Nina Moric's "dramatic" past with notorious ex-husband Fabrizio Corona is probably why she is the ideal candidate for the "delicate" movie on psychological violence against women she was filming in Malta last week.
It is her first attempt at acting and she thinks she may also have been chosen for the role for her own similar personal life experience.
But the Croatian bombshell model is not after any pity. She is quick to brush any trauma aside, stating her life is "perfect". She has moved on.
Nina lives in the future and derives satisfaction from her "amazing" seven-year-old son who is not doing too well at school, she admits, changing her tone and switching to mummy mode. "He has to stay home and learn," she chides him from afar, describing his sweetness in the same breath and excusing him.
The shadow of the man who was found guilty of extorting money from Paparazzi caught on camera in compromising situations follows her around and Nina jokes that she would understand if he were Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt!
She also understands that Italians, who have embraced and adopted her, thrive on gossip and she is used to and unaffected by the constant association.
Her second time in Malta, Nina was here on a three-day shoot of the short movie Stalking, co-produced by Where's Everybody, to be submitted to the Cannes Film Festival next week and having the potential to be turned into a feature film and TV series.
The closest she ever got to acting was when she was cast in Ricky Martin's raunchy video Livin' La Vida Loca. In fact, the model has also dabbled in singing and TV but, right now, she is really pleased to be working with up-and-coming Hollywood screenwriter Stefania Rosella Grassi, whom she holds in high esteem. "She trusted me and I'm proud of myself for doing a good job... It's good to give new people a chance."
Nina plays the role of a stalked ballerina - "do you actually have a doubt that I can dance" - and is happy it is "an intense movie, not about pretty girls moving their curves... I'm done with that!"
Having wiggled her gorgeous body to her heart's - and everyone else's - content, Nina has probably appeared in more men's magazines than women's. But not anymore! "It's my choice. I think they've seen so much of me that they are now fed up and I should move on. I'll leave the calendars to the new girls!"
Nina is Jessica Rabbit incarnate. She is more lips than anything else, all the more since she never removes her outsized, black shades, so they just suck in your stare.
Much more covered than most of her images portray her, she is slouching in her Diesel boyfriend jeans and a casual zip-up, the crown of her head in rollers, as she claims she has passed the stage of caring about her appearance and accepts herself the way she is. "Can you see the condition I am in right now? Does this look vain to you?"
On a scale of one to 10, Nina ranks her vanity at three, maybe four, although she won't lose the shades to conceal the dark circles under her eyes, resulting from a sleepless night.
What was she up to? "Didn't I tell you I have a new boyfriend?" But the reality is he went to the casino and Nina was waiting for him. "And he even lost everything!"
But she is also quick to defend her new flame: "He has me so he is lucky in love; he cannot be lucky in play too."
Nina acknowledges it is a cliché but she admits she is taking more care of her inner self. "Anyway, there are so many beautiful girls out there, it's sick... I appreciate my life and my work; I feel lucky and I want to give out this aspect of myself."
And she's not afraid of ageing... "as long as there is Botox!"