Sophia Loren, Now 90, Hopes to ‘Never’ Retire: ‘I Don’t Want to Think About Legacy’

Sophia Loren has no plans of slowing down in Hollywood.

With a lifetime of legendary work being showcased at Los Angeles’ Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in November, the celebrated Italian actress made it clear that legacy is the last thing on her mind.

“I don’t want to think about legacy,” Loren, 90, told Deadline in an interview published Thursday, November 7. “I want to think about my next movie. I’ll think of legacy once I retire and I hope never to retire.”

For nearly 75 years, Loren has been acting onscreen in a variety of roles. In 1962, she won the Oscar for Best Actress thanks to her performance in Two Women.

Most recently, she starred in the 2020 Oscar-nominated film The Life Ahead.

When asked to share her secret to acting in so many different genres through several generations, Loren — who spends much of her time at her home in Geneva — explained her theory.

“The secret is never to have a plan B so that when you are faced with an obstacle you find insurmountable, you don’t end up taking the easy way out,” she said. “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 Bs, only a Plan A.”

To this day, the actress still remembers saying goodbye to Italy and hello to Hollywood for the very first time. While landing in Los Angeles in the ‘50s, Loren recalled looking out the window and being “confused” by what she saw.

“Coming from Pozzuoli, I pictured Hollywood like a version of Oz, a fairytale city filled with fantasy and color but what I saw was fields of orange trees and desert,” she explained. “It took me a while to reconcile the Hollywood of my dreams with its city but as soon as I met the actors and the filmmakers that I so admired, I once again found the Hollywood of my dreams for that dream lived in the great talent and hearts of all those wonderful artists.”

While some in the industry were quick to describe Loren as a sex symbol, she explained that she never let the term define her.

Instead, she has focused on being the best possible actress for any role she has been given.

“I am not naïve, I am aware of the fact that some people respond to me in such a way but I’ve never given it much thought,” she explained. “What I have given much thought to has always been being true to my craft and being part of stories that can move and inspire people, and in that respect, Hollywood has always been a great source of inspiration for me.”