Bellucci made her screen debut in 1990 in the television film Vita coi figli when she was cast after Italian director Dino Risi noticed one of her photographs in a magazine. In 1991, she made her film debut in La Riffa, playing a role Italian director Francesco Laudadio offered her. In 1992, Bellucci played a bride of Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Initially, Roman Coppola spotted her in the Italian magazine Zoom and then implored his father, Francis Ford, to offer her a role in his film. Francis Ford Coppola then called her to arrange a meeting in Los Angeles while she was in New York for a photo shoot. Discussing with Coppola, she realised she would embark on an acting career. Although Coppola wanted her to stay in Los Angeles for filming, she felt unready for the country and, by her admission, believed that her English level needed improvement. She, therefore, decided that her subsequent experiences as an actress had to be undertaken in Italy. Nevertheless, her role in Dracula exposed her to the international audience for the first time.
