The Roles That Defined Monica Bellucci and Made Her a Global Star

Monica Bellucci has shown just how versatile she is over the years, moving easily from big action movies to more experimental and international films. From her start in the 1990s to today, she has stayed busy and relevant in the industry. Her most notable recent role was in the long-awaited supernatural comedy Beetlejuice 2, where she delivered a standout performance.

Looking back on her career, Bellucci talked to A. Frame about some of her most important roles. She said that Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a big turning point for her, even though her role as one of Dracula’s brides was small.

“When I accept a character, it’s because I want to share a moment of acting that feels interesting,” she said. For her, it’s often more about meeting interesting people and working with talented directors and artists.

Giuseppe Tornatore’s Malèna was another role that meant a lot to her. Bellucci described the 2000 film as “an incredible story,” and she was excited to work with Tornatore after seeing his famous film Cinema Paradiso.

She explained that they had first worked together on a commercial, and Tornatore had promised to call her for a future film. She said Malèna was important because it allowed an Italian story to reach audiences all over the world.

Her first big Hollywood blockbuster was The Matrix Reloaded. She got the role after being impressed by the first Matrix movie. “I thought I wanted to make a movie like that,” she said, before the Wachowski sisters contacted her to play Persephone.

Bellucci sees her career as full of coincidences and unexpected opportunities. That mindset led her to work in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, which sparked a huge global conversation.

Similarly, her work in Irréversible also caused intense debate. She admitted that she often seems to choose controversial movies, a pattern that continued with later projects. One standout role came in 2015, when she played Lucia Sciarra in the James Bond film Spectre.

She said that when she was first asked, at age 50, she jokingly wondered if she would play M, the veteran character. “It was revolutionary,” she said, showing that women in their fifties can still have strong, powerful roles in action films.

Besides Hollywood, Bellucci has stayed a key figure in European cinema. She recently starred in the crime action film Diabolik: Who Are You? as Altea di Vallenberg. In 2024, she worked again with Tim Burton in Beetlejuice 2, playing the “soul-sucking” ex-wife of the main ghost. That role involved hours of makeup and prosthetics.

Looking ahead, Bellucci will appear in Ketticè, a Sicilian drama produced by Luca Guadagnino and directed by Giovanni Tortorici. She will play the matriarch of an aristocratic family in a story set in 2012 Palermo.

She is also expected to be involved in several international projects this year, continuing her pattern of working with visionary directors in different languages. Earlier this year, Bellucci attended the BAFTAs in London, confirming her status as a global film and fashion icon.

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