onica Bellucci exudes a peaceful calm that's contagious; it's impossible not to be instantly relaxed by her serene disposition and soothing voice. This aura translates on screen as well, even when she's running through a hail of bullets, pursued by professional killers, as in the case of her latest film, Shoot 'Em Up. The unapologetically violent adventure flick, from writer-director Michael Davis, stars Clive Owen as a mysterious man named Smith who delivers a baby in the middle of a shootout, then rescues the child from dozens of gunmen after the mother dies. And that's just the first five minutes. The rest is nonstop action, involving Smith and prostitute DQ (Bellucci) on the run. Though the film is mayhem, Bellucci says she brought her tranquil attitude to the set. "I'm a Libra, so I work much better when I'm at peace," she explains. "There are people who need the complete opposite: To give the best, they need to fight. But in order to do my job, I need to be relaxed."
She is probably best known to American audiences for her roles as enigmatic ice queens in such films as The Brothers Grimm and the two Matrix sequels. But long before she came to Hollywood, she was a major star in her native Italy and in France, where she was nominated for a César Award (the French equivalent of the Academy Award) for her breakthrough performance in 1996's L'Appartement.
Growing up, she adored Italian film stars Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren but had no idea how to break into acting. Modeling, however, came easy to her. "To model, you just go into an agency and tell them, and they either hire you or they don't," she says. "There's no one way to become an actor." Fortunately, the stunning Bellucci found that her career as a model soon led to offers for acting auditions. Even more fortunate: When these opportunities arose, she had been studying acting and was taking the craft very seriously. "I believe in technique," she says. "I think acting is a mix of technique and instinct. Sometimes, if you just follow your instinct, you repeat yourself. If you have the technique, you can really think out new ways to approach a character." Still, she says she also enjoys the spontaneity of instinct: "As much as I love technique, I also love when you don't know what you're going to do three seconds before shooting."
Her first American film was released in 1992—Bram Stoker's Dracula, under the direction of Francis Ford Coppola. But she was content to work in Europe, where she played roles ranging from wild comedy to dark drama. It wasn't until her heartbreaking portrait of the title character in the Oscar-nominated Malèna in 2000 that Hollywood came calling. "That film changed everything," she says. "It was very successful in Italy and one of the few Italian films that had the chance to travel around the world." Soon, filmmakers such as the Wachowski brothers were calling her for The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, followed by Spike Lee (She Hate Me), Terry Gilliam (The Brothers Grimm), and Mel Gibson (The Passion of the Christ).
Bellucci, who lives in Italy with her husband, actor Vincent Cassel, and their child, never considered it necessary to move to America. "Spike and Mel contacted me in Europe," she says. "Michael sent me Shoot 'Em Up in Europe. Which is great—even though I'm not there, they think about me." She also notes that her accent has never kept her from getting a role. "When a director wants you, they can play around and find an excuse to explain why the character is Italian," she explains. "It's never been a problem for me." She says she is completely willing to audition to prove herself: "I understand that even if a director knows my work, they want to see if I'm right for the part. So when I'm asked to test, I don't say no."
She also doesn't shy away from taking risks on screen. She says, "I've turned down some big blockbusters because they weren't my kind of movie." Nor is she afraid to approach dark material. In 2002's shattering Irreversible, she played a young woman whose brutal rape sets her boyfriend (played by Cassel) on a path of vengeance. The film is disturbing, and Bellucci's performance is raw yet accomplished. It was also a risk for the actor, professionally. "People told me a character like this could kill my career in America," she says. "It's so strange; when you play a character like this in America, they say you're brave. And it didn't kill my career. It made it much more interesting."
She hopes to continue making choices that allow her to do things she never has before. "Acting is something very magical to me," she says. "Someone once told me that inside of us we have many different princes sleeping. And each time you choose a character, one of the princes wakes up." She pauses, smiling peacefully. "I love that."
