Sofia Carmina Coppola (born May 14, 1971) is an American
film director,
actress,
producer and
screenwriter. She is the third female director, and only American woman, to be nominated for an
Academy Award for Directing.
Early life
Coppola was born in New York City, New York, the youngest child and only daughter of set decorator/artist
Eleanor Coppola (
née Neil) and director
Francis Ford Coppola (
Godfather and
Apocalypse Now), granddaughter of the late composer
Carmine Coppola, sister of
Roman Coppola and the late
Gian-Carlo Coppola, niece of her father's siblings
August Coppola and
Talia Shire and a cousin of
Nicolas Cage,
Jason Schwartzman and
Robert Carmine. She attended
Mills College and the
California Institute of the Arts, and interned with
Chanel when she was 15.
After graduating, Coppola started a clothing line called
Milkfed that is sold exclusively in Japan.
Career
Acting
Coppola began her career as an infant, making several background appearances in her father's films. The most well-known of these early roles is her appearance in
The Godfather as the baby boy in the christening scene.
She is also seen in her father's film
The Outsiders in a scene where
Matt Dillon,
Tommy Howell, and
Ralph Macchio are eating at a
Dairy Queen before the famous burning church scene.
Frankenweenie (1984) was the first film she performed in that was not associated with her father. However, it often goes unnoticed due to her stage name, "Domino" which she adopted at the time because she thought it was glamorous, while still being quite ridiculous.
[FFWD Weekly Interview - May 18, 2000]
In
1986, 15-year old Sophia was given the role of
Kathleen Turner's sister, Nancy Kelcher, in
Peggy Sue Got Married. The film was directed by her father, Francis Ford Coppola, and co-starred her cousin,
Nicholas Cage.
The 1989 short film entitled
Life Without Zoe was released as part of a 3-part anthology film,
New York Stories. It was written by Sofia Coppola and her father, Francis Ford Coppola (who also directed the film).
Her best known acting role is
Mary Corleone in
The Godfather Part III (1990), a role for which she was cast by her father after
Winona Ryder fell ill. This was a significant role for such an inexperienced actress, and the casting decision has been described as celebrity
nepotism.
[1] Her heavily criticized performance (for which she received the award of "Worst New Star" in the
1990 Golden Raspberry Awards) effectively ended her acting career, save for appearances in the 1992 independent film
Inside Monkey Zetterland, and in the background of films by her friends and family. In 1999, she appeared as
Saché in
George Lucas'
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. She has since been quoted as saying she wasn't hurt by the criticism from her role in
The Godfather Part III because she never especially wanted an acting career.
[Out of the Godfather's shadow]
Coppola can also be seen in several music videos from the 1990s, appearing in The Black Crowes' "Sometimes Salvation" in 1992 and went on to play a
gymnast in the 1997 video for "
Elektrobank" by the
Chemical Brothers, which was directed by her ex-husband
Spike Jonze.
Directing
Her first three films were
Lick the Star (1998),
The Virgin Suicides (1999) and
Lost in Translation (2003).
Lost in Translation won the
Academy Award for original screenplay and three
Golden Globe Awards including Best Picture. Alongside
Lina Wertmüller and
Jane Campion, Coppola became the third female director to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing. She is also the only American woman to be nominated (Wertmüller is
Italian and Campion is a
New Zealander). Her win for best original screenplay made her a third-generation Oscar winner. In 2004, Coppola was invited to join the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
[Academy Invites 127 to Membership]
Coppola's most recent film is the
biopic Marie Antoinette, adapted from the biography by British
historian Lady Antonia Fraser.
Kirsten Dunst plays the title character who marries
King Louis XVI, played by
Jason Schwartzman, Coppola's cousin. It débuted at the
Cannes Film Festival where, despite boos in the audience, it received a standing ovation.
[‘Marie Antoinette’ - a Quotational Reference Guide] Critics were divided.
In the mid-1990s, she and best friend
Zoe Cassavetes helmed the short-lived series
Hi Octane on
Comedy Central. which spotlighted performers in
underground music, with frequent guests like
Donovan Leitch,
Mike Watt,
Thurston Moore,
Beck, and model-actress
Jenny Shimizu (whose contribution to the show was educating viewers on the proper way to repair a transmission on a vehicle).
In December 2008, Coppola's first commercial premiered during an episode of
Gossip Girl. The advertisement in which she directed for the
Christian Dior fragrance
Miss Dior Chérie which was shot in France with model
Maryna Linchuk was very well received and continues to be popular on
YouTube.
[Miss Dior Chérie Commercial (Director's Cut)]
Variety reported in April 2009 that her new film,
Somewhere, had recently received permission to film at
Chateau Marmont. The plot of her latest work will centre around a "bad-boy" actor portrayed by
Stephen Dorff who is forced to re-evaluate his life when his daughter, played by
Elle Fanning, arrives unexpectedly.
[[2]]
Modeling
At the beginning of the 1990s, she was often featured in female-oriented magazines like
Seventeen and
YM. In 1998, she co-founded the clothing line
Milkfed in Japan with friend Stephanie Hayman in cooperation with
Sonic Youth's
Kim Gordon.
In 2002, fashion designer
Marc Jacobs handpicked the actress/director to be the face of his house's fragrance. The campaign involved photographs of her shot by photographer
Juergen Teller in his chic signature grainy style.
Personal life
Coppola married director
Spike Jonze in 1999 after being friends for nearly ten years; they were divorced in 2003.
Sofia Coppola lives in
Paris, France. Sofia described her love for the city and her favorite places there, "The
Palais-Royal, the
Tuileries Garden, the
Musee D'Orsay. You can tell I love the city, right? It's a filmmaker's dream there; the colors are beautiful!"
There, in Paris, on Tuesday, November 28, 2006, Coppola gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Romy, who is named in honor of her brother
Roman. The child's father is Thomas Mars, of the French
rock band Phoenix.
[People: Nicole Kidman, Sofia Coppola, Michael Richards] Coppola first met Mars while producing the soundtrack to
The Virgin Suicides.
[www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b58903_exclusive_sofia_coppola_gives_birth.html] They have since collaborated on
Lost in Translation,
Marie Antoinette[www.imdb.com/name/nm1558471/] and reportedly the upcoming
Somewhere.
Filmography
Director
Films
Music videos
Commercials
Actress
Films
Music videos
See also
