Sophia Loren Prioritized Her Children Despite Career & She's 'Happy To Have Done It'

Feb 25, 2021 by apost team

Many people who know Sophia Loren respect her for the many high points she has had throughout her acting career. The Academy Award-winning Italian sensation is considered unique. In her film roles, she's able to combine her exceptional Mediterranean beauty with an amusing and sensitive approach. She's also received praise for portraying women realistically. At one point, she was even named one of the greatest Classic Hollywood Cinema actresses by the American Film Institute. In any case, Loren is a Hollywood legend and will be remembered as such.

Despite her demanding career and despite her hard upbringing, Loren says that she doesn’t regret prioritizing her children. And today, she is a proud mother of two successful sons who have followed their own creative paths in the film and music industries.

Sofia Villani Scicolone, known professionally as Sophia Loren, was born on Sept. 20, 1934, in Rome, Italy. She is the daughter of a construction engineer and a piano teacher. Loren’s father refused to marry her mother, leaving the lady, who was also an aspiring actress, without any financial support. Loren only met her father three times during her lifetime: when she was 5 years old, when she turned 17 and at his deathbed in 1976. Although Loren and her mother lived a poor life when her father abandoned them, she always said that she forgave him.

While living in Pozzuoli during World War II, Loren was injured by some stray shrapnel during an Allied bombing raid. After this incident, her family moved to Naples until the war was over.

Loren’s childhood was not a happy one. She had to live with her relatives while growing up, according to Biography.com. She even shared a bedroom with eight people before the war ravaged her city and a famine struck her region. As a young girl, Loren had a sickly physique that made her classmates refer to her as “little stick,” adding to the struggles she had to endure. However, when she turned 14, she blossomed. She was no longer the frail child everyone at school was talking about. She was beautiful, and she had started changing into the voluptuous woman that everyone would eventually admire. "It became a pleasure just to stroll down the street," Loren said of the time, according to Biography.com.

When she turned 15 years old, she set off for Rome together with her mother in an effort to make a living as an actress. In 1951, Loren landed her first role in the film “Quo Vadis.” It was a big deal to her, although she was only an extra. She also landed a job as a model for some Italian publications. Although she eventually made it, her rough experience while growing up alongside her mother is likely one of the many reasons Loren is often focused on her sons and proud of them.

Loren got her breakthrough in 1953 in the successful film “Aida.” The following year, she became a household name in Italy when she delivered an outstanding performance in “The Gold of Naples.” In 1957, Loren starred alongside Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant in “The Pride and the Passion,” a Hollywood film that was filmed in Paris.

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In 1960, the actress was featured in the film “Two Women," which transformed her life and career. The Italian World War II movie mirrored her own childhood, and that’s why she probably gave such an impressive performance. In the film, Loren played a desperate mother who was trying to provide for her own daughter in a war-torn Rome. The film made Loren into an international celebrity, and in 1961, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also became the first actress in history to win the award for a non-English-language film. 

Loren kept starring in American, French and Italian films, establishing herself as one of the greatest international film stars of her generation. Other notable films that have contributed to her success are “Marriage Italian Style,” which won her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” which won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film, and “Countess from Hong Kong” in which she starred alongside Marlon Brando.

During the 1970s, Loren returned to her native Italy, and she spent most of the decade creating acclaimed Italian movies. At that time, she had already given birth to Carlo Ponti Jr., who was born on Dec. 29, 1968, and Edoardo Ponti, who was born on Jan. 6, 1973. During the 1980s, the actress decided to back off from her demanding filming career for a while to spend more time with her two sons. Recently, Loren and Edoardo talked to Today about “The Life Ahead,” which is their latest film. The star also talked at length about her successful career, but more importantly about her role as a mother.

She revealed that although she was enjoying massive success in her acting career, she decided that it was time to take a break to raise Carlo and Edoardo. Of course, the decision was quite difficult for her; however, she said that she has never regretted it. She also explained that people should learn to listen to their bodies at a certain point in life.

The 86-year-old added that the moment she started having kids, she started encouraging herself through words to take care of them. She would say, "You have a family already, you have two children, you like to see them growing, you like to talk to them." The celebrity was happy to do it. Her son Edoardo also expressed his appreciation for his mom for making the decision to prioritize family time despite the ever-rising demands in her work.

While speaking to Hello! magazine, the star spoke of how proud she is to be a mom. "When I received prizes for what I have done in films it is nice. And when people congratulate me on my family, as they say, I have beautiful children. And like all mum's I'm very proud," she said.

Loren’s oldest son, Carlo Jr., became creative, just like his mom. Currently, he is one of the most prominent Italian orchestra conductors in America. As for Edoardo, he was inspired by his mother’s career. He is currently a writer and director, and he’s well-known for major films, such as “The Life Ahead” and “Between Strangers.” “The Life Ahead” is the third project Edoardo has worked on with his mom. Other projects the pair has worked on include the movies “Voce Umana” and “Between Strangers.”

During the interview with Today, Edoardo added that he thought of his mother instantly when he signed on to direct the film “The Life Ahead.” Loren played the role of a foster parent and Holocaust survivor named Madame Rosa. 

“I was always a big fan of the book by Romain Gary. When my son proposed the role to me, it was a dream come true. I jumped at the opportunity to make it,” Loren said during an interview with Deadline. “First of all the story is so rich: it’s funny, it’s heartbreaking, it’s poetic but it’s also a story that is very timely as it deals with the importance of being seen and heard. It is also such a moving story of friendship between two characters that on the surface everything separates: race, religion, culture and generation, and yet they are two sides of the same coin. I loved portraying Madame Rosa. She is tough, she is fragile, she is a survivor. In many ways she reminds me of my own mother.”

During the interview, Edoardo admitted that his mother had to show off some of her previously undiscovered skills in the new role, such as not blinking for a long period of time. Of course, Edoardo was proud of his mother when she executed her role flawlessly in the film.

"I’m very, very proud of my mother because you know she’s a survivor. She’s a thoroughbred in the best sense of the word. She will never give up until she will get it right and she’ll reach that level of authenticity for the character … there’s a lot of the greatest hits of who she is in this movie,” he continued.

“There is a very strong vitality that she brings in the beginning, which I really guided her to kind of try to draw that kind of irreverence and the vitality from my grandmother, her mother. She was very much like this, very irreverent, very brash, but with a big heart …”

Loren married Carlo Ponti in 1966. She first met the man in 1950 when he was 37 years old. At the time, she was 16 years old. Loren remained married to Ponti until he died on Jan. 10, 2007. Clearly, Loren has taught people many lessons through her life experiences and decisions. However, the biggest lesson everyone can learn from her is the fact that people need to put family first no matter what. With that said, Loren will be remembered by most for her incredible film legacy.

Most recently, the Sam Spiegel Film School in Jerusalem, Israel, honored Loren with an honorary fellowship on Feb. 21, 2021, as The Jerusalem Post reported.

“If life has taught me anything, it is to expect nothing and hope for everything," Loren said at the ceremony, according to The Jerusalem Post. "Expectations will always lead to disappointments. But to hope leads to expanding your dreams, and once you do that then everything is possible.”

The actress concluded her speech with another piece of advice for the film school's student body.

“If I can help you in any way today, it is to trust that inner voice of yours even if at first you doubt it. Doubting doesn’t mean you are going in the wrong direction. Doubting sometimes means you are scared to go into a direction that might reflect the deepest sense of who you are.”

What do you think about Sophia Loren's incredible life? Do you have a favorite Sophia Loren role? Let us know — and be sure to pass this on to fellow film buffs, friends and family members.