Monica Bellucci

The Matrix Madame

Are you a sci-fi nerd?

I love everything. Just good movies. Because, for me, The Matrix Reloaded is much more than a special-effects movie. It's about a man who's looking for himself, so to me it has a lot to do with some oriental religions, oriental philosophy. If the god is not outside you, the god is inside you. You just have to look.

Which other actresses do you find particularly sexy?

There are so many beautiful actresses. Angelina Jolie, she's very beautiful. Ashley Judd. And there is not the mentality here that if you are beautiful, it means you can't be talented. The two things can go together.

Have you always been quite frank about sex? And by frank, we mean searingly seductive.

When I was 14, I was already a woman. I don't know what it means to be a little girl or a teenager. I liked to go out with people older than me because people my age were boring. My first boyfriend, he was 19, I was 14. He thought I was 17. I lied to him.

How do you handle blokes who just try too hard?

It's difficult, because men love what they can't have. When they tell me, 'I could cut my veins for you,' I just want to laugh. A woman wants to be loved. It's great when someone knows you very well, but you have to be able to live in reality as well, you know?

Would an ugly guy ever have a shot with a you?

A friend of mine, she was going out with this man... he was really ugly, ugly, ugly. And this other friend would say to her, 'How can you go out with him?' And she used to say, 'He is so ugly that he becomes vizioso.' Vicious - like almost so weird it is erotic. I think sensuality and sexuality are personal and intimate and that we're all different.