Violante Placido

Italian-born Violante Placido is an actress and singer. She's also the daughter of Michele Placido and actress Simonetta Stefanelli, who most famously played the beautiful Appollonia, Michael Corleone's Italian wife in the classic "The Godfather."

Placido, who is herself gorgeous, first appeared with her father in the coming-of-age crime drama "Quattro bravi ragazzi," and later got her breakout role in the 2002 comedy "Soul Mate," directed by Italian character actor Sergio Rubini. She also played one of the leads in Pupi Avati's 2007 comedy "A Dinner for Them to Meet."

Most international viewers, however, will probably know Placido best from her role as the ravishing prostitute Clara in the espionage thriller "The American," starring George Clooney as an assassin who aims to leave the business of killing after one last assignment. The film's European locations, its slow pace, and Placido's exotic presence helped give the thriller an air of '70s style.

Other offers from Hollywood were not hard to come by for the actress, and Placido followed "The American" up by starring in the hyper-kinetic fantasy/comic book movie "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance," playing a tough Romani woman who teams up with Nicolas Cage's Johnny Blaze to protect her child from Satan himself.