I found this in the Internet (http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/2210/simona.html).

The Eyes Have It
article form People Magazine
The role of Apollonia, the Sicilian beauty Michael Corleone takes as his bride, can be summed up in a heartbeat. "I met him, I married him, I died," says Rome native Simonetta Stefanelli, who was only 16 at the time of the filming. True, but before she was blown to bits by a car bomb, Stefanelli, now 42, had made an impression. Though she and Pacino could not speak each other's language, she says, their roles created a bond between them. "He would want to speak with me, I could tell," says Stefanelli. But, she adds, "sometimes it is not important to speak. When you have a good feeling, the eyes speak."

Stefanelli's role--especially her love scene with Pacino (whom she never saw again after the film wrapped) -- left a lasting impression on others as well. "Some maniacs wanted to marry me," she says of letters she received after the movie (which briefly shows her topless) opened. And filmmakers flooded her with salacious offers. "They wanted nothing more than to expose my body," she says. "I refused so much work." Instead, Stefanelli settled for a string of Mafia roles in films never released in the U.S. "The Mafia has the same fascination as the monarchy. But I am not mafioso," she says, laughing. "I could never do that. I like to speak too much. I am not discreet. I would die immediately."

Stefanelli, who split with her husband, Italian TV star Michele Placido, two years ago, is now living a full life in London with her 30-year-old restaurateur boyfriend and her sons Michel
. The Godfather, she feels transformed. "I was very timid--I did not have much experience in life then," she says. But today, "I no longer fear life; age has given me confidence."