Iconic Director and Actress Girlfriend Announce Breakup

It’s the end for one director-actress couple.

Legendary director Tim Burton and Italian actress Monica Bellucci have separated after almost three years together.

“It is with much respect and deep care for each other that Monica Bellucci and Tim Burton have decided to part ways,” they said in a joint statement to AFP. Bellucci, 60, confirmed her relationship with Burton, 67, in 2023, revealing they started dating after she was cast in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel of 1988’s dark fantasy comedy horror Beetlejuice. Both were directed by Burton.

“What I can say… I’m glad I met the man, first of all,” Bellucci told Elle France in 2023. “It’s one of those encounters that rarely happens in life.” She also expressed her excitement in working with Burton for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, in which she played the creature Delores. “I know the man, I love him, and now I’m going to meet the director. Another adventure begins.”

Burton was previously married to German-born artist Lena Gieseke, but they split in 1991 after four years together. He was then in a relationship with model and actress Lisa Marie from 1992 to 2001, and they worked together on films such as Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood, and Mars Attacks! In 2001, Burton began seeing Helena Bonham Carter after meeting on the set of Planet of the Apes. They welcomed their son in 2003 and a daughter in 2007, and broke up in 2014.

As for Bellucci, she met her first husband, Italian photographer Claudio Carlos Basso, in 1987 and the two tied the knot in Monte Carlo in 1990. They divorced the following year. She was in a relationship with Italian actor Nicola Farron until 1995 on the set of Vita coi figli in 1990. After meeting French actor Vincent Cassel in 1995 on the set of their film The Apartment, they got married in 1999 in Monaco. Their first daughter was born in 2004, and their second was born in 2010. They separated in 2013 and later divorced.

At the very least, both Tim Burton and Monica Bellucci are remaining plenty busy with work, so they will have some projects to keep them occupied. As long as they aren’t working together again, but it does sound like it was a mutual decision.