Rumors of Tim Burton and Monica Bellucci’s relationship had been swirling long before the couple officially confirmed they were dating. Now, the acclaimed director and renowned actress have collaborated on a film together, the much-anticipated “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which premiered in the U.S. on September 6, 2024.
Reflecting on their relationship, Bellucci shared with Elle France in June 2023, shortly after the news broke that Burton had cast her in the sequel to the iconic 1988 movie Beetlejuice, “What I can say … I’m glad I met the man, first of all. 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.”
Burton’s career took off with films like Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Batman (1989), and Edward Scissorhands (1990). Beetlejuice was only his second feature film. Bellucci, a celebrated Italian actress, initially found fame as a model before starring in films such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and the Matrix sequels (2003, 2021).
Though their paths first crossed years earlier, Bellucci and Burton officially became a couple in 2023, making their debut on the red carpet at that year’s Rome Film Festival. Before working on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, they maintained a clear boundary between their professional and personal lives. Bellucci told Paris Match in June 2024, “I’m with Tim. Not with Tim Burton.”
The pair initially met briefly on the red carpet at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival in France, when both were committed to other partners. However, they reconnected in October 2022 at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France, where Bellucci presented Burton with the festival’s prestigious Lumière Award for lifetime achievement. Reflecting on the honor, Burton told the audience, “All my life put together, I have never felt so much love as tonight. Welcome to the best funeral I ever had,” reported The Times.
Not long after, the couple sparked dating rumors when they were spotted arm-in-arm in Madrid. They made their relationship public on the red carpet at the Rome Film Festival in October 2023, where Burton was seen supporting Bellucci at the premiere of her film Maria Callas: Lettere e Memorie. According to The Independent, Burton was described as “so in love and happy.”
Burton was previously in a long-term relationship with actress Helena Bonham Carter from 2000 to 2014. Together, they have two children: son Billy, born in 2003, and daughter Nell, born in 2007. Known for their unconventional living arrangement, they owned two adjoining houses connected by a hallway. “We just have two houses knocked together because mine was too small,” Bonham Carter told The Telegraph in 2010. Although the couple never married, their separation in 2014 was described as a “divorce.” Bonham Carter later said in a 2022 episode of the Therapy Works podcast, “It was a long-lasting thing. That’s the other thing, it’s not that finite. It never ends. Even if you divorce somebody, it’s a kind of marriage if you have children with them.”
Bellucci, meanwhile, married French actor Vincent Cassel in 1999. They have two daughters, Deva, born in 2004, and Léonie, born in 2010. Deva Cassel shared in a 2023 interview with Gen V that her parents had instilled in her important life values. “They taught me to always look forward, always protect myself, always be kind and always keep wonder in mind … They’ve taught me how to handle unexpected situations and live by my own rules.”
Bellucci and Cassel divorced in 2013.
Bellucci opened up about her connection to Burton’s work in her first public comments about their relationship to Elle France. “I love this dream world where the monsters are kind, like we can turn our darker aspects into something bright, forgiving,” she explained. “Tim Burton’s films talk about that a lot.”
In May 2023, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Bellucci had been cast in the eagerly awaited Beetlejuice sequel, portraying the wife of the titular “ghost with the most.” The film was primarily shot in London.
Expressing her admiration for her partner, Bellucci told Elle France in June 2023, “I love Tim, and I have great respect for Tim Burton.” Burton echoed these sentiments in an interview with The Independent later that year, reflecting on the making of the sequel: “On this last one, Beetlejuice 2, I really enjoyed it. I tried to strip everything and go back to the basics of working with good people and actors and puppets. It was kind of like going back to why I liked making movies.”
Beetlejuice 2 premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 28, 2024.
In July 2024, the couple made a rare joint appearance at the Globo d’Oro Awards in Rome, where Bellucci received a lifetime achievement award. Their public display of affection, including Burton kissing Bellucci on the cheek, attracted significant media attention.
Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar España in 2023, Bellucci expressed deep admiration for Burton. “I found in Tim a wonderful spirit,” she said. “I met a spectacular soul.”
