Monica Bellucci confirmed her romance with Tim Burton after months speculation about their relationship — and it sounds like things are getting serious.
“What I can say … I’m glad I met the man, first of all,” the actress, 58, told Elle France in an interview published on Monday, June 26. “It’s one of those encounters that rarely happens in life.”
Bellucci went on to say that she’s excited to work with Burton, 64, on Beetlejuice 2, which will mark her first collaboration with the director. “I know the man, I love him, and now I’m going to meet the director,” she explained. “Another adventure begins.”
She went on to praise her boyfriend’s distinct film aesthetic, saying, “I love this dream world where the monsters are kind, like we can turn our darker aspects into something bright, forgiving. Tim Burton’s films talk about that a lot.”
Bellucci and Burton first sparked romance rumors in February after they were photographed arm-in-arm in Madrid. That same month, they were spotted sharing a kiss outside of a hotel in Paris on Valentine’s Day.
Some reports at the time suggested that the duo’s relationship began last year after Bellucci presented Burton with an Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France, in October 2022. Until this week, however, neither of them had commented on the speculation.
Prior to his romance with Bellucci, Burton was in a long-term relationship with Helena Bonham Carter from 2001 to 2014. Burton and Bonham Carter, 57, share son Billy, 19, and daughter Nell, 15.
Last year, Bonham Carter described her split from Burton as a “very painful divorce.” In addition to their romantic relationship, the duo had collaborated on a number of films, including Sweeney Todd, Planet of the Apes and Dark Shadows.
“It was a long-lasting thing,” Bonham Carter said during a December 2022 interview on the “Therapy Works” podcast. “That’s the other thing, it’s not that finite. It never ends. Even if you divorce somebody, it’s a kind of marriage if you have children with them. The relationship has to change. It’s a very complicated thing how to share the children.”
Before his relationship with Bonham Carter, Burton was married to artist Lena Gieseke from 1987 to 1991. He later moved on with model Lisa Marie, whom he dated from 1991 to 2001.
Bellucci, for her part, married Italian photographer Claudio Carlos Basso in 1984, but they divorced after just six months. She later wed French actor Vincent Cassel in August 1999. The former couple — who share daughters Deva, 19, and Léonie, 13 — called it quits in August 2013.
