Sophia Loren, one of the biggest stars of the Hollywood Golden age is set to play a lead role in Netflix’s acquired upcoming drama movie The Life Ahead. The film stars the Italian actress alongside Ibrahima Gueye and Abril Zamora and it is directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti. The screenplay is written by Ugo Chiti and Edoardo Ponti based on Romain Gary’s novel “The Life Before Us”.
In the movie, Loren plays the role of Madame Rosa, a Holocaust survivor who strikes a connection with a young Senegalese immigrant (played by Ibrahima Gueye). Her role in this movie is quite similar to the role she played in the 1961 Film “Two Women” which was not only produced and directed by her late husband, Carlo Ponti but also won her the Oscars award for Best Actress.
In a phone call with EW, Loren expressed how happy she always is when working on a project with her son especially because they know each other so well. Netflix’s The Life Ahead is the third project and second film Loren and her son have made together.
Loren’s popularity and fame grew during the early years of her career both because of her amazing looks as well as her power to play roles that require a high display of emotions. This was why she became the first actor to win an Oscar for playing a role in a foreign language feature film. Now 86, “The Life Ahead” is Loren’s first live-action film in over a decade of retirement.
Loren revealed that she had not intended her hiatus away from the industry to be as long as it turned out to be. Further discussion revealed that she wanted a film that would inspire and challenge her but most of the available films just didn’t feel right to her. While the role she plays in Netflix’s The Life Ahead does not portray any activity Loren is currently doing right now, she revealed that playing the role of a Holocaust survivor gave a nostalgic feeling of her own life as a young girl who grew during the Naples War.
When asked about the first-time actor Ibrahima Gueye, Loren was full of praises for him saying: “He was a great partner, very in touch with his emotions. I think he will have a great future in this profession, if he chooses it. For his first thing on the screen, he was never upset about the camera, upset about the people around. He just did what he had to do.”
The Life Ahead is set to premiere on November 13, 2020, in the United States.
