Oooh, the second Monica Bellucci post of the month! Pretty soon she’ll be a regularly featured celebrity! Probably not, though. We keep getting new photos and new interviews of her because she’s been doing the film festival rounds for her new film, Rhino Season. Earlier this month, I covered some quotes from Monica in which she was discussing having children in her late 30s/early 40s, and how “Being a woman isn’t about having children.” Those quotes made me really like her even more. And now there are some new quotes from Monica, and she’s talking about body image and such:

Italian actress Monica Bellucci has had enough of the ‘thin is in’ culture and wants more appreciation of the differences in the female form.

“Perfection doesn’t exist and if it did, I would find it very boring. For sure, a skinny body is attractive. But who ever said that a bigger body couldn’t be beautiful in the same way? With big breasts and big arms?” she told Italian magazine Myself.

Bellucci, 47, told the magazine there is more to beauty than designer clothes or investing in expensive beauty products.

“The most important thing is to be confident with yourself. If you feel good, everything seems fine. If you feel awkward, you are going to convey your insecurity. I know a lot of beautiful women that are not aware of their beauty,” she said.

[From The Belfast Telegraph]

Spoken like a beautiful woman with a crazy body who is married to one of the sexiest men in the world. Still, I like that she says it. I like that she’s not trying to sell me a weight loss system or a diet or something. She’s merely negating the premise of Hollywood and society at large – that you have to be thin and look a certain way to be considered “beautiful”. Sigh…

Here are some photos of Monica outside of her hotel in San Sebastian, Spain yesterday. She’s in town for the San Sebastian Film Festival! She looks gorgeous, but I’m not in love with her blazer.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

These are some new photos of Monica Bellucci in Toronto, promoting her new film, Rhino Season. I can’t find a designer ID on the dress, but it’s giving me Dolce vibes, and it probably is D&G considering Monica has long been associated with the brand. But this isn’t a fashion or beauty post, although I do think Monica looks great. She’s 47 years old, and I believe (honestly) that she’s un-tweaked. I think this is just what she looks like at 47 with no extras but good wine and getting boned by Vincent Cassel (sigh…).

As I learned last year, Monica is always good for an interesting quote. She never tries to take back her witty and fascinating observations with the excuse of “lost in translation” either. Last year, Monica basically said that she and Vincent have a less “traditional” view of marital fidelity – basically, she knows he’s going to screw around, so all she expects from him is loyalty and elegance (meaning, perhaps, that if he screws around, he can’t flaunt it). So what does Monica have to say in a recent interview with Style Mag? Oh, there are lots of goodies.

Having babies in her late 30s and early 40s: “It was the perfect time. In my life, I do things late. I need to be calm, and to know and feel things are right. I’m sure there are great 20-year-old mothers, but I wasn’t into children at that age. Now I feel differently. I can stay with them without feeling as if I’m losing something.”

On the idea of being childless/childfree: “I would have been disappointed. But it’s different for every woman. I have so many friends who don’t have children and are happy. Being a woman isn’t about having children. But for me, I needed to go through the experience.”

She now organizes her work around being a mom: “I try to organize my time according to them, because they need me. I don’t want to put my work first anymore, because it’s not as important. I organize my time very well – I don’t like to miss my children.”

Always bet on black: “Black is my favorite color. A simple black dress is the most perfect thing. Sometimes, I think, if I gain weight, I will just wear black because it’s easier.”

Intelligence & self-confidence are as important as physical beauty: “Beauty is a problem if you’re stupid, but not if you know how to use it. I know many beautiful people, but their lives are just terrible because they don’t know that being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel.”

She works out. Occasionally. “I began after Leonie was born,” Monica sighed. “But I don’t like to do it every day, or watch what I eat. I’m not a machine — I should be in good shape, but have never felt that I have to be skinny.”

[Via Ahlan Live & Film News]

I love her statement: “I have so many friends who don’t have children and are happy. Being a woman isn’t about having children. But for me, I needed to go through the experience.” It’s her experience, and she isn’t judging the women that choose not to become moms. I wish more women thought/felt like that, that the experience of being a woman isn’t solely or exclusively about motherhood. Sigh… I love her.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

These are photos of Monica Bellucci in Moscow, where she was the guest of honor at some event at the Italian Embassy. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana (who has Monica’s arm in some of these pics) were there too. I’m pretty sure Monica is wearing real fur. And why not? She looks impossibly gorgeous. I don’t even hate her bangs trauma! What is wrong with me? Perhaps it’s because Monica recently spoke about how she didn’t really care if her husband, Vincent Cassel, slept around. The subtext was that Monica is probably up for it too – meaning I’ve got a shot with her, bangs trauma and all! But what I really want is a threesome with Monica and Vincent. Anyway, considering there has been no follow-up interview or “correction” issued, I’m now pretty sure Monica said exactly what was reported – that she doesn’t give a crap about fidelity. Does that make her hotter?

Oh, and Pharrell Williams was also at the event. He’s very fancy, isn’t he?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

As you know, Monica Bellucci is one of my Forever Biscuits. I could very happily live the rest of my life in a deeply committed relationship with Monica, or Emma Thompson, or both. Alas, both of my top biscuits are taken – Emma is with Greg Wise (lucky bastard) and Monica is with French actor Vincent Cassel. Vincent and Monica have been married since 1999. They have two children together. And it sounds like they’re probably going to stay together too, because Monica has a very laissez faire approach to what I think of as “traditional” marital fidelity. It seems in Monica’s mind, she doesn’t really expect Vincent to be faithful to her if she’s not around for a while. What she does expect? “Loyalty” and “elegance”. Damn.

Monica Bellucci wouldn’t mind her husband being unfaithful if they were apart for a while. The 46-year-old actress – who has daughters Deva, six, and 10-month-old Leonie with spouse Vincent Cassel – values respect and loyalty more in a relationship than fidelity.

She said: “Passion you can feel for the worst man you ever met. But that has nothing to do with a deeper partnership. In such a one, passion stays, but more important is confidence, respect, knowing a man is not just loyal in a sex way, but that they will be there for you. That is more important than just fidelity.”

“It would be ridiculous to ask [fidelity] of him if I hadn’t been there for two months. You can’t ask such things as who has he been seeing, what has he been up to? It is more respectful and realistic to take the view that you’ll be with me when I see you.”

Ah, I say, discretion. She shakes her head. “No. I am talking about loyalty and, most important of all, elegance.” She repeats the word several times, explaining what she means. Elegance, for Bellucci, isn’t merely the cut of a suit, but a whole way of being in the world, of living in the present. This elegance is as French as a Gallic shrug, as Italian as a beautiful young girl on the back of a scooter zooming around Rome. It is about a passion for the moment, a sense that as long as everything is good when they are together, that they choose to be there and everything flows, then nothing else matters.

The brunette beauty insists she is still besotted with her husband, who she married in 1999, but admits there are times when they don’t get along. “I think he’s sexy. It’s important to go on thinking that about your husband. But Vincent is not a normal man. Sometimes I love him so much, sometimes I want to kill him.”

[From Monica’s fansite, The London Times, and IOL News]

I think many Americans view this as a more “European” view of marital fidelity, but it might even be more specific to Vincent and Monica’s two cultures – French and Italian – or even their joint profession, acting. Actor couples get used to being apart from each other for months at a time, and maybe Monica is just being realistic. Or maybe this is just what you have to expect when you marry a Frenchman? I don’t know. All I know is that I might have a shot with Vincent, right? And Monica too!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Maxim magazine has released a list of the ‘Hottest Pregnant Women, Ever’. Which seems a big call as, in order for the species to continue, women have to keep on making babies. Rather adorably, my husband emailed me this list, saying I should be on it. This was very sweet, particularly since I spent my whole pregnancy with bloodshot eyes from vomiting. Although I do wonder why the Maxim webpage isn’t blocked, what is he doing at work looking at this?

The Hottest Pregnant Women, Ever
1. Halle Berry
2. Christina Aguilera
3. Heidi Klum
4. Brooke Burke
5. Gwen Stefani
6. Angelina Jolie
7. Naomi Watts
8. Jaime Pressley
9. Monica Bellucci

[From Maxim]

Looking at the pictures, I’m guessing that most of these women spent their pregnancies with a personal stylist maintaining their sexiness, which is maybe how it should be for all pregnant women’s self esteem. Could we get some kind of government assistance for that?

Halle Berry is shown on 10/25/07 at the Things We Lost in the Fire premiere, thanks to Splash. Christina Aguilera is shown at the launch of Kitson men on 11/12/07. Heidi Klum is shown at the Emmy Awards on 8/28/06. Brooke Burke is shown at the Enchanted premiere on 11/17/07. Gwen Stefani is shown on 5/27/06. Angelina Jolie in Paris photos are from late May, 2006. Naomi Watts is shown at the opening of an Escada boutique in early May, 2007. Jamie Pressly is shown on 1/28/07 at the SAG Awards. Thanks to WENN, Splash and PRPhotos for these pictures.