Monica Bellucci mother

Italian actress Monica Bellucci said she is "lucky" she got the chance to become a mum again in her 40s.

The 46 year-old became a mum for the second time last year when she gave birth to her second daughter Leonie.

Bellucci and husband Vincent Cassel are also parents to Deva, six.

Speaking to Tatler about being an older mum, she said: "Look, I don't know if it's so intelligent to have children at this age. I don't want to be an example to women, because I was lucky.

"I know a lot of women who try later in life and it doesn't work. I don't think to be a woman you have to have children. I have many friends who don't have children and are very satisfied."

SHE gave birth to her second daughter Leonie last year but screen siren Monica Bellucci insists you don’t have to have children “to be a real woman”.

The Italian actress, who is married to French actor Vincent Cassel, says being a mother gave her a totally different view of life, telling Tatler: “You are ready to do everything without getting anything back.”

Monica Bellucci, 46, says she did not feel ready for children until her late 30s. She had her first child Deva, now six, at the age of 40. Despite describing her experience of motherhood as “beautiful”, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice star doesn’t recommend that other women necessarily follow her example.

“Look, I don’t know if it’s so intelligent to have children at this age,” she says. “I don’t want to be an example to women because I was lucky. I know a lot of women who try later in life and it doesn’t work.

“I don’t think to be a woman you have to have children. I have many friends who don’t have children and are very satisfied.”

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