AS SHE PREPARES TO CELEBRATE HER 60TH BIRTHDAY - MONICA BELLUCCI

ON THE INSPIRATION THAT LED HER TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO ICONIC SOPRANO MARIA CALLAS

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She has been voted the most beautiful woman in the world, has modelled for top fashion houses and became a Bond girl at the age of 51 in 2015’s Spectre.

Now, after starring in more than 60 movies during a 30-year acting career – with a role in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice coming up next – Monica Bellucci is once again captivating international audiences as she portrays legendary opera singer Maria Callas.

The Italian actress, who turns 60 in September, plays the Greek-American soprano in Maria Callas: Letters and Memoirs, a documentary that chronicles the stage show of the same name. Between 2019 and 2023, Monica performed it in three languages and in ten countries, in cities from Rome and Athens to London and Los Angeles.

Maria, who was dubbed La Divina – “The Divine One” – remains one of the world’s best-selling classical artists, but her private life, including her romance with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, often overshadowed her achievements.

FEMININE FASCINATION

The film, directed by Yannis Dimolitsas and Tom Volf, was seen at New York’s Museum of Modern Art earlier in August.

Here Monica, whose previous roles include the Matrix movies and playing Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ, tells why she is fascinated with Maria, who would have turned 100 last year.

Monica, how did you get involved in telling Maria Callas’s story?