Tim Burton and Monica Ballucci end 2-year relationship “with much respect”

Tim Burton, 67, and Italian actress-model Monica Bellucci, 60, confirmed the end of their relationship in a joint statement released to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on September 19, 2025. “It is with much respect and deep care for each other that Monica Bellucci and Tim Burton have decided to part ways,” the statement read. 

Burton and Bellucci first came across each other on the red carpet of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. At the time, both were in separate relationships. They reconnected years later as single individuals at the Lumière Festival in Lyon, France, in October 2022, when Bellucci presented Burton with a Lumière Award. 

While rumors of romance sparked as they were seen walking arm-in-arm in Madrid, Spain, they did not confirm their relationship in public before attending the Rome Film Festival in October 2023. Burton appeared at the event to support Bellucci’s film Maria Callas: Lettere e Memorie, and contemporary reports, including coverage by The Independent, described the acclaimed director as “so in love and happy” during the premiere. 

Burton later cast Bellucci as Delores in his 2024 film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. In an interview with Elle France in June 2023, Bellucci shared about the casting:

“What can I 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.”

Prior relationships of Monica Bellucci and Tim Burton

Before getting together, both Monica Bellucci and Tim Burton had been in long-term committed relationships. The Italian model and actress Bellucci was married to French actor Vincent Cassel from 1999 to 2013. The pair met while working on the 1996 film The Apartment, and share two children: Deva Cassel, born in 2004, and Leonie Cassel, born in 2010. Post-divorce, they remain on friendly terms and raise their children as co-parents. 

The renowned gothic-horror filmmaker Tim Burton was famously in a long-term relationship with actress Helena Bonham Carter from 2001 to 2014. While they never married, they lived in adjacent homes and shared two children, Billy, born in 2003, and Nell, born in 2007. Burton and Carter have collaborated on multiple projects, such as Sweeney Todd, Dark Shadows, Alice in Wonderland, Corpse Bride, and many more. 

Despite not tying the knot, Carter described their separation as a “divorce” during her appearance on the Therapy Works podcast in 2022. She observed at the time:

“I went through a very painful divorce. 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. The relationship has to change. It’s a very complicated thing how to share the children.”

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