Robert De Niro, 67, shared a passionate kiss with Italian actress Monica Belucci, 46, who is regularly voted one of the sexiest women in the world.

De Niro plays a divorced American teacher who falls for Bellucci’s character - in a scene from the forthcoming film Manual D’Amore 3 (Love Manual 3).

The actor was born in New York, but his father was from Italian-Irish stock. The movie will be his first foreign-language production since 1976, when he starred in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900.

Bellucci is married to French Vincent Cassell and only recently became a mother, MIGnews.com reports.

It is the first time the Hollywood stars have appeared together on screen.