Monica Bellucci welcomed her first daughter, Deva, in 2004 with her then-husband Vincent Cassel
Monica Bellucci npassed down the acting and modeling genes to her daughter Deva Cassel.
The Italian actress welcomed her first daughter in 2004 with her then-husband Vincent Cassel. The pair also share another daughter, Léonie, who was born in 2010.
While Léonie remains more private as she is growing up, Deva entered the public eye when she began following in her mother’s footsteps as a model. Now 19, she already has some major accomplishments under her belt like a Vogue Italy cover alongside her mother and an upcoming Netflix series, The Leopard.
As the daughter of two successful actors, Deva told Gen V in her November 2023 cover story that she learned a lot from her parents growing up — not just about the industry, but also how to protect herself.
“They taught me to always look forward, to always protect myself, to always be kind, and always keep wonder in mind,” she said. “There’s much more, but the point is that they’ve taught me how to handle unexpected situations and live by my own rules, while always respecting people and the environment I’m in.”
From her childhood to her passions, here’s everything to know about Monica Bellucci’s daughter, Deva Cassel.
She was born in September 2004
Bellucci welcomed Deva on Sept. 12, 2004, just a few weeks shy of her own 40th birthday. Deva was born in Rome, weighing 6 lbs. 7 oz., per Hello! magazine. Her name means “celestial beauty” in the Hindu religion.
“I feel neither strong nor weak, just balanced. I wouldn’t like to be in any other place, do any other thing or have any other body,” Bellucci told Vanity Fair of her pregnancy as she posed nude on the cover of the magazine.
After welcoming her second daughter, Léonie, five years later, Bellucci opened up about having children after 40 years old and why she felt that she made the right decision to wait.
“Before that I wasn’t ready to become a mother,” she told YOU magazine, per The Irish Examiner. “I wasn’t ready for something so incredibly huge, something that would change my life forever. I think it was because I am an only child. In a way I always felt a child — too much into myself. I worried I wouldn’t be ready to give myself.”
She grew up in Paris
Deva was raised in Paris — her father’s home country — but also spent some time living in Rome and Rio de Janeiro, she told Gen V.
In March 2023, she collaborated with Vogue France during Paris Fashion Week as she got ready for the Dior show. In the video, the model opened up about growing up in Paris and why she considers it the most “beautiful” city.
“I think Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world,” she said in French. “I don’t think you can get a good croissant anywhere other than Paris.”
Her mom is her fashion icon
The young model grew up surrounded by fashion, especially as her mom had a thriving career in the modeling industry and would frequently attend high-fashion events. She also inspired Deva, who joked to Vogue France that even though it sounded “obvious,” her mom truly is her fashion icon.
She added that fashion is “close to [her] heart,” and she was always inspired by it.
“The world of fashion has inspired me since I was a little girl, because I always felt it was important to externalize one’s ideas,” she said in a November 2023 interview with Numéro. “Through fashion, which was often visionary, you can construct a narrative of human history.”
She started her career as a model when she was 14 rowing up surrounded by cameras and her mom’s successful career, Deva was inspired by the creative arts from a young age. She told Numéro that she always knew she wanted to pursue a career in the arts and started with modeling because the “world of images” intrigued her.
“One day I accompanied my mother on a shoot, and the photographer wanted to take a few pictures of me,” she told the outlet. “It felt very familiar and natural being in front of camera, and I had a lot of fun. I knew then that I wanted to continue down that path.”
Deva had her first major shoot when she was 14 years old in a fragrance campaign for Dolce & Gabbana. Since then, she’s graced the cover of Vogue Italy alongside her mom in 2021 and walked numerous runways, especially for Dior, with whom she frequently collaborates.
While Deva said she always knew she wanted to work in the creative industry, she didn’t realize how far it could take her — and how successful she would be at such a young age.
“I knew I wanted to work in [the fashion] industry at some point in my life, but I definitely didn’t expect to love it this much and make a living out of it,” she told Gen V.
She is interested in growing her acting career
in addition to being a model, Deva has started following in her mother’s acting footsteps. She got her start in an Italian movie released in 2023, The Beautiful Summer, and will star in Netflix’s upcoming series The Leopard.
While she originally didn’t want to veer into acting, Deva said over time she grew more interested in the field and began to pursue her interests.
“Cinema has fascinated me since childhood, but I refused the idea of working in the business because I didn’t want to do the same thing as my parents,” she told Numéro. “Then, as time went on, I came to understand that it intrigued me, that it involved things I knew about already but which nonetheless took me out of my comfort zone.”
Though she has been enjoying delving into the industry, Deva added that she doesn’t plan on leaving her modeling career anytime soon. She told the outlet she wants to continue to both model and act “for the foreseeable future,” with neither taking the back burner.
She loves to travel
Deva may be young, but she already has a taste for jet-setting across the globe. One of her life goals, she told Gen V, is to have traveled the world by the time she is 30 years old, starting with a first-time visit to Japan in 2024.
The actress’s favorite city may be Paris, but her favorite place in the world is Lithuania, she told the outlet.