--- title: Monica Bellucci: "I'm not a Bond Girl, I'm a Bond Woman" description: Monica Bellucci is set to become the oldest woman to play opposite James Bond in the upcoming installment of the 007 franchise, 'Spectre' canonical: https://time.com/4039266/monica-bellucci-bond-woman/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-17T21:12:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:24:53.480Z og:title: Monica Bellucci Says She Is a Bond Woman, Not a Bond Girl og:description: The name’s Bellucci. Monica Bellucci. og:url: https://time.com/4039266/monica-bellucci-bond-woman/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f77435251c051b2/6988641de20a873aafa8d4af/gettyimages-463770400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4928 og:image:height: 2772 og:image:alt: ITALY- ENTERTAINMENT- CINEMA-JAMES BOND-SPECTRE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Monica Bellucci Says She Is a Bond Woman, Not a Bond Girl twitter:description: The name’s Bellucci. Monica Bellucci. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f77435251c051b2/6988641de20a873aafa8d4af/gettyimages-463770400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Monica Bellucci Says She Is a Bond Woman, Not a Bond Girl > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=02d4d28b-8da2-432a-b099-dbe6bc5d1403&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 17, 2015 9:12 PM UTC  Italian actress Monica Bellucci poses during a photocall to promote the 24th James Bond film 'Spectre' in Rome, on Feb. 18, 2015. Italian actress Monica Bellucci poses during a photocall to promote the 24th James Bond film 'Spectre' in Rome, on Feb. 18, 2015. Tiziana Fabi—AFP/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 17, 2015 9:12 PM UTC At 51 years old, Monica Bellucci is set to become the oldest woman to play opposite James Bond in the upcoming installment of the 007 franchise, _Spectre_. In an [interview](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/17/monica-bellucci-james-bond-spectre-bond-woman) with The Guardian, the actress explained that she doesn’t accept the term “Bond girl” because it doesn’t accurately describe who she is. “I can’t say I’m a Bond girl because I’m too mature to be a Bond girl,” she told The _Guardian_. “I say Bond lady; Bond woman.” Bellucci spoke about how women are incredible no matter what their age. “Men think that women, when they’re not able to procreate any more, become old,” she said. “That is not true – they are still amazing! That’s why I think that Sam Mendes \[director of _Spectre_\], in choosing me, an adult woman, created a big revolution.” She went on to say that she is excited to be a part of the series. “But I’m proud to be a Bond lady, because actually, Bond is the most amazing man. You know why?…Because he doesn’t exist.” Mic drop. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4039266/monica-bellucci-bond-woman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4039266/monica-bellucci-bond-woman/"},"headline":"Monica Bellucci Says She Is a Bond Woman, Not a Bond Girl","datePublished":"2015-09-17T21:12:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:24:53.480Z","description":"The name’s Bellucci. 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