Matrix star is Sloane ranger

In the early Eighties they were the Chelsea set who every weekend would don green wellies and escape to the country in their Range Rovers. But the new Sloane Rangers are Hollywood superstars.

Monica Bellucci who plays Persephone in The Matrix Revolutions - the biggest worldwide box office hit in film history - is the latest celebrity to move to the area. The actress has moved into a £3million townhouse just off Sloane

Square with her French movie star husband Vincent Cassel. "I love London, it's a beautiful bridge between Europe and America," she says.

Whether Miss Bellucci plans to swap Hollywood glamour for a twinset and pearls is uncertain, But she will certainly be in good company - with Gwyneth Paltrow living around the corner in Belgravia, and RenEe Zellweger renting just across the road behind Peter Jones while she films the sequel to Bridget Jones.

The term Sloane Ranger was coined in 1982 by Ann York and Peter Barr, who wrote the Official Sloane Ranger Handbook. The book described the lifestyle of upper-class young women living in west London.

A typical date for a Sloane Ranger would take place at the Blue Elephant, a Thai restaurant in the Fulham Road. For drinks, trendy winebars and nightclubs were favoured over the traditional English pub. Stamping grounds included the stretch of bars in Fulham Road known as The Beach and The Collection in Brompton Cross.

When it comes to shopping, Bellucci will find Sloane Street has everything a self-respecting Hooray Henry or Henrietta could hope for, including Pringle, Joseph and Giorgio Armani. And there's also the more austere Knightsbridge or funkier King's Road.

But like Zellweger and Paltrow, don't expect Bellucci to frequent the London party circuit: She said: "I prefer spaghetti at home with real friends and real conversations. I'm not a party girl." She seems set to resist a permanent move to Hollywood. She said recently: "I want to keep making European films and only go to Hollywood when I find the right part."

Bellucci is most famous for playing Persephone but is not shy of courting controversy. In 1999, she married Cassel after they worked together on a film. The couple also starred in Irreversible, in which she played the victim in one of the longest, most brutal rape scenes ever shown.

She recently finished shooting Mel Gibson's new film The Passion Of Christ, based on the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ, in which she plays Mary Magdalene. The film has caused a storm of protest in America.