Monica Bellucci

The Film's Incredible Sex Scene: Shoot 'Em Up features one of the more interesting sex scenes - and one of the best choreographed - on film. Bellucci said it took a whole day to film and was the most difficult scene she was involved in. "For me the difficult scene I had to do was the love scene because it's an action scene at the same time. We had to rehearse and you know, it looks sexy but it was dangerous." Bellucci compared the love scene in Shoot 'Em Up to other films she's been a part of. "You know, of course when I do a film like Irreversible there's nothing to do with that because then the violence is much more realistic. You know, when you watch a film like Irreversible it's just so difficult to watch because it's like a documentary. It's like so real. Here the violence is unreal. Nobody kills anybody with carrots, you know? So I mean it's just entertaining."

The Shoot 'Em Up sex scene never gave her pause. "You know, when I received the script I thought the character was really, really strong and okay, there is one sex scene in the movie of course, but there's much more what you would imagine than what you really see. That's why the scene is very sensual but nothing more than that."

Monica Bellucci's Take on Nudity: Has her opinion changed any as she's matured in the business? "Yeah, I won't do this forever, then they won't be beautiful anymore. No, I'm not scared of nudity that's for sure. I have nothing against it and maybe because I come from fashion and all models they have no problem with nudity and they're perfectly comfortable with their own body. I did films like Malena or films like Irreversible where I had nude scenes. It doesn't bother me-nudity-on screen, if there's a reason for that."

monica bellucci in malena
Though Monica Bellucci had already established herself as a bona fide star in Europe, she remained virtually unknown in North America -something that changed dramatically with the emergence of the new century. She kicked off 2000 with a star-making performance in the drama Malena, which went on to receive Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. It was also around that time that Monica Bellucci married fellow actor and frequent costar Vincent Cassel, and in 2004, she gave birth to her daughter Deva.