Skip to main contentSkip to footer
Digital Cover celebrities© Mondadori Portfolio

Sophia Loren, 90, reveals her surprising retirement plan after 75 years in Hollywood

The Italian legend won the Best Actress Oscar in 1962

Faye James
Senior Editor
November 8, 2024
Share this:

Legendary screen siren Sophia Loren has been working for over 75 years, and has no plans to slow down despite her 90 years of age, as she revealed in her latest interview.

Sophia told Deadline on Thursday that she never wants to retire, even after enjoying a nearly eight decades-long career. 

"I don't want to think about legacy," she told the publication. "I want to think about my next movie. I'll think of legacy once I retire, and I hope never to retire."

It's a heck of a legacy indeed; Sophia's work is showing at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in November in a screening series aptly named "La Diva di Napoli", with the Two Women actress planning to appear at a Q&A for the film which won her the Oscar for Best Actress in 1962.

The 90-year-old's win for Two Women made her the first performer to win an Academy Award for a foreign-language role, firmly cementing her status as a Hollywood star.

"Playing Two Women was a turning point in my career, no question about that," she said, "but it wasn't so much about defying that label as it was proving to myself that I could be the kind of actress that I had always aspired to."

Sophia Loren attends Damiani Centenary gala dinner at Teatro Alcione on March 14, 2024 in Milan, Italy© Daniele Venturelli
Sophia revealed she hopes to never retire

"An actress who could immerse herself in a character in as authentic and real a way as possible while at the same time speak a truth of emotion that was universal. That film showed me that my emotions, if authentic and heartfelt, could travel the world."

Sophia actually skipped the ceremony where she was due to receive her Oscar, as she didn't believe she had a chance of winning. 

Instead, the call that she had won came from another Hollywood legend, Cary Grant, she remembered. 

Italian actor Sophia Loren reacts after winning her Best Actress Oscar for the film, 'Two Women'© Hulton Archive
The legendary actress won an Oscar for Two Women in 1962

"With my husband Carlo, we were in Rome, and we stayed up all night waiting for a call that never came," she said. "So we thought I hadn't won, which frankly didn't surprise us. And just as we were about to call it a night, the phone rang."

"I answered, it was Cary, and the only two words he uttered were, 'You won.' I had him repeat it five times because I couldn't believe it. Those two little words changed my life."

Sophia Loren in 1970
The legendary actress won an Oscar for Two Women in 1962

She told the publication that over 60 years later, the moment had stayed with her. "You never forget the feeling of winning an Oscar," she said. "It is so many emotions at once."

"It is crazy, empowering, destabilizing, amazing, scary, inspiring and humbling. It means a great deal not only because it is given to you by your peers but you then enter a family of actors, all of which you have admired and respected your whole life."

 Sophia Loren is seen on May 29, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California© MEGA
Her work is showing at the Academy Museum in November

As for how she has stuck around in a largely unforgiving industry, the mother of two told Deadline that she had to "move forward" past any obstacle.

"So that when you are faced with an obstacle you find insurmountable, you don't end up taking the easy way out," explains Loren. "You take a deep breath, push on and find the right solution to your problem as you have no choice but to move forward. No plan B's, only a plan A."

Sign up to HELLO! Daily for all the latest and best celebrity coverage

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More Celebrity News

See more