GEva Cassel looks like a photocopy of her mother Monica Bellucci. They might even be sisters if they weren’t actually parent and daughter: the same Mediterranean beauty, the same gaze. Until then, who knows the same modeling career since the age of 18, and still can change.
The first child of French actor Vincent Cassel (the actor divorced Belucci in August 2013), Virgo made her commercial debut and then at the Dolce&Gabbana Haute Couture shows in 2020.
An interest in fashion must have bled him from before he was born: his mother was a star the famous belly cover photo shoot for everyone to see in 2004.
Deva Kassel: “I look like my mother and I’m proud of it”
“When they tell me that we are similar, I only take it as a compliment: my mother is a smart, talented and very good woman. I look down on her: she is my mother.” Deva is almost justified. The name is of Sanskrit origin and refers to the Hindu goddess of the moon. The umbilical cord seems so strong and visceral that almost from shame does not mention parents and their current friends.
(The actress’s relationship with American director Tim Burton and her father’s crisis union with model Tina Kunaki, ed.).
Film debut with beautiful summer
Deva has just made his debut in the world of cinema. With beautiful summer director and screenwriter Laura Luchetti (previously Nastro d’Argento for the animated short film Sugarlove) with Yile Yara Vianello based on one of Cesare Pavese’s most famous works.
Bildungsroman about the inevitable loss of innocence in Turin in 1938, shortly before World War II. The film, which is due out on August 24, just presented at the Locarno Film Festival. The young Kassel plays Amelia, a sensual and free model posing for the artists of bohemian Turin.
And this becomes the starting point for Ginia, a naive sixteen-year-old girl who will let herself be pulled into a whirlwind of emotional events, crushed between the duty of a young woman of her era and the discovery of a new all-consuming feeling.
Virgo Kassel: “I often faint”
“The curious aspect is that my mother always tells me that I look like a woman from another era because of my white porcelain skin and the fact that I pass out easily,” she says in Italian (Virgo was born in Rome and lives in Paris, ed.).
Is he really losing consciousness?
When something worries me…
What attracted you to the character of Amelia?
His freedom, of course. And his energy. Amelia is a muse, she is unprincipled, she smokes, she decides her own life, she controls her sexuality. There’s an inner fragility about him that he doesn’t show, and that fascinates me. Entering it, I discovered another aspect of my being.
How is Deva Kassel?
I am a woman with many parts that make her up. Amelia represents, I think, a part of me. However, the part that never comes out, which I keep inside, which I recognize and protect.
Deva Cassel: “I feel the Italian side a lot”
After fashion, the Italian debut in the cinema: Virgo, what attracted you to the film?
Actually, a little of everything. Both the fact that I took on a novel by a writer like Pavese, and the fact that, in a certain sense, I returned home, my “Italianness” I feel powerfully. Thus, the scenery took place between Turin and various places in Piedmont. I shared a house with Yile, the main character, and the experience created a very strong bond between us that I think will last forever.
Do you believe in sisterhood, in bonding between women, the theme of the film?
I don’t want to make this a gender issue, but I think that the relationship between two women is always deeper than between a man and a woman or between two men. Women are creatures that understand each other deeply and instantly, they have acute sensitivity and what men cannot understand: they know how to listen.
Virgo Cassel walks the Coperni runway at the Fall/Winter 2023-2024 show in Paris in March 2023. (Photo by François Durand/Getty Images)
From fashion to cinema, he could have done even more, but he followed in his parents’ footsteps. At the same time, she seems to be perfectly aware that she is a “daughter”.
Since childhood, I have always breathed the air of the film set, this is reality. My parents took me there, it was their job. I followed them, I was blinded by the dynamics of the cinema. And then I was fascinated by fashion, the energy that it releases, the people who create it. I had this luck.
In another interview, he explained how families of lawyers and artists actually exist. And yours is made up of actors.
I’m experimenting. I just finished school, I have yet to decide whether to go to university. I’m doing what really makes me happy right now. I follow the advice of my parents: study and have fun.
Are there any films of your father Vincent Cassel or mother Monica Bellucci that you especially like?
Is it true? I don’t think I’ve ever really seen them. To be honest, it seems unnatural to me to see my parents die or someone kiss in the movies. They are not just actors, they are people who brought me into this world and whom I love.
Deva Cassel: “I try to manage my space”
How did you prepare for your debut?
I have a classical education. I relied on discipline. Waking up at four to film a scene was never a problem, I had to do it and I did. And then on the set I felt protected, the director created small master classes for getting to know each other. I didn’t feel fear. Indeed, it is an experience that made me a little more confident. Speaking in front of the camera, I confess that it is not easy …
However, he is currently filming. Leopard in Palermo, a Netflix production with Kim Rossi Stewart and Benedetta Porcaroli. She is Angelica, a role that belonged to Claudia Cardinale. Have you seen the original film?
Yes, just once, for now. Right now I’m mostly focused on the book, reading it voraciously.
She has almost a million followers on Instagram: she is very sociable …
No, in fact, I feel guilty towards those who follow me. I have very little and never pay attention to my personal life. The family explained to me the importance of image.
What do you think of social voyeurism?
As a little girl, I was always with my smartphone, just like everyone else. Now I’m trying to manage my mental space. If I’m with friends, I have a good time with them.
Virgo Kassel: “I’m daddy’s daughter”
Deva Cassel at the Christian Dior Fall Winter 2023-2024 show at Paris Fashion Week on February 28, 2023. (Photo by Viktor Boyko/Getty Images)
What do you like about fashion?
Walk the catwalk, feel the connection of energy with my image. But I’m also curious about the world behind the scenes. Photography fascinates me. Let’s see.
Did he steal clothes from mom’s closet?
(Laughs). From my father, if anything! There was a time when I wore maxi dresses. I wore his jackets, his trousers, his shirts. But yes, I also invaded my mother. I “stole” the bags.
Is she “daddy’s girl”?
I’m afraid we all are. My father and I always surfed together. When I was younger, we spent all morning, even five hours at sea. I also share a passion for music with him. I play the ukulele, it’s a lot of fun.
Her father said: “The virgin is mature, wise, she has mixed natural instincts.” More than that.
I would say the best possible declaration of love.
It will be difficult for your partner to compete… Partner?
There is no one next to me now. But I’m still very happy.
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