Bellucci gave birth to daughter Deva in September 2004

In the film Bellucci plays Laura, a mother whose son has been abducted by a Mongolian sect.

She said that she had been struggling at the time to cope without her real-life daughter Deva, who had not gone with her to Mongolia for filming.

"I was the character for real," she said.

"I was playing a mother who is ready to die for her first child. It was very beautiful for me to play this character, even though I have a baby and I know what I would do for my child."

Back-to-back premieres

The Stone Council was the second of two films starring Bellucci that were shown at the Rome Film Festival earlier this month.

Rome is one of the most important places in the world - everything in the movie business started here Monica Bellucci

The first was Italian movie N: Napoleon & Me, in which she plays a baroness on the island of Elba, where the former emperor was exiled.

The back-to-back premieres meant Bellucci came to be seen as the star of the festival.

"If I had to do this every night, I would go crazy - but for two nights, it's fine," she said.

"As I say all the time, the most interesting part for an actress is when you're on set and you create the characters.

"I think for me, these premieres are the more difficult part."

But she said she was delighted to be appearing at the Rome festival.