Sophia Loren reflected on her illustrious career on Friday, saying she had to often tell herself to ‘be strong’ when she struggled with self-doubt.
The iconic star of the silver screen, 86, spoke candidly with The Guardian‘s G2 magazine about her experiences as she prepares to make her return to acting after an 11-year hiatus with Netflix‘s The Life Ahead.
When asked if she ever felt lost or doubted herself, Sophia admitted: ‘Yes, well, maybe sometimes. But then I say to myself: “Shut up. Be strong.
‘Sometimes you make mistakes and sometimes you win’: Sophia Loren, 86, reflected on her illustrious career as she said she struggled with self-doubt in an interview on Friday
‘”Just keep going and try. Sometimes you make mistakes and sometimes you win.” I made some mistakes. But still I won.’
Directed by her son Edoardo Ponti, the drama sees the Italian actress play a Jewish woman and Holocaust survivor named Madame Rosa who helps raise the children of prostitutes.
Reflecting on the similarities to her new project to past roles, Sophia said: ‘Things don’t change too much. The body changes. The mind does not.’
Candid: Asked if she ever felt lost or doubted herself, she said: ‘Yes, well, maybe sometimes. But then I say to myself: “Shut up. Be strong. Just keep going and try”‘ (pictured in 1955)
Sophia, born Sofia Villani Scicolone, became one of the most iconic stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age after she began her career in 1950.
She boasts vintage screen credits including Two Women, Houseboat and Marriage Italian Style, the first of which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress – the first time the prize was awarded to a foreign-language performance.
The actress had a fleeting career in Hollywood in the 1950s before returning to work in Italy where she married her late husband Carlo Ponti, after embarking on an affair with actor Cary Grant in 1957.
Icon: Sophia, born Sofia Villani Scicolone, became one of the stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age after she began her career in 1950
Sophia claimed she left Hollywood behind because getting married and having children was also a dream of hers, and told the publication and her son Edoardo, who was also part of the interview, that she loved Carlo ‘very much.’
She explained she felt her ‘life was with Carlo, not with Cary Grant’, and admitted her affair made things ‘difficult’ because they got in the way of her future Carlo.
Sophia recently revealed that her biggest regret was not having a white wedding when she married Carlo in 1966 – and said she still dreams of it.
The Italian native said that although she tries to ‘live with no regrets’ and has everything she ‘ever wanted’, she still wishes she ‘married in a white dress’.
Love: Sophia worked in Hollywood in the 1950s before returning to Italy where she married her late husband Carlo Ponti (pictured), after embarking on an affair with actor Cary Grant in 1957
Honest: Explaining she felt her ‘life was with Carlo, not with Cary Grant’, Sophia (pictured with Cary in Pride And The Passion) admitted her affair made things ‘difficult’
Sophia and Carlo share two sons, Edoarda and Carlo Jr, but she said despite her love affair with Grant, he never proposed to her as was rumoured.
Speaking to Radio Times, she said: ‘It’s very hard to say you have no regrets. In life, you always go through so many experiences, but I have always tried to live with no regrets.
‘I think I’ve reached a peaceful life. I have everything I ever wanted, which is a wonderful family with beautiful children and beautiful grandchildren.
‘The only thing I regret a little is that I never got married in a white dress. That was the dream of my life, which is still inside me.’
Reflecting: Sophia recently revealed that her biggest regret was not having a white wedding when she married husband Carlo in 1966 – and said she still dreams of it