Maria Grazia Cucinotta

Maria Grazia Cucinotta (Italian pronunciation: [maˈriːa ˈɡrattsja kutʃiˈnɔtta]; born 27 July 1968) is an Italian actress who has featured in films and television series since 1990. Internationally she is best known for her roles in Il Postino and as the Bond girl, credited as "Cigar Girl", in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.

Early life and career

Cucinotta was born in Messina in Sicily, Italy. After playing a few bit parts on television, her first movie role was in Michael Radford's critically acclaimed Il Postino (1994). Cucinotta played Beatrice Russo, the female love interest opposite Massimo Troisi. Despite the film being Cucinotta's first major role, Troisi had no doubt about her abilities, as Cucinotta later recalled:

He was a director and an actor who had the patience to teach me everything because I arrived at that audition recommended by a woman, Nathalie Caldonazzo, who was Massimo's girlfriend. That film changed my life. I'm happy that people still talk about him and that film with which he brought Italianness around the world.

National Review critic John Simon effusively praised Cucinotta's performance, describing it as "a cross between ancient Mediterranean love-goddess-hood and un-self-consciously sultry girlishness."

Cucinotta took part in the James Bond film The World is Not Enough (1999), playing a villain named "Cigar Girl". That same year, she also guest starred in The Sopranos episode "Isabella" as the titular character.

In 2005 Cucinotta appeared on The Simpsons episode "The Italian Bob", voicing Sideshow Bob's wife, Francesca. She also produced and acted in All the Invisible Children (2005), an anthology film serving as a charity fundraiser for UNICEF. Cucinotta appeared in the segment titled "Ciro", directed by co-producer Stefano Veneruso.

Cucinotta won the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2010. In 2012, Cucinotta received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Maria Grazia Cucinotta is Roman Catholic and devoted to Saint Anthony of Padua.