Maria Grazia Cucinotta is well known in Italy as a movie and television actress and is internationally known for her role as the main love interest in the critically acclaimed Italian film, Il Postino (The Postman). She also plays the Cigar Girl in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.

Maria Grazia Cucinotta was born in Italy, in the Sicilian town of Messina, on July 27, 1969. Her good looks came early and, when she was 16, she started modeling on the catwalks of Milan. At that age, she was already voluptuous, which contrasted with the other models of the era.

Still, it was just a summer job for Maria and she left modeling behind when she graduated high school. In fact, she had never enjoyed modeling because her body did all the work and she was never required to use her head.

Her lifelong dream was to be an actress, so she auditioned for a part on the Renzo Arbore television show Indietro Tutta in Rome. She got the part as a sexy concubine, which triggered her acting career.

But considering the seemingly endless supply of gorgeous actresses in Italy, there was a lot of competition. Therefore, Maria began taking acting classes as well as elocution lessons to divest herself of her Sicilian accent. She also took the time to learn English.