Bellucci talks about how much she likes the new kinds of jobs she’s been taking, like the sociopathic handler in Memory, and how much they make her happy.
Monica Bellucci has starred in both American and European movies. She has a long career that goes from heartbreaking dramas to crazy movies like Shoot ‘Em Up. In Martin Campbell’s Memory, she plays a dangerous handler for Liam Neeson’s assassin Alex as he tries to do his own thing while his memory starts to fade away, making her a very dangerous person to have around. It’s a role that Bellucci has never played before, and one that she had a lot of fun playing.
Monica Bellucci did an interview with CBR ahead of Memory’s release on April 29. She talked about what parts of the manipulative Davana Sealman she found most interesting. She also talked about how her age has given her the chance to play roles that she wasn’t able to play when she was younger. She also teased one of her next movies with Toni Collette and Catherine Hardwicke.
Monica-Bellucci 2: Memory of a Dream
CBR: Memory shows off your acting skills more clearly than your more action-oriented roles in the United States. It was Davana’s role that drew you to the job.
It was a lot of fun to play Davana because she’s said to be a sociopath, which made her a lot of fun to play. In some ways, she’s a monster. In other people, she’s a person, and playing this double role is what fascinates me. To do this job, I wanted to break out of the roles I’ve been cast in many times in the past. So I got a little fat, and the make-up… Everything worked together to make me a new person.
Aging has also given us the chance to open new doors, but we can also close old ones. You can see this play, Maria Callas’ Letters and Memories, in the theater. Even having the chance to get to know such a complicated person is interesting because she was a diva and had a lot of talent. Also, she was a simple person who died of sadness. She died because her heart was broken. Having my age helps me play new roles.
Davana as a character surprised me the most over the course of production because of the things that make me want to play her.
There were only a few parts in the movie where my character did something. I knew that I could make it stronger and more interesting. Playing with Liam Neeson was also on my list of things to do. Because I really admire him, I wanted to have the chance to work with him, and I wanted to work with Martin Campbell because he knows how to make the magic happen when he’s behind the camera. New and strong: For me, it was very different and strong.
Really, I want to play a new character from now on. I want to play a character who can surprise me, or who isn’t predictable at all. For example, the next movie I’m going to make with Catherine Hardwicke and Toni Collette is going to be a lot of fun. It’s called Mafia Mamma, and it’s going to be a lot of fun. Again, the role is both very funny and very dark. So dark and funny.
