Sophia Loren: "Being beautiful is not bad, but you also have to know how to shine"

This note was originally published in La NACION's Sunday Magazine on September 10, 2006.

The name Sophia Loren generates too much respect, admiration, surprise. And there are no words that can describe the meaning of sitting next to her. A true legend in life, a queen without a title of nobility. Alone, she puts on makeup, paints her lips and combs her hair, and asks for an attimo before beginning this interview. She greets with a kiss on her right hand and demonstrates the humility of the greats when she gets annoyed with her son Carlo Ponti Jr. because he spills a single drop of milk on the chair that is not hers. "Watch it!" she complains in a sweet Italian accent, while she herself wipes the droplet with her handkerchief, before enjoying the espresso that was served to her.

The main ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills greeted her with distinguished Italian furnishings, adorned with glass cases displaying the splendor of her own Damiani jewelry collection, where a single necklace boasts more than 1,000 diamonds and costs $400,000. But the luxury of interviewing her is even greater. That is priceless.

–Would Sophia Loren dare to describe Sophia Loren?

–When I do something, I try to do it as well as possible. I am a person who loves his land, I love the life I have, I love my family. In truth, I always faced life with humility and fame never changed me.

–Do you like being remembered as one of the most important sex symbols in movie history?

–One is as it is. I was born with the body that I have and I always did things without thinking about it too much. If people later admire me for what I did, I respect that. And of course it makes me happy.

–Do you realize that you still have the same beauty as always?

–If you think so, I'm not going to change your mind. Being beautiful is not bad, but in addition to being beautiful, you have to know how to shine.

–When are we going to see her in the cinema again?

–I'm still waiting for a good opportunity, worth it. But I find it incredible that the new generation of kids today still knows who Sophia Loren is. It is something wonderful.

–Would you return to the world of cinema with Hollywood or Europe?

–If Americans gave me a story I really liked, I wouldn't care about nationality. But I identify much more with a European director, because there they write stories for actresses like me. I have worked in Spain, Germany and Austria, as well as Italy. I do not intend to film American stories so that they want me in Hollywood. It seems to me that I need a role that shows me as I am, as a good European.

–Is there any particular factor that you take into account when accepting a film?

–When I read a script, I immediately know if I want to do it or not: if it makes sense and if it seems to me that reading it could become the best work of my life.

–What would you recommend to foreign actresses who dream of making it to Hollywood?

–It is very difficult for a foreign actress to get used to the American mentality: it is very cold. To come, she has to be very calm and pay attention to everything, get close and keep up to date with everything that happens.

Beauty that stands the test of time

It seems incredible that she will turn 72 on September 20, which is not noticeable at all. Giving the full name Sofia Villani Scicolone, she was born in Rome and raised in poverty, on the outskirts of Naples, with only her mother, Romilda Villani, for company. During adolescence she had already started working as a model and took advantage of her beauty to participate in some contests, where she met the film producer who changed her life, Carlo Ponti. Under the stage name of Sophia Lázaro, she appeared as an extra in the American film Quo Vadis? and followed with another minor character in Federico Fellini's first film, Luci del Varietá.

Later on, he filmed eight films with Vittorio De Sica, as well as many other classics with Marcello Mastroianni. She was also welcomed with open arms in Hollywood when she became an erotic symbol of international cinema.

But she wasn't just a pretty face: her quality as an actress was recognized for having become the only performer in film history to win an Oscar speaking a foreign language in Vittorio de Sica's Two Women.

–Does the Oscars go on every year?

–Always, with great enthusiasm. It is an exciting, wonderful, beautiful day. I love Oscar night. The last time I went to the delivery was in 1991, when they gave me an honorary Oscar, because in 1962, when I won it, I had not gone. Greer Garson had accepted it for me. It's just that I always worked for the pleasure of working, never for the prizes.

–Do you vote for the winners?

–Yeah, yeah. I watch the DVDs that are sent to me in Genoa and I also ask my son, who watches a lot of movies.

–Her husband, Carlo Ponti, had been nominated as the creator of the film Doctor Zhivago, which ended up winning five statuettes that season. How would he describe it to the new generation, who may not know him?

–Carlo Ponti has been a man who has left a lot in the history of cinema, in an original way, always trying something new.

Sophia Loren's love story with Carlo Ponti deserves a separate film. There was a 22-year difference between them. They married in 1957 (when she was 23 and he was 45), although the marriage could not be recognized because Ponti had not obtained an official divorce from his first wife. In a country like Italy, with strong religious traditions, it was quite a scandal when Italian law designated Ponti as a bigamist and annulled the marriage to Sophia in 1962. Legal consent was not achieved until 1966. On April 9 they married again. Then (and not without difficulties in getting pregnant), the children arrived: Carlo Jr. and Edoardo.

That passion to shine

His story will forever be framed as one of the great legends of show business. And part of that same story is reflected in the new jewelry collection that today bears his name.

–How did your passion for jewelry come about?

–Since before I was famous, when nobody knew me. I always liked anything that sparkled. Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the conviction of being beautiful. And nothing better than a jewel to give it even more importance.

–What do you like more: rings, necklaces?

–I like big chains like scarves: they have to wrap around the neck and crown the face from below. Sometimes they are like tiaras worn under rather than on the head.

–Any favorite gemstone?

–Diamonds are my favorite, but I also love emeralds and rubies. When it comes to precious stones, I am very democratic: I like them all. As Simone de Beauvoir said, a beautiful jewel is the final touch to transform a woman into an idol. I like jewelry to make a woman feel more beautiful. It's a vain good time for any woman. When a jewel is given as a gift, it is also very important, because it marks an event. The moment shines and endures.

–And how did you come up with the idea of ​​creating a jewelry collection with your name?

–I had never done anything like this before and I found it interesting to experience it.

With the same jewelers that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had chosen for their wedding ring (a relationship that was ultimately cut short and now only remains in memory), the same Damiani brand that Gwyneth Paltrow has been promoting since the ad , is the one that supports the Sophia Loren jewelry collection.

With the unrivaled Made in Italy stamp, Silvia Damiani and her brothers Giorgio and Guido thought of Sophia for her special charisma, "an eternal beauty". Loren was always involved in the process. "She would say what she liked, and also add ideas, like using rose gold instead of yellow."

The actress associates gemstones with the hours of the day. "Diamonds and white gold for the night, combined with red gold. For the day, rose gold." For her, jewelry marks the times of Hollywood. "When I was acting alongside Marcello Mastroianni, I was the full moon," recalls Sophia Loren, "and he was the ring of light that surrounded me."

–What else do you have left to do at this point in your life?

–Everything, everything; I'm just starting out in my life. More cinema, better than the one I did. I feel like I'm just getting started. I always approach life with a great sense of optimism and go to sleep thinking that the next morning there will be something new for me.

Why did we choose her?

A star figure in entertainment, Loren has been an emblem of Italy in world cinema since the 1950s and one of the most important actresses of all time. This conversation, one of the very few interviews with her diva, was carried out within the framework of a luxurious event in Beverly Hills when she had already received the honorary Oscar for her contribution to the seventh art with an outstanding career. Beauty, Hollywood and history do not tarnish her other outstanding characteristics: intelligence and optimism, representing in her motto "The best is yet to begin".