The actress was firm in her stance about changing herself for the entertainment industry
Credit: Tony Vaccaro/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Sophia Loren made her screen debut in 1950, but was working hard on breaking through to more mainstream success
- The Italian actress, now 91, recalls her then-partner Carlo Ponti’s suggestion that she shorten her nose
- Loren’s response highlighted her confidence and refusal to allow the industry to push her around
Sophia Loren wasn't interested in criticisms of her looks.
In a 1979 interview, the actress opened up about critiques she got early in her career, including her then-partner, Italian film producer Carlo Ponti, suggesting she get a nose job.
In the interview, Loren explains, "So when my husband told me that maybe I should have shortened my nose a little bit, I said, 'I don't think so. I think that I'd like to stick to my nose because I like the way I look. And I think you have to change the cameraman. And if you do change the cameraman, maybe I have a chance in the movies. Otherwise, I change everything, or maybe I will never be in the movies, because I like the way I look. I have no complex about my nose.' "
"So I didn't. And here I am today, with my nose," she concluded.
Loren echoed the sentiment in a 2014 sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter, where she was asked how she handled advice and ideas about her appearance.
"I always tried not to listen to these people. They were saying that my nose was too long and my mouth was too big. It didn't hurt me at all because when I believe in something, it's like war. It's a battle," she said.
"But even Carlo said, 'You know the cameramen, they say that your nose is too long. Maybe you have to touch it a little bit.' And I said, “Listen, I don't want to touch nothing on my face because I like my face. If I have to change my nose, I am going back to Pozzuoli.' "
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Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty
The iconic actress made history when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1962, becoming the first performer to win for a foreign language role. But the star of the Italian film Two Women wasn't on hand to collect her trophy at the star-studded ceremony; instead, she stayed home in Rome with her husband, producer Carlo Ponti.
“When I received an Oscar nomination in late February 1962, I could hardly believe it. ‘The Oscar?' ‘The Academy Award?' I kept rereading the names of the other candidates,” Loren, now 91, wrote in her 2014 memoir, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life.
Loren admitted she let her insecurities get the better of her. “I knew that disappointment was potentially always just around the corner, and that triumph was only for the few,” she wrote.
“After much procrastination, I decided I would not go to the ceremony. If I lost, I'd faint. If I won, I'd faint anyway. I couldn't allow myself to do that in front of that audience, and before the eyes of the whole world. ”
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