Pozzuoli, a small town near Naples, is about as far from Hollywood as you can get. There is no glitz, no glamor, and its residents have been historically impoverished. Back in the 1940s, this was even more so the case. But, it was here, among the rubble of bomb sites and the blares of sirens, that a star was born.
Sophia Loren’s childhood was defined by a constant struggle for survival; even after the war ended, food and shelter were often in scarce supply. Her father was almost entirely absent from her life, having walked out on her mother and his two daughters when Loren was a baby. To take her mind away from the hardships her family and so many others were going through, Loren turned to the cinema. During air raids, she would seek refuge in the movie houses of Pozzuoli, which provided her with a veritable escape from the atrocities of daily life during WWII, and the sharp pangs of poverty and hunger. Watching the likes of Rita Hayworth and Greta Garbo in full flair on the silver screen planted a seed early on in Sophia Loren’s mind. At the age of 15, she won a beauty competition, earning her the money she needed to move to Rome and begin to pursue a career in the movie industry.
In hindsight, Loren feels like she got where she did because of where she’s from and the hardships she endured, not in spite of them. She has always been proud of her Neapolitan roots, which give her perspective on the characters she’s played and the tenacity which proved so necessary when holding her own in an often unfriendly industry.
Throughout her career–which spanned seven decades and over 100 movies–Loren made foundational cracks in Hollywood’s glass ceiling, as a woman and as a foreigner in the industry. She credits a lot of her strength to her mother. Unshakeable yet gentle, irreverent yet wise, Loren’s mother–who bore an uncanny resemblance to Greta Garbo–also had aspirations of stardom, but never made it to the heights her daughter did. It was from her that Loren learned the importance of resilience and tenacity in a tough world, especially as a woman.
From the very start of her career, her own self-assuredness protected her from succumbing to the pressures of the industry. At auditions, cameramen would tell her that to succeed, she ought to consider plastic surgery for her nose and mouth. Reflecting on her storied career, she famously said that “beauty is not important–you have to be interesting. I’ve never been beautiful. I’ve never been a china doll.” To us now, it seems crazy to think that this icon, known as much for her talent as for being a bonafide sex symbol, would ever consider herself to be anything but beautiful. But, she grew up and worked in Hollywood in the 1950s and ‘60s–era of Mad Men-esque sexism–being told consistently that “my mouth was too wide. My nose was too long. People wanted to make me have straighter teeth.” Thankfully, she did not take the suggestion, and proved them all wrong by cementing herself as the most successful female Italian actor of all time. In her memoir, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life, she wrote “I knew perfectly well that my beauty was the result of a lot of irregularities all blended together in one face, my face. Whether I won or lost, it was going to be in the original version.” And indeed, she won.
In 1957, she wedded the famous film producer, Carlo Ponti, who, she says, is still the love of her life. They were married for 50 years, until his death in 2007. Ponti was 22 years older than Loren, and for that their relationship was often under scrutiny, with naysayers presuming that he handed her a certain amount of protection and opportunity. But to assume that she was handed anything would be to do a disservice to her enormous talent and work ethic. She casts any negative opinions aside with characteristic nonchalance: “I don’t like the word protector. It was more that he believed in me.”
In 1962, she became the first person in history to win an Oscar for a non-English language film, which she earned for her role as Cesira–a widowed mother who fights to protect her 13-year-old daughter from the horrors of war, destitution, and assault–in Two Women.
Sophia Loren shines in every character she plays, a true icon on and off the screen. Although her roles have varied from escorts to millionairesses, from pizza girls to countesses, and from modern housewives to ancient Roman royalty, what ties all her characters together is their strength. “In my career, I’ve always tried to play women with strong characters,” she once said. This seems fitting; it takes one to play one.
Our 5 Favorite Sophia Loren Roles:
La ciociara (Two Women, 1961) – The film that won Loren her Oscar, for the role of Cesira, a role that had her drawing on her own experiences growing up in wartorn Italy. Playing a widowed mother who stops at nothing to protect her daughter from the horrors of conflict, poverty, and strife, Loren is absolutely heart wrenching and absolutely magnetic.
Ieri, oggi, domani (Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, 1963) – In a totally different tone than the above, Loren’s trio of roles in this triptych film where she plays a rich housewife, a high-class escort, and a street vendor, show her range as a comedic actor. Her striptease scene here is also completely iconic, and was very provocative for the era.
Houseboat (1958) – While this romantic comedy is charming in its own right, what we love best about it is the sheer Hollywood scandal of it all. Cary Grant was originally supposed to star in this film with his then-wife, Betsy Drake (who wrote the screenplay), but he had her replaced with Loren when the two of them started having an affair. As fate would have it though, midway through production, Loren and Grant ended things–badly–leading to plenty of on-set tension, some of which can definitely be felt on screen. Pass the popcorn.
Matrimonio all’italiana (Marriage, Italian Style, 1964) – Earning her another Oscar nom, her role as Filomena, a sex worker during World War II who gets her Cinderella moment when she meets a rich businessman (fans of Pretty Woman will recognize this one as its natural precursor), is at its core a nuanced portrayal of a complex woman, bound by impossible circumstance. Loren always cites this as one of her favorite roles.
Arabesque (1966) – This very Hitchcockian romp takes the familiar cat-and-mouse format, with Loren and Gregory Peck in the lead roles. It’s fun, sexy, and their chemistry is palpable. Loren excelled in the femme fatale role, which cemented her as a favorite for American audiences and launched her Hollywood career.
