MONICA BELLUCCI

I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I'm beautiful.

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.

Usually, I'm only sad when something sad happens. I am not a melancholic person. I like to live very much in the present. If I was an animal, I'd be a little cat. They like to live life.

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.

When I have to go to Cannes, that is boring to me.

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.

I have always loved lipstick. For women, that love comes from our mother and grandmothers. It's so natural for a woman to open up her mirror and apply lipstick.

Irreversible is not glamorous at all. I try to do different things because I want to grow as an actress and I like to take risks.

An actor works with their soul and their thought.

When you're in front of the camera, for a small budget or a big budget movie, there's no difference.

Truly, I am a woman of the last minute. When I was pregnant, I organised three different hospitals because I couldn't decide where I wanted to have my baby: London, Rome or Paris. In the end, I decided to go to Rome, arrived on the Monday and gave birth on the Saturday.

I wouldn't want to be 20 again for anything.

When a relationship doesn't work anymore, it's terrible to stay with someone that you don't love.

I think the lawyers are such incredible actors. Can you imagine the performance they have to do every day?

When I eat with my friends, it is a moment of real pleasure, when I really enjoy my life.

I'm not a movie star. I'm just an actress.

In acting process, it's very difficult to explain. It's something very intimate, very private.

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.

After a while in marriage, it doesn't work anymore. There is something missing, there is something wrong. There are few marriages that stay alive forever. We like something, and after a while, we hate what we used to love.

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.

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 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.

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.

We all need illusions. That's why we love movies.

I'm a lucky person because I've been loved a lot. I have a great family.