to retouch their eyeshadow. "I wouldn't want to be 20 again for the world," she says. “I am much happier now, because in the past I was full of insecurities about who I am and who I can become. Now I know who I am, and that is reflected on my face ”.
He stops and, for a second and a knowing smile, seems to decide that he is going to make it easier for the questioner. “I have not used the scalpel because wrinkles are like the traces of time, and if I erase them, I would not be able to recognize myself. Correcting your appearance responds to the futile effort to conform to an unattainable standard ”. She pushes her hair back from her face, and her makeup is so subtle it could have taken five minutes or five hours. "Of course, if I see a well-operated face I think: 'How wonderful!' But, unfortunately, they are not abundant ”.
There is something almost political in the way Bellucci presents his physique for public consumption, intact in his seductive potential and at the same time proudly colored by age. If last year she starred in the advertising campaign for the Dolce & Gabbana makeup line - the cosmetics industry, let's remember, is even more notorious than the fashion industry when it comes to idolizing youth - now the Italian has claimed her place in pop culture when she played the oldest Bond girl in history in 'Specter,' the 24th installment of Agent 007's adventures. "I always say the same thing: 'I'm not a Bond girl, I'm a Bond lady."
"I am much happier now, because in the past I was full of insecurities about who I am and who I can become"
For the first time in almost five decades, then, Bond has relationships with someone who could be familiar with him without losing respect. "I think the concept is revolutionary," says the actress, although considering feminist 'Specter' for the mere fact of not being so plagued by misogyny and passive female archetypes that have become so inherent to the Bond Universe as the Martini and the Aston Martin is, be recognized, to topple. "Well, it's a beginning, a sign of the way forward," says Bellucci, with a small mouth.
Likewise, it could be argued that her character in the film is not significant enough to constitute real progress. "It may be a small role, but it is essential: it is the trigger for the whole plot." Okay, but isn't that also the typical job that only requires a pretty face and body? "No! Would James Bond be credible if he wasn't a nice man to look at? The same thing happens with my character. His beauty is a necessary but not sufficient requirement, ”she clarifies, recalling her years as an aspiring lawyer. "Beauty alone is worth nothing." And she then offers an argument that she no doubt has long been forced to defend. “I know it was my appearance that allowed me to make my way professionally, but today I would not be here if I had nothing else to contribute. A director does not choose you for your beauty but for your talent ”.
PRIVILEGED GENES
Have you ever felt, perhaps, that his appearance was a burden? “No, beauty is a gift, like good health or intelligence. But it is not something you should be proud of, because it is not your own merit but something inherited. "
It was Pasquale, the owner of a transport company, and Brunella, a housewife and amateur painter, who gave her her privileged genes. "I have a somewhat bitter memory of my childhood," she laments. “I didn't like being an only child. She made me feel strange. I was desperate for someone to play with. And maybe that's why I've had two daughters. At the same time, curiously, I did not like being locked up with 20 other students in the same class. She was very shy and, when I started to develop, I felt observed ”.
It would be only a few years before her being watched became a way of life. She started as a model at age 18, in order to pay for a law degree. "My initial intention was to dedicate myself to a serious job, because being considered an attractive woman in Italy carries a lot of pressure." She soon, however, began to travel around the world, posing for photographers like Richard Avedon, and being regarded as the best Italian-made product since carbonara sauce.
"I recognize that I have a dark side, and I suppose that letting it appear on screen allows me to keep it at bay in my real life"
Suddenly, being a lawyer didn't seem like such a good idea anymore. "I was 18 years old and could live like a 30-year-old woman. My friends went to college and had to ask their parents for money, and I lived in my own apartment and could be completely independent." But over time, modeling didn't turn out to be the right choice either. “A model is dedicated to being still and doing exclusively what they tell her. And I've never been that kind of woman. "
Almost inevitably, being a model played against her when it came to making her movie debut. “Another model who wants to make movies? ', They all wondered.” It is true that one of the first directors to hire her was Francis Ford Coppola himself, but her role in' Dracula '(1992) did not even require her to open her mouth more Than to sink someone's tooth. Even in 'Malena' (2000), the film that began to bring her international notoriety, she was essentially asked to behave on screen as she would on a catwalk.
Perseverance has paid off: at this point, Bellucci has accumulated 50 films, among which there are equally 'blockbusters' such as 'Asterix and Obélix: Mission Cleopatra' (2002) and stubbornly auteur films such as the Iranian drama 'Rhino Season' ( 2012), in which we hear her speak Persian. "Stupidity is assumed to the models, and they have no choice but to break that facade to show that there is something more behind it," says the actress, who perhaps for that reason has specialized in dark characters who explore gray corners of the human condition. She was the victim of a hideously graphic rape in 'Irreversible' (2002), Maria Magdalena in 'The Passion of the Christ' (2004) and a nursing prostitute in 'How much do you love me?' (2004). “I recognize that I have a dark side, and I suppose that letting it appear on screen allows me to keep it at bay in my real life. It is better not to wake up the beast in me.
It took almost two and a half decades of career, in any case, for Bellucci to establish himself as the muse of the great authors of today's cinema - he had just finished filming 'On the Milky Road' for Serbian Emir Kusturica - without raise suspicions, but accept it with sportsmanship. “Actually, I have done everything late, in my career and in my life. I've been a Bond girl past 50. I had my first daughter at 40, and my second at 45. If you think about it, for a woman to have a child at that age is almost a miracle. It is never too late to start writing new chapters of your life ”. Also in that sense, two years ago she divorced her husband and father of her daughters, the French actor Vincent Cassel, after 18 years of relationship.
"In a way it has been a liberation," she admits without qualms. Bellucci is one of those interviewees who can be asked - another issue is that she wants - about anything. She answers everything, as she can or however she wants, but without losing her smile. "A single woman is a free woman, and not having a partner does not mean that you are alone but that you can have a relationship as and when you want." After so many years, she assures her, a period of reflection is welcome. “Vincent and I had some incredible times together that I will never forget, but it's over and there's no one to blame for it. But something broke, ceased to exist, and having insisted on staying together in spite of it would only give us more pain. Love is still there, but in another way. And we must not forget that our daughters are the fruit of two people who loved each other madly ”.
Deva, the oldest, is 11 years old; Léonie is 5. Thanks to them, she confesses, nothing remains of all the doubts she felt in the past about the responsibility of being a mother. “Maybe because I was an only child, I thought that I would not be able to find time to educate a son. But being a mother has made me happier and more complete. I never want to be separated from the girls. Every time I travel I take them with me ”. She assures that the cliché is rigorously true: motherhood serves to reorder priorities. “The only thing I do full time is be a mother. All that really worries me is that the girls have a good breakfast, that they go out in the streets warm in winter, and that they do their homework.
The confession will be a jug of cold water for those who are used to imagining Bellucci as a nymph lying in the bathtub and covered in foam, drinking shots of champagne. “Yes, many people believe that my life is all glamor, but who I am on the red carpets is not who I really am. I like to play princess from time to time, but everyday life is different ”.
However, even off the red carpet, he follows a protocol according to which, for example, going out in sports shoes or without the right dose of makeup is unacceptable. Being an independent woman, she says, should not imply the renunciation of femininity. "Women must love their femininity not only to please men, but also themselves, and just wearing makeup and high heels does not make us sexual objects."
That a strong woman can be very feminine is something she learned as a child. “My grandmother raised five children before the war and was a fighter all her life; and on Sundays, before going to mass, she never forgot to paint her lips red ”. She is, in her opinion, the ideal of beauty. Because beauty, she insists, has little to do with mere anatomy. “What happens to people, men and women, who have nothing behind the pretty face? They are ignored. The beauty of a person has more to do with her soul, and with the battles she has fought ”. It is clear that it is easier to believe in that philosophy when you are one of the most beautiful women in the world. “Yes, but I have fed two babies, and therefore I have two breasts that have succumbed to gravity. And neither that nor the extra kilos nor the wrinkles matter. Beauty is eating well, laughing a lot and making love as many times as possible. The rest is nonsense ”.
