Born in the Italian town of Citta di Castello, Monica Bellucci idolized screen icons such as Sophia Loren and Gina Lolabrigida while she was growing up. Although she originally studied law, a friend persuaded her to try modeling in order to earn some extra money for school. However, Bellucci began to land so many modeling jobs that she had to drop out of college,especially when she was chosen by director Dino Risi to appear in his TV movie Vita Coi Figli (1990) after seeing her photo in a magazine. She appeared in two more Italian productions before coming to the attention of American director Francis Ford Coppola, who cast her in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). Although the movie was filmed in the States, she soon returned to Italy to appear in numerous films in her native land.
