Biography

Maria Grazia Cucinotta (born July 27, 1968, Messina, Sicily, Italy) is an Italian actress, producer, and former model who has been active since 1990. Her breakthrough came with the role of Beatrice in Michael Radford's Il Postino (1994), opposite the late Massimo Troisi, which brought her international recognition. She went on to appear in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999) as the "Cigar Girl," and has since worked extensively in both Italian and international cinema. She has also served as a producer on several films including All the Invisible Children (2005) and Last Minute Marocco (2007). She has been married to Giulio Violati since 1995. Her notable film credits include The Postman (1994) (Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret), The Day of the Beast (1995) (Fele Martínez, Jordi Mollà), Dirty Linen (1997) (Nino Manfredi, Massimo Ghini), The World Is Not Enough (1999) (Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau), Picking Up the Pieces (2000) (Benicio Del Toro, John Leguizamo), The Rite (2011) (Anthony Hopkins, Malin Akerman), and American Night (2021). On television she guest-starred in The Sopranos (1999) and voiced a character on The Simpsons (2005).