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Sofia Coppola

 
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Sofia Coppola

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Perhaps it makes sense that a woman whose earliest memory was on the set of Apocalypse Now would grow up to direct a dark fable about five adolescent girls who unapologetically and unceremoniously kill themselves, but for Sofia Coppola, the path to the director's chair was an uncertain one. Literally christened into a filmmaking career, the third child and only daughter of Francis Ford and Eleanor Coppola was born in Manhattan in the spring of 1971, during the production of her father's masterpiece, The Godfather. When it came time to shoot the baptism scene near the end of the film, the elder Coppola didn't have to look very far for an infant, and the epic became the impromptu actress' first, uncredited role. He found another bit part for the tiny Sofia in The Godfather Part II before her memorable experience on the tumultuous set of Apocalypse, as recorded in Eleanor's 1991 documentary of the making of the film, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. Coppola continued to pop up in her father's films in the early '80s and even ventured outside of the clan for a spot in 1987's Anna. It wasn't until father and daughter collaborated on a segment in the 1989 anthology film New York Stories, however, that Sofia began to attract critical attention -- albeit of a disparaging ilk. She and Francis co-wrote the half-hour children's fantasy Life Without Zoe in an attempt to evoke the glamorous, candy-colored world of the classic Eloise children's tales. In her dual role as costume designer, the 17-year-old swathed the film's lead characters in lavish designer jewelry and threads. Unfortunately, the Coppola portion of the film almost universally bewildered critics, who found it too trifling for adults and too baffling for children. By then a high school graduate, Sofia retreated from the world of filmmaking and concentrated on fashion design, contributing her costuming talents to The Spirit of '76 (1990), a Dazed and Confused-style comedy co-written by her brother Roman. Fate intervened, however, when cloudy circumstances forced Winona Ryder to bow out of Francis' much-anticipated The Godfather Part III. Sofia was swiftly cast in the role of Mary Corleone, and rumors regarding her acting chops -- or lack thereof -- began to swirl before she even shot a scene. When the film was released in late 1990, critics had a field day with her minor, but rather wooden, performance, finding it "hopelessly amateurish" and unintentionally comical. Even her aquiline profile became fodder for ridicule, and in March 1991, the Razzie Awards gave her the dubious distinction of Worst Supporting Actress as well as Worst New Star. Again, Coppola recoiled from Hollywood, entering the fine arts program at the California Institute of the Arts. There she began to nurture her interests in photography as well as costuming and experimented with video shorts. As their first post-graduate effort, she and some friends created the TV series High Octane, an offbeat news magazine on cable's Comedy Central network. The show was discontinued in 1994 after just four episodes, and Coppola continued to work on her brother's projects, primarily music videos. Around this time, Coppola read Jeffrey Eugenides' 1993 novel The Virgin Suicides and was captivated by its dark, haunting take of adolescent sexuality. More significantly, she relished the challenge of translating the fervid, pubescent-male viewpoint of the book to the big screen, and she began writing her own screen adaptation of the text. Coppola was undaunted when she found that the rights to the book were already secured by Muse Productions, whose script was much more violent and overtly sexual than hers. Impressed with her work, Muse scrapped their version and backed Coppola. After securing a stellar cast -- including James Woods, Kathleen Turner, and Kirsten Dunst -- and the production assistance of her father, she began shooting the film in Toronto. When the finished work premiered in the Directors Fortnight of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, the reception was an about-face from her previous run-ins with the press. Critics applauded Coppola's delicate, evocative handling of the tale, as well as her subtle, dream-like visual sense, aided by ace cinematographer Edward Lachman. Paramount Classics picked up the film for distribution in May 2000, when it received a brisk arthouse run. In the summer of 1999, Coppola indoctrinated yet another filmmaker into her already distinguished clan of actors, composers, and auteurs when she married director Spike Jonze, whom she had met on the set of a Sonic Youth music video at the beginning of the decade. Jonze shot his first feature -- the critically acclaimed Being John Malkovich -- at the same time Coppola was helming her debut. Just as her husband was faced with the challenge of following up such a promising debut, Coppola too spent the years after The Virgin Suicides dabbling in TV production (on the ill-fated UPN hip-hop soap Platinum) and developing her sophomore feature. This time, however, she chose to fashion a screenplay not based on existing material but on her own experiences visiting Japan in her early twenties. The resulting character study, 2003's Lost in Translation, drew from a disparate set of memories: her father's work on a liquor ad with Akira Kurosawa in the mid-'70s, her memories of a former mentor in the fashion industry, and her own uncertainty over her future. Starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as two similarly displaced, maritally dissatisfied Americans toiling away the hours in a posh Tokyo hotel, the film built upon Suicides' ethereal, deliberate pace and tone as it offered Murray one of the most textured, soulful roles of his career. An autumn arthouse smash that managed to cross over to mainstream audiences, Translation remained in theaters well into the new year, as the film, its director, and two leads were showered with accolades from critics' groups and industry organizations. After winning Golden Globes for Best Screenplay and Picture (Comedy or Musical), the young filmmaker took home the prize for Best Original Screenplay at the 2004 Academy Awards. Coppola also made history by becoming the first American woman to receive a Best Director Oscar nomination, though she ultimately lost the award to Peter Jackson. Lost in Translation's success garnered attention of another sort: critics and audiences speculated that Coppola's marriage to Jonze was not-so-discreetly mirrored in one of Translation's plot threads -- the distant relationship between Johansson's character and her flighty photographer husband, played with a Jonze-like intensity by Giovanni Ribisi. Sure enough, Coppola and Jonze announced their divorce plans in December 2003, and the indie film world lost its nascent royal couple. After the mirrored triumphs of Suicides and Lost, rumors swirled in the trades surrounding Coppola's tertiary effort in the director's chair, which she announced as an adaptation of Antonia Fraser's historical novel Marie Antoinette: The Journey. The 2006 period piece/costume drama starred Virgin lead Kirsten Dunst as the titular queen of France and archduchess of Austria, alongside a four-star cast highlighted by the presence of Jason Schwartzman (the director's cousin), Judy Davis, and the venerable Rip Torn as King Louis IV. She returned four years later with Somewhere a story about the relationship between a jaded actor played by Stephen Dorff and his young daughter. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
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Sofia Coppola

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Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola, November 7, 2010
Born Sofia Carmina Coppola
(1971-05-14) May 14, 1971 (age 41)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Residence Napa Valley, California
Education Mills College
Alma mater California Institute of the Arts
Occupation Director, producer, screenwriter, actress
Years active 1972–present
Influenced by Francis Ford Coppola, Jean-Luc Godard, Peter Bogdanovich, François Truffaut, Michelangelo Antonioni, Bob Fosse, John Hughes
Home town Los Angeles, California
Spouse Spike Jonze (1999-2003)(divorced)
Thomas Mars (2011-present)
Children 2
Parents Francis Ford Coppola (father)
Eleanor Coppola (mother)
Family Gian-Carlo Coppola (brother)
Roman Coppola (brother)
Jason Schwartzman (cousin)
Robert Schwartzman (cousin)
Nicolas Cage (cousin)
Marc Coppola (cousin)
Christopher Coppola (cousin) Talia Shire (aunt)

Sofia Carmina Coppola (play /ˈkoʊpələ/ KOH-pə-lə; born May 14, 1971) is an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actress. In 2003, she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman (and first American woman) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing. In 2010, with Somewhere, she became the first American woman (and fourth American filmmaker) to win the Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.[1]

Contents

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 (The Godfather and Apocalypse Now), granddaughter of the composer Carmine Coppola, sister of Roman Coppola and 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.[2] When she was just 14 years old, her brother Gian-Carlo was killed in a boating accident. She attended high school at St. Helena High School and graduated class of 1990. She later went to Mills College and the California Institute of the Arts, and interned with Chanel when she was fifteen years old.[3][4] After dropping out, Coppola started a clothing line called Milkfed that is now sold exclusively in Japan.[5]

Career

Acting

Coppola's acting career, frequently described as based largely upon nepotism,[6][7][8] began as an infant: she made background appearances in seven of her father's films. The best known of these early roles is her appearance in The Godfather as the baby boy in the christening scene.[9][10] 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 unnoted due to her stage name, "Domino", which she adopted at the time because she thought it was glamorous.[11]

In 1986, Coppola was cast as Kathleen Turner's sister, Nancy Kelcher, in Peggy Sue Got Married. The film was directed by her father, Francis Ford Coppola, and costarred her cousin, Nicolas Cage.

The 1989 short film entitled Life Without Zoe was released as part of a tripartite 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 significant role for which she was cast by her father after Winona Ryder fell ill. Her critically panned performance (for which she was named "Worst Supporting Actress" and "Worst New Star" at 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.[12]

Coppola can also be seen in several music videos from the 1990s, appearing in The Black Crowes' "Sometimes Salvation", Madonna's "Deeper and Deeper", and the Chemical Brothers' "Elektrobank", which was directed by her future husband Spike Jonze.

Filmmaking

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 her 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. Her win for best original screenplay in 2003 made her a third-generation Oscar winner. In 2004, Coppola was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[13]

Coppola in 2003.

Coppola's next film was the biopic Marie Antoinette, adapted from the biography by British historian Antonia Fraser. Kirsten Dunst plays the title character, who marries King Louis XVI, played by Jason Schwartzman, Coppola's cousin. It débuted at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival[14] where, despite boos in the audience, it received a standing ovation.[15] Critics were divided.

Her most recent film is the semi-autobiographical Somewhere (2010). The movie was filmed at Chateau Marmont. The plot focuses on a "bad boy" actor portrayed by Stephen Dorff who is forced to reevaluate his life when his daughter, played by Elle Fanning, arrives unexpectedly.[16] In November 2010, Coppola was interviewed by Joel Coen, who professed his admiration of Coppola's work, at the DGA screening of Somewhere in New York City.[17]

Coppola's next film will deal with the Bling Ring, a group of California teenagers who burglarized the homes of several celebrities over 2008 and 2009, stealing around $3 million in cash and belongings.[18] Emma Watson,[19] Taissa Farmiga[20] and Leslie Mann[21] are starring in the film, which will begin shooting during the spring of 2012.

Television

In the mid-1990s, she and best friend Zoe Cassavetes helmed the short-lived series Hi Octane on Comedy Central which spotlit performers in underground music. The show was cancelled after 4 episodes.[22]

In December 2008, Coppola's first commercial premiered during an episode of Gossip Girl. The advertisement 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.[23]

Modeling

At the beginning of the 1990s, she was often featured in girl-oriented magazines like Seventeen and YM. In 1998, she cofounded the clothing line Milk Fed in Japan with friend Stephanie Hayman in cooperation with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon.

In 2002, fashion designer Marc Jacobs hand-picked 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 signature grainy style.

Awards

Coppola was nominated for three Academy Awards for her 2003 film Lost in Translation, in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay. She would go on to win for Best Original Screenplay, but lost the other two nominations to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Her nomination for Best Director made her the first American woman in history to be nominated in that category, and the third overall, after Lina Wertmüller and Jane Campion. In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the fourth woman to be nominated, and the first to win the award. Coppola, however, remains the youngest woman to be nominated in the Best Director category.

Her win for Best Original Screenplay resulted in her family becoming the second three-generation Oscar winning family, her grandfather Carmine Coppola and her father Francis Ford Coppola having previously won Oscars. The first family to achieve this feat was the Huston family: Walter, John, and Anjelica.

For her work on Lost in Translation, Coppola also won a Best Screenplay Golden Globe and received a BAFTA nomination.

On September 11, 2010, Somewhere won the Golden Lion, the top prize at the 67th Venice Film Festival.[24]

Personal life

In 1999, Coppola married director Spike Jonze, whom she had first met in 1992; they divorced in 2003.

Coppola lives in Paris. She 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!"[25] 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, lead singer of the French rock band Phoenix.[26] Coppola first met Mars while producing the soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides.[27] They have since collaborated on Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette[28] and her fourth film Somewhere.[29]

On December 10, 2009, Mars confirmed that Coppola was pregnant with their second child.[30] A second daughter named Cosima was born in New York City on May 18, 2010.[31]

Coppola and Mars were married on August 27, 2011 at a wedding at her family's villa in Bernalda, Italy.[32]

Filmography

Director

Films

Short-films

Music videos

Actress

Films

Year Film Role Director Notes
1972 The Godfather Michael Francis Rizzi Francis Ford Coppola (uncredited)
1974 The Godfather Part II Child on ship Francis Ford Coppola (uncredited)
1983 The Outsiders Little Girl Francis Ford Coppola Credited as 'Domino'
Rumble Fish Donna Francis Ford Coppola
1984 Frankenweenie Anne Chambers Tim Burton
The Cotton Club Child in Street Francis Ford Coppola
1986 Peggy Sue Got Married Nancy Kelcher Francis Ford Coppola
1987 Anna Noodle Yurek Bogayevicz
1988 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (uncredited) Francis Ford Coppola
1990 The Godfather Part III Mary Corleone Francis Ford Coppola Worst Supporting Actress
1992 Inside Monkey Zetterland Cindy Jefery Levy
1999 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Saché George Lucas nominated- Worst Supporting Actress
2001 CQ Enzo's Mistress Roman Coppola

Music videos

See also

References

  1. ^ Melissa Silverstein. "Sofia Coppola Wins Top Prize at Venice Film Festival". Womenandhollywood.com. http://womenandhollywood.com/2010/09/12/sofia-coppola-wins-top-prize-at-venice-film-festival/#more-7090. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
  2. ^ Biography for Robert Schwartzman at the Internet Movie Database
  3. ^ Lisa Armstrong (2008-06-04). "Sofia Coppola: I'm more interested in looking than being looked at". London: The Times. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article4059937.ece. Retrieved 2008-06-03. 
  4. ^ Menkes, Suzy (200-10-14). "Sofia Coppola: Discreet, chic and grown-up". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/style/14iht-fsofia.html. Retrieved 2009-07-29. 
  5. ^ Lee, Helen (5 November 2007). "Did you know Sofia Coppola has a fashion line called MilkFed?". Sassybella.com. http://www.sassybella.com/2007/11/did-you-know-sophia-coppola-has-a-fashion-line-called-milkfed/. Retrieved 2009-07-29. 
  6. ^ EXTRA: Nepotism in the Director's Chair
  7. ^ "Sofia Coppola from Marie Antoinette - Celebrity Biographies at". Film.com. 2006-11-21. http://www.film.com/celebrities/sofia-coppola/biography/15034328. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
  8. ^ Patterson, John (January 12, 2008). "If only ... we could confine all nepotism to Los Angeles". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2008/jan/12/fonlywecouldconfineallne. 
  9. ^ Fresh Air. December 20, 2010. Event occurs at 19:25. http://www.npr.org/2010/12/20/132203547/sofia-coppola-mimics-hollywood-life-in-somewhere. 
  10. ^ The Godfather. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eu3DWJjYP0. 
  11. ^ FFWD Weekly Interview - May 18, 2000
  12. ^ Out of the Godfather's shadow
  13. ^ Academy Invites 127 to Membership
  14. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Marie Antoinette". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4352266/year/2006.html. Retrieved 2009-12-13. 
  15. ^ ‘Marie Antoinette’ - a Quotational Reference Guide
  16. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (2009-04-16). "Sofia Coppola books Marmont film". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002519.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2564. 
  17. ^ ‘Sophia Coppola and a Cohen Brother talk Somewhere at DGA Screenin’
  18. ^ http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sofia-coppola-reportedly-planning-movie-on-the-hollywood-hills-burglar-bunch-tess-taylor-apparently-stars
  19. ^ http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/emma-watson-to-star-in-sofia-coppolas-next-film-the-bling-ring
  20. ^ http://collider.com/taissa-farmiga-bling-ring-jamesey-boy/149484/
  21. ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/leslie-mann-israel-broussard-sofia-coppola-bling-ring-297118
  22. ^ Daddy's girl (ThisIsLondon, 2004)
  23. ^ Miss Dior Chérie Commercial (Director's Cut)
  24. ^ By (2010-09-11). "Entertainment news, film reviews, awards, film festivals, box office, entertainment industry conferences". Variety. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=venice_fest&articleid=VR1118024027&categoryid=2653&cs=1. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
  25. ^ Chen, Eva (March 2009 Though this explanation has often baffled journalists, it is generally believed that Coppola does, in fact, live in Paris, despite her superficial responses to questions about the city.). "Beauty Blogger". Teen Vogue: p. 113. http://www.teenvogue.com/. 
  26. ^ People: Nicole Kidman, Sofia Coppola, Michael Richards
  27. ^ "Exclusive! Sofia Coppola Gives Birth!". E! Online. 2006-11-28. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b58903_exclusive_sofia_coppola_gives_birth.html. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
  28. ^ Phoenix at the Internet Movie Database
  29. ^ Gaston, Peter (October 1, 2009). "DOWNLOAD: Phoenix Remixed by Animal Collective, Devendra Banhart". Spin Magazine. http://www.spin.com/articles/download-phoenix-remixed-animal-collective-devendra-banhart/. 
  30. ^ by Phoenix. "Phoenix: Infectious French Pop". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121346313. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
  31. ^ . http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/06/25/sofia.coppola.daughter.ppl/index.html?hpt=Sbin. [dead link]
  32. ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ip13svQNRbLLkw9evyy9Ju38zarQ?docId=76021615047c48e8bc3b5da3df10d4aa

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Alexander Payne
for About Schmidt		 Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
for Lost in Translation
2004		 Succeeded by
Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
for Sideways
Preceded by
Clint Eastwood
for Mystic River		 César Award for Best Foreign Film
for Lost in Translation
2005		 Succeeded by
Clint Eastwood
for Million Dollar Baby
Films directed by Sofia Coppola
Feature films
Short films

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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