Italian actress Sophia Loren is set to star in a feature film for the first time in over a decade.
The star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, 86, will play the main part in a new Italian-language drama, The Life Ahead, which will be streamed on Netflix.
In the film – which will be directed by the star’s son Edoardo Ponti – Sophia plays a Jewish woman and Holocaust survivor named Madame Rosa who helps raise the children of prostitutes.
Exciting times: Italian actress Sophia Loren is set to star in a feature film for the first time in over a decade
Speaking of her excitement about the project she told Deadline: ‘When my son proposed the role to me, it was a dream come true.
‘I jumped at the opportunity to make it. 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.’
Last July, Sophia was spotted filming the movie in Bari, Italy, where she was seen looking dishevelled as she shot scenes being pushed around in a wheelchair by a child.
New role: The star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, 86, will play the main part in a new Italian-language drama, The Life Ahead, which will be streamed on Netflix (pictured in 1965)
Sophia has already been getting Oscar buzz for the role and it is hoped the premier will go ahead as planned in Rome in October.
Her last film was the 2010 TV movie My House Is Full of Mirrors. The year before that she made a big impression opposite Penelope Cruz and Nicole Kidman in the feature film Nine.
Sophia is considered one of Italy’s national treasures as she is the biggest movie star to come out of the country.
Back on set: Last July, Sophia was spotted filming the movie in Bari, Italy, where she was seen looking dishevelled as she shot scenes being pushed around in a wheelchair by a child
Gorgeous: Sophia is considered one of Italy’s national treasures as she is the biggest movie star to come out of the country
In 1961 Sophia won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role in Two Women and was the recipient of an Honorary Oscar in 1991 ‘for a career rich with memorable performances that has added permanent luster to our art form.’
Ponti, whose father was the late famed film producer Carlo Ponti, previously directed his mother in 2002’s Between Strangers.
Her career began in when she was a teenager and went by the name Sofia Villani Scicolone. She was first cast as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy’s 1951 film Quo Vadis.
Back in her sexy look: She wore a garter belt with a corset for The Millionairess in 1960 for which she is most renowned
But it was not until she met Carlo Ponti that her career took off. He renamed her Sophia Loren and got her cast in the 1953 film Aida.
Her breakthrough role was in 1954’s The Gold Of Naples.
But she became internationally famous when she starred in Boy On A Dolphin.
In 1958 Hollywood called and she was cast in Desire Under The Elms with Anthony Perkins, based upon the Eugene O’Neill play.
The love of her life: She was wed to Carlo Ponti (pictured together) from 1966 until his death in 2007 and together they had two children
When she co-starred with Cary Grant in Houseboat he fell in love with the beauty but she stayed loyal to Ponti.
One of her most popular movies was the 1965 drama Marriage Italian Style.
She was wed to Carlo from 1966 until his death in 2007 and together they had two children: Edoardo, 46, who is wed to actress Sasha Alexander, and Carlo Jr, 50.
Loren has been staying out of the spotlight in recent years as she prefers to spend time with her grandchildren.
Her kids: Sophia with her son Edoardo Ponti, left, and his wife Sasha Alexander. On the far left is her son Carlo Ponti, Jr. Seen in 2014