New York : Monica Bellucci is a living, breathing example of a stunningly voluptuous woman. And seeing her in the flesh, it is a puzzle why skinny has replaced curvy as the ideal body type.

So powerfully moulded are her curves in a fitting lilac dress that as you - slim-built Chinese girl that you are - sit before her in a room at the Ritz Carlton Battery Park for an interview, you can't help but feel rather small and inadequate.

The Italian actress is 43 years old this year, but looks 10 years younger. Of course, you have to tell her this, partly because it's good PR and more importantly, because it's true. You ask her how she does it and she chuckles at the compliment.

"I do? I don't know, I don't exercise. But I'm not skinny," she says softly in Italian-accented English.

"But you're not fat," you interject.

"No, I'm not fat, but I'm not skinny," she says, clasping at her upper arms to emphasise her point. "I'm curvy and I love to eat and enjoy life. But no, there's no secret to it."

Often called "one of the most beautiful women alive", Bellucci is every bit as stunning in person as she is on camera. Even if the corners of her eyes are creased with crow's feet, her features, set in an almost preternaturally small face, are perfectly formed.

But because the 1.78m-tall former model is so beautiful and has very few qualms about shedding her clothes both for film and photography, it's easy to forget her reputation as a fearless actress.

Her latest film, Shoot Em Up, is the reason why she has travelled from her native Europe (married to French actor Vincent Cassel with a three-year-old daughter Deva, she has homes in both Italy and France) to New York City where she is busy publicising the movie.

While her better-known European films like Malena (2000) and Irreversible (2002) are serious dramatic fare, her work in Hollywood tends to veer towards more commercially-appealing films. The sex and violence loaded Shoot Em Up, which is now on in cinemas in Singapore, is an example of this sort of film.

Pairing up with Clive Owen, Bellucci plays Donna Quintana, a prostitute who is roped in by Owen's anti-hero character to care for a mysterious baby, which a ruthless mobster, played by Paul Giamatti, is out to kill.

Shoot Em Up touts itself as a reckless crime caper with characters who are more caricatures than real people, and with action scenes that take a leaf from Hong Kong cinema with their over-the-top tendencies.

Throughout the interview, her back is ramrod straight and her long brown hair is carefully gathered over one shoulder.

"When I read the script, I thought, this is crazy. It was so incredible that I didn't know if someone could really shoot something like that, but Michael (Davis), the director, pulled it off."

That includes a love-making scene in the middle of a violent shootout, which is so bizarre it has to be seen to be believed. And almost as if it were to be expected, Bellucci sheds her clothes for the scene.

Her stunning figure was put to good use in a recent film, iconic French director Bertrand Blier's 2005 black comedy, How Much Do You Love Me? (Combien Tu M'aimes?), in which she also played a prostitute who revels in the trade.

Then there was Irreversible, which stirred plenty of controversy when it was released, mostly because of a nine-minute scene in which Bellucci's character is raped.

Ask her why she is so uninhibited about nudity, and she says: "Maybe because I come from the fashion business, where the models are so free with their bodies."

"In Shoot Em Up, there is sex but it's very beautiful. Of course, there is a limit to what I'd do. I'm never going to do a porn movie."

While Bellucci had childhood dreams of being an actress, she never thought that it would be a reality one day. In fact, a younger Bellucci had studied to be a lawyer, but ditched that career path when it became tough to juggle both modelling, which she did to fund her studies, and academia.

"I thought of being an actress but the reality was so far away from my reality because I grew up in a small town which was so far from Rome, where the movie business is. I never thought it would be possible."

Beauty only gets one so far, and sometimes having been a model first makes it tougher to cut it in the acting business.

"In the beginning, because I was a model, people looked at me, like: 'Ah, another model who wants to be an actress'," she said. "It's very difficult to move from modeling to acting; that's why I'm very lucky."

Indeed, her first role in an American film is a blink-and-you-miss-it turn as one of Dracula's three brides in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). But it has been 17 years that she has been an actress and perhaps she thrives because her work is hard to pigeonhole and she's always surprising.

"Irreversible, The Passion of the Christ, even this one, are risky, crazy kinds of projects. When you do a film like The Matrix, you know it's going to be a success. But with some movies, you don't know what's going to be the response. I like risks, but it's because I think those projects are special."

Never shy to make use of her God-given assets - and combining it with intellect for a double whammy - Bellucci has also taken on the role of activist.

In 2005, she was the public face for protests by Italian liberals against a law that made the option of artificial insemination restrictive to heterosexual couples and non-existent to same-sex couples or single parents.

A high-profile Vanity Fair cover, in which she posed naked while pregnant, helped highlight the issue.

"I'm not a political person, I'm just an actress, but sometimes when you touch the issue of women's rights, especially in my country, when I can, I'll speak out," she said.

"I did so many interviews, I fought for change, but it didn't change much. So many women, from scientists to journalists, were all against this law. Even though we had a big protest, the law didn't change. I hope it will change in the future."

Her occasional forays into Hollywood aside, audiences are unlikely to see Bellucci that much in American films. She is first and foremost, European - and proud of it.

"I love Hollywood; there are so many good films here. But at the same time, as a European, I have to do Italian movies because I'm Italian. And I like to do French movies because it's been a long time since I worked in France," she said.

"For me, it's interesting because I keep getting to do things that are different." - TODAY/ym