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Monica Bellucci’s tango of love with James Bond

LONDON — She was approached with the offer some 25 years ago, but actress Monica Bellucci said that there wass no better time than right now to finally say “yes” to being a Bond Girl.

Monica Bellucci and Daniel Craig in their 'tango of love' in a scene from Spectre.

Monica Bellucci and Daniel Craig in their 'tango of love' in a scene from Spectre.

LONDON — She was approached with the offer some 25 years ago, but actress Monica Bellucci said that there wass no better time than right now to finally say “yes” to being a Bond Girl.

At 51, the Italian actress, who plays Lucia Sciarra in the latest Bond installment Spectre, is officially the oldest Bond Girl, or dare we say Bond Woman, ever to be matched with the world’s most famous spy.

Finally, you may say, an age-appropriate woman for Daniel Craig’s 007. And you could be right. The sexual politics of the James Bond franchise will forever be debated, but no one can question the apt casting of Bellucci, one of Europe’s most celebrated actresses, to play the widow of an infamous criminal.

Well-known for both her acting skills and incomparable beauty, Bellucci has the sex appeal and strength one would expect from a female character in a 007 movie. But the mother of two is taking it all in her stride, and she is fully aware of her place in the Bond franchise annals, even if she confessed to wondering what a 50-year-old woman would do in a James Bond movie.

“It was Sam Mendes’ (Spectre director) idea. He told me he was looking for a mature woman being close to Bond for the first time,” she told TODAY. “Sam created this dark dramatic atmosphere around Lucia, this Italian widow with secrets. And guess what? She really looks 50 on screen!”

Bellucci went on to explain that having a “Bond woman” older than Bond was a brave and modern concept because it shows that a woman is still in possession of her sensuality even if she is no longer a nubile young thing. “Even though (Lucia) doesn’t have the beauty of youth anymore, she has this femininity. And she still uses this femininity to come out from this situation,” she shared. “Even though she has imperfections, she still has her sensuality.”

“We have two kinds of femininity (on screen),” she continued. “We have Lucia from the past and Madeleine (played by Lea Seydoux), who is a woman from the future. (Madeleine) is in on the action, she is modern and she actually helps Bond. So it’s beautiful to see this evolution from the past into the future on screen.”

Bellucci also said that the on-screen juxtaposition of the two ladies — Lea Seydoux plays the other Bond Girl, Madeleine — in Spectre bodes well, especially with regards to the pertinent question of agesim towards women in the competitive film industry.

“In Europe, I see incredible actresses such as Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, Judi Dench and Helen Mirren (all working),” she shared. “So it means there is a new way to look at actresses. It’s different from the 1940s and 1950s, where even though actresses were talented and beautiful, after a certain age they wouldn’t work anymore.”

And even though she isn’t from Tinseltown, she feels that even Hollywood is changing too. “I see amazing roles for Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore ... so actresses have a chance, even though they are not 20 any more!”

As for working so closely with what many believe to be the sexiest, most human James Bond yet, Bellucci had nothing but praise for her co-star Daniel Craig.

“Daniel is a beautiful human being, this makes him special as a person. He is also an amazing actor — very eclectic. Together with Sam Mendes, they created a very modern Bond,” she said. “Bond is always a gentleman of course, and is always mysterious and unpredictable. But he also has feelings and (he’s) not always rational and in control ... it makes him more human.”

The actress, who has had her fair share of on-screen intimate scenes, confessed that filming those moments is “always difficult”. But it was a very different story when it came to doing love scenes with Craig.

“With Daniel, it was easy. Because Daniel, first of all, he’s so sexy; and that makes it so easy!” she said with laugh. “He is also very generous and is very protective. (Our) scene was so beautifully written and Sam Mendes was right there and he’s a great director. So it was just a beautiful moment of acting. There’s this moment where we’re kissing and we’re fighting at the same time. It’s like a tango. A tango of love.” Genevieve Loh

Spectre opens in cinemas tomorrow.

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