They have been secretly dating for months but have yet to say anything about their romance – until now.
Monica Bellucci finally confirmed she is dating director Tim Burton in an interview with Elle France.
The Italian actress, 58, professed her love for the filmmaker, 64, months after they were first linked.
‘What I can say… I’m glad I met the man, first of all,’ she said. ‘It’s one of those encounters that rarely happens in life… I know the man, I love him, and now I’m going to meet the director, another adventure begins.’
The model has been shooting Beetlejuice 2 with Burton in London as of late, and she gushed about the filmmaker’s vision.
‘I love him’: Monica Bellucci finally confirmed she is dating director Tim Burton, months after they were first linked
‘I love Tim,’ she continued. ‘And I have great respect for Tim Burton.’
Speaking of his work she said: ‘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.’
Monica and Tim first met 16 years ago but are said to have started dating after seeing one another at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon in October.
News of their romance emerged in February, when Paris Match wrote that the couple ‘briefly met on the steps of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes in 2006, but it was only sixteen years later, behind the scenes of another festival, that they got closer.’
Monica, who was an honorary guest at the festival, presented Tim with the Lumiere lifetime achievement award on stage around the time they went official.
As he was handed the prize, Tim said: ‘All my life put together, I have never felt so much love as tonight. Welcome to the best funeral I ever had!’
The pair were also seen heading in to watch the re-production of Silent Documentary Film, directed in 1895 by late French filmmaker Louis Lumiere.
In February, they were seen sharing a passionate kiss as they took a romantic walk on Valentine’s Day.
It’s official! Monica, who was an honorary guest at the festival, presented Tim with the Lumiere lifetime achievement award on stage around the time they went official
Burgeoning romance: The couple pictured in October, around the time their romance is said to have begun
Monica has been single since she split from artist Nicolas Lefebvre in 2019. She was previously married to Vincent Cassel from 1997-2013.
The former model met Cassel in 1996 on the set of Gilles Mimouni’s film l’Appartement. They have two daughters, Deva, who was born in 2004, and Leonie, who entered the world in 2010.
They were together for three years before marrying in a quiet ceremony in Monaco, on the French Riviera.
Monica spoke about love in an interview with Paris Match back in 2011 when she was still married to Cassel, admitting there is ‘no rationality’ for her when it comes to relationships.
Former flame: Burton pictured with his former long-term partner Helena Bonham Carter in 2013
She said: ‘I am carried by the moment and instinct. No rationality, only emotions. You love or you don’t.’
‘You don’t decide sitting around a table: OK, so I have two kids, 16 years of life as a couple, that would be nice if it lasts, but how I am going to make it work?
‘I don’t think at all that a couple is something “you work out”, as we say.’
Tim was famously in a relationship with The Crown actress Helena Bonham Carter, 57, but they sadly split in 2014.
The pair were never married, but were together for 13 years and share two children; son Billy and daughter Nell.
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