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Monica Bellucci has long been more than just an actress: her name has become synonymous with Italian beauty and femininity. But today, the 61-year-old star speaks about herself very differently from the way one might expect an enduring icon to speak. Bellucci is not trying to stop time. Instead, she says she has learned to embrace aging, value the experience that comes with it and see a unique sense of freedom in growing older.

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar España, the actress spoke about her career, her attitude toward aging, beauty and motherhood, and why women should not simply disappear from the spotlight as they get older.

One of Bellucci’s most recent projects is Histoires de la nuit, directed by Léa Mysius and presented at Cannes. In the film, the actress plays Cristina, an artist whose loneliness and difficult life have left her with deep emotional wounds. Her character delivers a line that sounds like a diagnosis of modern society: “We women become invisible after a certain age.”

Bellucci herself, however, does not agree with that statement.

“Cristina’s dialogue reflects a very common fear in society, but personally, I don’t agree with it,” the actress says.

According to Bellucci, it was precisely age that allowed her to take on a role that would have been beyond her reach when she was younger.

“To give a character of this level of emotional breakdown the physicality, weight and truth it needs, you have to have lived. You need to have accumulated scars and experience,” she explains.

The actress admits that as the years pass, it is not only the body that changes, but, above all, a person’s inner world. And those changes can make acting more profound.

“Bodies change over time, but what really matters is how we change inside. When the camera starts rolling, that comes through on screen — you can show shades of the world that you simply didn’t notice before,” Bellucci says.

That is why she has no desire to return to the roles she played in the past.

“It would be absurd if today I tried to play the same roles I did in Malèna, Irreversible or The Passion of the Christ,” the actress notes.

Bellucci acknowledges that the modern film industry is still obsessed with youth, but she sees no real alternative to accepting the aging process.

“There is no other real alternative: either you grow older and accept the process with dignity, or you die. If you look at it from that perspective, I much prefer growing older,” she says with a laugh.

For the actress, aging is first and foremost proof that a person is still alive. What is more, she believes maturity brings an unexpected gift: the ability to step back and look at life from a different perspective.

Despite this, Bellucci remains one of the most recognizable beauties in world cinema. But today, she believes beauty has far less to do with appearance.

“You used exactly the right word — feeling beautiful. It is so much more than what other people see. What matters is what you feel inside,” she explains.

In Bellucci’s view, true beauty comes from a rich inner life: passion, love, friends, family, children and simple everyday moments. She admits that with age, even familiar things can take on a special value.

“You wake up in the morning, and simply being healthy or smelling the aroma of coffee becomes a reason to be grateful. But you only understand that with time,” the actress says.

Bellucci also points out that the film industry’s attitude toward mature women is gradually changing. She cites Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert and Fanny Ardant as examples of actresses who continue to work, appear on magazine covers and front advertising campaigns.

After years of global fame, Bellucci has also learned to draw a clear line between her public image and her private life. She considers this one of the most important decisions she has made.

“When work is over, I demand the right to disappear into the shadows and protect my ‘secret garden.’ When you allow your commercial image and private life to merge, you risk losing your emotional balance. It is a very dangerous game if you don’t know how to maintain that boundary,” Bellucci says.

And if she were given the chance to meet her 20-year-old self, the actress says she would not offer the usual advice about how to avoid mistakes.

In her view, one of the greatest advantages of youth is precisely the fact that you do not know what the consequences will be.

“The most beautiful thing about that age is looking at the world with innocent eyes, being open to everything unknown. That is what makes you take bold, risky and sometimes unconscious decisions,” she explains.

Still, when asked who Monica Bellucci is once the cameras stop rolling, the actress admits that she does not completely know the answer herself.

“We are not fully aware of who we are, and I think that is actually a good thing. We are always in the process of becoming. We begin to understand ourselves through the path we have taken and the decisions we have made, but we never stop learning. Life is a constant transformation,” she says.

There is one thing, however, that Bellucci is completely certain about:

“I am proud of myself and proud to be a woman, because femininity is the strength of humanity.”

Her two daughters, 21-year-old Deva and 15-year-old Léonie, also play a major role in the way she sees life today.

And when asked what she feels she is missing at this point in her life, Bellucci gives a remarkably simple answer:

“Nothing. I have everything. Life has already given me enough, and I am grateful to it for that.”

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