'I look fantastic, everybody says so!' Screen icon Sophia Loren, 81, says she is grateful she has aged 'very well' but admits she didn't ever think she would 'live to 80'
- The Oscar winner laughed as she discussed how well she's aged, saying the people who tell her so are 'very convincing'
- She attributes her good looks to her mom, who won a won a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract but never perused acting
- Sophia also praised Meryl Streep, calling her 'one of the greatest actresses'
So many actresses worry about aging in Hollywood, but not Sophia Loren — and that's because aged so well. Just ask her.
The 81-year-old silver screen star was hailed as one of the great beauties in her heyday, and as far as she's concerned, nothing's changed.
'I look very well. I look fantastic,' she told W Magazine with a laugh. 'I’m laughing, but everybody says so. Everybody says so! Sometimes I don’t believe them anymore, but they are very convincing.'
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You go girl! Sophia Loren, 81, who is pictured in Atlantic City earlier this month, said she looks 'fantastic' these days and 'everybody says so'
Feeling good! The Italian Oscar winner, pictured in October 2015, once said that women don't just become sex symbols — they have to be born that way
Beauty queen: Last year, she starred in a campaign for a shade of Dolce & Gabanna lipstick named after her
People certainly do still talk about the octogenarian actress' timeless beauty, and earning senior citizen status hasn't exactly stopped her from working.
Though she's not making movies at the same rate she used to — she was in 11 in 1954 alone, and starred in several a year through the '60s and '70s — she keeps busy enough.
In September, in honor of her 80th birthday, she starred in a glamorous Dolce & Gabanna lipstick campaign, having a new shade of red named after her — Sophia Loren N°1, a limited-edition color that sold for $37.
'Sophia Loren N°1 is our way of saying, "Thank you, Sophia!"' the designers, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, said at the time. '"Thank you for [your] beauty, thank you for being a world favorite, thank you for being an icon of the big screen and of Italian beauty."
'She has been a constant source of inspiration for us and today we celebrate her with the gift of her very own lipstick.'
She's got fans: Sophia (pictured in 1960) is often called one of the sexist women to ever live
Prolific: The star (pictured in 1953) made several movies a year in the '50s, '60s, and '70s
Happy to take it off: She said performing this strip tease scene for Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow in 1963 was a lot of fun
In January, she starred in a second campaign for the Italian designers, this time for the their new Dolce Rosa Excelsa fragrance.
And she's continued to nab roles, though she admits they've shifted direction over the years.
'Actually, when I was 20, I didn’t think that one day I would live to 80, but you do. You think, "My god, all this time went by? I can’t believe it." Of course, the roles change — you cannot at my age do the story of a woman of 30 or 40 years old. It’s impossible,' she told W.
Being so in-demand, it's no big shock that Sophia's not too fussed about getting older — though she attributes the fact that she's remained a stunner for so long to good genes.
'It’s because, I think, of my mother,' she told W of her ability to age well, and gracefully. 'She was the most beautiful woman in the world when I was born. She looked exactly like Greta Garbo, and she won a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contest to get a contract, but my grandmother didn’t want to let her go to America because she said it was too far away.'
Sophia clearly inherited her mom's good looks, which explains why she once was able to proclaim so confidently: 'You have to be born a sex symbol.
Long career: 1960's Two Women and 1993's Grumpy Old Men were also favorites for Sophia (pictured in 1957)
Good genes: The screen siren (center, in the 1960s) attributes her good looks to her mother, who she said looked like Greta Garbo as a young woman (right)
Living in the moment: Sofia (pictured in 1959) admitted that when she was younger, she never thought she'd live to age 80
Never retire: She has continued to work into old age, scoring roles in the '80s (pictured), '90s, and today
'You don't become one. If you're born with it, you'll have it even when you're 100 years old.'
Speaking to W, the star also reflected on her past, naming the times she had the most fun on set. She loved working with Jack Lemmon in 1993's Grumpy Old Men, director Vittorio De Sica on Two Women in 1960, and Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni — for whom she did a strip tease in 1963's Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
She said she had such a great time because Marcello would scream whenever she took off and article of clothing, and it would made the whole crew laugh.
As for her favorite actresses, Sophia favors another iconic star who's had plenty of years in the business: 66-year-old Meryl Streep
'She wins [awards] all the time because for me she’s one of the greatest actresses I’ve ever seen,' she said.
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