Monica Bellucci has never chased Hollywood. Hollywood kept coming to her. 🇮🇹
Born September 30, 1964, in Città di Castello, Italy, the former model became one of European cinema’s defining faces — and in 2026, at 62, she’s having one of the busiest years of her career: a full festival circuit, a Fendi front-row reign, and a tragicomic turn critics can’t stop talking about.
Then: The model who became Coppola’s vampire 🖤
Before the red carpets, there were the runways. Bellucci modeled in Milan and Paris through the late 1980s, then pivoted to acting with La Riffa (1991) — and caught the eye of Francis Ford Coppola, who cast her as one of Dracula’s brides in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
Her breakthrough came with The Apartment (1996), the French romantic thriller that made her a star in Europe and introduced her to future husband Vincent Cassel. By the late ’90s, directors across the continent knew exactly what she brought: beauty with gravity.
Middle: Malèna, the Matrix, and the oldest Bond girl 🎬
The 2000s made her international. Malèna (2000) turned her into an Italian icon; Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) showed her action chops; Irréversible (2002) proved her fearlessness; and the Wachowskis cast her as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions (2003). She played Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ (2004) and joined Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm (2005).
In 2015, she made history as Lucia Sciarra in Spectre — at 50, the oldest Bond girl ever cast, a record that reframed what a “Bond woman” could be. She later stole scenes in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) as Delores, cast by her then-partner Tim Burton; the pair split amicably in September 2025.
Now: Three films, one Fendi reign, zero slowing down ✨
2026 might be her most eclectic year yet. At the 79th Locarno Film Festival in August, she premiered Ketticè — Giovanni Tortorici’s coming-of-age drama produced by Luca Guadagnino, in Golden Leopard competition — playing a “tragicomic,” hysterical Sicilian mother who has abandoned glamour entirely: pyjamas, flip-flops, and shouting matches.
The same month brought the Saudi-financed action-comedy 7 Dogs, co-starring Bollywood giants Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, which premiered in the Middle East ahead of its Indian cinema release. At Cannes in May, she premiered Léa Mysius’s psychological thriller Histoires de la Nuit alongside Hafsia Herzi — the pair then shared the cover of Madame Figaro in August.
And fashion still revolves around her. As a muse of Fendi creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, Bellucci front-rowed Chiuri’s debut couture show and closed Locarno in a custom black-lace Fendi gown — red-carpet power that has only deepened with time, a staying power she shares with contemporaries like Cate Blanchett and fellow ’90s international breakout Salma Hayek.
Frequently Asked Questions ❓
How old is Monica Bellucci in 2026?
Monica Bellucci is 62 in 2026. She was born September 30, 1964, in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy.
What is Monica Bellucci’s new movie Ketticè about?
Ketticè is a 2026 Italian coming-of-age drama directed by Giovanni Tortorici and produced by Luca Guadagnino. Set in 2012 Sicily, it follows a listless teenager; Bellucci plays his deeply frustrated, aristocratic mother — a tragicomic role far from her glamorous image. It competed for the Golden Leopard at Locarno.
What is 7 Dogs?
7 Dogs is a 2026 Arabic-language action-comedy financed in Saudi Arabia, co-starring Bellucci with Bollywood heavyweights Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. It premiered in the Middle East in August 2026.
Was Monica Bellucci really the oldest Bond girl?
Yes. Cast at 50 as Lucia Sciarra in Spectre (2015), she remains the oldest actress to play a Bond girl — a casting choice widely praised for challenging the franchise’s age norms.
What is her connection to Fendi in 2026?
Bellucci is a muse of Fendi creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. In 2026 she attended Chiuri’s debut Fendi couture show and wore custom Fendi — including a black-lace gown — to Locarno and Cannes.
How did Monica Bellucci start her career?
She began as a fashion model in Milan and Paris in the late 1980s before moving into film with La Riffa (1991) and Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).