Beauty is a gift, just like good health or intelligence. The only thing is not to be proud of being beautiful. Because you didn't do anything - it was given to you.
Monica Bellucci
Lipstick is the most valuable weapon in a woman's make-up kit. It has the power to transform the appearance and mood of the person wearing it, and, at the same time, arouses the admiration of everybody else.
When I eat with my friends, it is a moment of real pleasure, when I really enjoy my life.
I come from a Catholic religion, but I'm not Catholic.
When I'm relaxed, jeans and a shirt are my uniform.
A woman has so many facets, and when you create an image, you have to play with all the different moments of your femininity, not just one thing, because everybody can get bored.
What's natural is beautiful, and when you're not you anymore, you become a caricature.
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.
We all need illusions. That's why we love movies.
I do acupuncture. Because it really helps. It is the opposite of Botox. Botox blocks, and acupuncture moves.
I believe that time destroys everything. You can take one beautiful apple, red. After a while, it becomes shrivelled and full of worms, just like what happens to us.
For me, true beauty has nothing to do with wrinkles and everything to do with the fact that my maternal grandmother raised five children just after the war and remained a fighter throughout her life. True beauty is the slick of red lipstick my paternal grandmother would put on before going to church on Sunday.
Just a touch of eyeliner and red lips is glamorous.
I wouldn't want to be 20 again for anything.
Time destroys everything.
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.
I grew up in Perugia, Umbria, in a world outside of fashion, so I didn't learn about it until I was older and moved away. In Milan, the women are really into fashion, and all the big fashion brands are based there, but I don't think they feel pressure to look good all the time.
I'm a lucky person because I've been loved a lot. I have a great family.
The single woman is a free woman, and being single does not mean being alone - it means being free to have a relationship or not. This can be scary, but it's also very interesting.
I was very shy as a girl. Absurdly shy, even. Maybe because I was an only child. And I think that's why I'm so happy to have two kids now.
Envy is human nature.
I like to be in the spotlight once in a while, and then I like to be in the shadows. It's really regenerating.
I love jewelry - gold and diamonds. I'm a woman.
I am certainly Italian in my love of food! I eat everything, but I love Italian food most of all. Even my daughter does. Her favourite food is pasta and parmigiana.
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.
If a man sees a woman with red lipstick, he admires her, but often he won't feel like kissing her.
In so many places in the world, women have been prisoners for so long that they feel they have to scream about their rights. But when you scream, nobody listens to you. Real authority comes when you no longer need to scream - and that's something we women still need to learn.
When people divorce, it's always such a tragedy. At the same time, if people stay together it can be even worse.
Sometimes when we think about femininity, we think also fragile. But I think you can be feminine and very strong. I think make-up goes with that femininity. I think it's a natural gesture for women and one they do more for themselves than for others.
In France, they call the beauty of youth 'the evil beauty.' You don't have it because of you but because you're born with it. The other kind of beauty is your own work, and it takes forever.
I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I'm beautiful.
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.
Being an actress is the sublimation of feminity.
I don't stress myself about my looks. I love to laugh. I like being able to lead an interesting life.
When you see a silent movie, you understand everything that's going on from the images because the images are so strong.
When a relationship doesn't work anymore, it's terrible to stay with someone that you don't love.
We should not be worried about age when it comes to love and attraction.
Because I'm pretty, everybody thinks I'm stupid. But it is like a mask, and you have to break the mask to show that there is something else behind it. You have to show who you are to make the others come to discover you.
When I first met Sam Mendes, I was a bit confused and said to him, 'I'm 50 years old. What am I going to do at 50 in a Bond film?'
Everybody does what she needs. And if you want plastic surgery, and then you feel better, why not? There is no law. I've nothing against using something to help your beauty - but do it in a good way, with intelligence.
My body is so important to me... my face, my arms, my legs, my hands, my eyes, everything. I use everything I have.
Sometimes I've done small parts, like with Spike Lee, but it doesn't matter because you want to work with the director.
I love fairy tales because I think that behind fairy tales, there is always a meaning.
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.
When I did 'The Passion,' nobody believed in the movie. Everybody was telling me, 'You shouldn't do this movie... But I wanted to play Mary Magdalene. I thought that I could do something strong and deep with this character.
Now, all the movies are for teenagers. It's very difficult for an actress to find really deep, beautiful characters to play.
Sometimes it's more difficult to exist as a female lead, especially in action movies because all those men are around you. They take so much place.
I'm Italian; I take my time. We're not really fast. We're very slow. I had my first child at 40, my second child at 45, James Bond at 50. I'm so curious as to what's next!
I don't know Hollywood very well. I've never lived in Los Angeles or New York. But what I can see in Paris, where I live, is that actresses like Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, still get the chance to play strong, sexy roles even though they're not 20.
In the beginning, I didn't know if I was still a model, if I was an actress. I knew I wanted to be an actress, but it was so difficult to be believed.
