Tim Burton has found a new role for himself: boyfriend.
The “Edward Scissorhands” director and model Monica Bellucci confirmed longstanding rumors that they’re dating by puckering up in front of the paparazzi.
Photos obtained by the Daily Mail show Burton and Bellucci stopping their Valentine’s Day walk in Santa Monica, Calif., to kiss. The couple also walked arm-in-arm before he wrapped his arm around her as they entered a restaurant.
Burton, 64, and Bellucci, 58, nearly matched in complementary black ensembles.
Neither star’s rep immediately returned Page Six’s requests for comment.
Although the pair have been friends for more than 15 years, the duo are rumored to have begun dating after the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France, in October 2022.
Bellucci attended the festival as an honorary guest and presented the “Wednesday” director with the Lumière Lifetime Achievement Award.
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French outlet Paris Match reported this week that Burton and the Italian actress met in 2006 on the steps of the Cannes Film Festival but “got closer” behind the scenes of Lumière.
Burton was last linked to longtime love Helena Bonham Carter, from whom he split in 2014 after 13 years together. The former couple share 19-year-old son Billy and 15-year-old daughter Nell.
After meeting on the set of “Planet of the Apes” in 2001, Burton and Carter, 56, collaborated on several films together, including “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “Alice in Wonderland.”
“Tim and Helena have been living separate lives for [more than] a year, and since they separated, they have both had other lovers,” a source told Page Six following the secret split.
“The separation announcement was made saying they’d split earlier this year, but they have been living apart for much longer.”
As for Bellucci, she and artist Nicolas Lefebre separated in 2019. Prior to that relationship, she was married to Vincent Cassel from 1999 to 2013. She and the “Ocean’s Twelve” star share two daughters: Deva, 18, and Léonie, 12.
