Monica Bellucci on 'Spectre' role: I'm a Bond woman, not a girl

LONDON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Monica Bellucci says she is a Bond woman, not a girl.

The 50-year-old actress will portray Lucia Sciarra in Spectre, becoming the oldest James Bond love interest since Honor Blackman, then 39, as Pussy Galore. Bellucci admitted she was surprised when approached for the role in an interview with The London Times.

"I just blurted out: I'm not a girl, I'm a woman. I'm a mature woman. Do I have to replace Judi Dench?" she recalled of her initial conversation with director Sam Mendes. "Why do you call me? I'm 50 years old. What am I going to do in James Bond?"

At 50, Bellucci is four years older than current James Bond actor Daniel Craig. The star said Mendes told her, "For the first time in history, James Bond is going to have a story with a mature woman. The concept is revolutionary."

"What is the problem with a man of 30 being with a woman of 50?" Bellucci asked in the interview. "It is a matter of energy and the soul, not a matter of age of the body. True sexiness is in the mind, the imagination."

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Craig has portrayed 007 in four James Bond movies, and last appeared in Skyfall (2012). Bellucci is known for such films as The Apartment, The Matrix Reloaded and The Passion of the Christ, and is also scheduled for On the Milky Road with Emir Kusturica.