Born in 1964 in the Italian village of Città di Castello, Umbria, Bellucci originally pursued a career in the legal profession. While attending the University of Perugia, she modeled on the side to earn money for school, and this led to her modeling career. In 1988, she moved to one of Europe's fashion centers, Milan, and joined Elite Model Management. Although enjoying great success as a model, she made her acting debut on TV in 1990, and her American film debut in 1992Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). Her role in the 1996 French thriller, Appartement, L' (1996), shot her to stardom as she won the French equivalent of an Oscar nomination. Other credits include Malèna (2000), Under Suspicion (2000) and Pacte des loups, Le (2001).

In 1988, Bellucci moved to one of Europe's fashion centers, Milan, where she signed with Elite Model Management. By 1989, she was becoming prominent as a fashion model in Paris and across the Atlantic, in New York City. She posed for Dolce & Gabbana and French ELLE, among others. In that year, Bellucci made the transition to acting and began taking acting classes. The February 2001 Esquire Magazine's feature on Desire featured Ms. Bellucci on the cover and in an article on the five senses. In 2003, she was featured in Maxim. In 2004, she topped AskMen's 100 Most Beautiful Women in the World annual list. Bellucci's modelling career is managed by Elite+ in NYC. She is considered an Italian sex symbol.She is currently a face of a range of Dior Cosmetics. Bellucci is also signed to Storm Model Management in London.

Entertainment

Bellucci's film career began in the early 1990s. In 1992 she made her first appearance in a major English-language film as one of Dracula's brides in Bram Stoker's Dracula. She became known and popular with worldwide audiences following her roles in Malèna, Brotherhood of the Wolf and Irréversible, though is perhaps best known for her role as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions followed by her portrayal of Mary Magdelene in The Passion of the Christ. In a documentary about the film, The Big Question, she stated: "I am an agnostic, even though I respect and am interested in all religions. If there's something I believe in, it's a mysterious energy; the one that fills the oceans during tides, the one that unites nature and beings." In 2003, Bellucci starred in Tears of the Sun as a doctor in Nigeria being rescued by the U.S., and in 2005 in the fantasy film The Brothers Grimm as a beautiful evil queen. Her latest films are The Stone Council, directed ,...read more...