Film diva Gina Lollobrigida - who is 95 - intends to run for the Italian Senate in the general election on September 25.
"I was just tired of hearing politicians argue among themselves without ever getting down to business," she said in an interview published in the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Monday.
"Italy is in a bad way, I want to do something good and positive," the actress said.
Her movie career reached its peak in the 1950s, with her most famous films including "Beat the Devil" (1952) and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1956).
Lollobrigida wants to run on a candidate list that includes the Communist Party.
She said she spoke to her lawyer before taking the decision. Lollobrigida has a guardian, assigned to her by a court after a years-long family dispute, and is therefore not allowed to make sole decisions about her assets.
Lolobrigida tried to launch a political career back in 1999, when she ran for the EU Parliament, but fell well short of the necessary number of votes.
"That was an experience. In life you can lose and you can win," she said.
Italy will elect a new parliament in September following the fall of Mario Draghi's government at the end of July. Draghi is still in office as a caretaker.
The centre-right bloc around the Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), the League and Forza Italia are currently ahead in the polls.
