Biography for
Sofia Coppola More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

14 May 1971, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name

Sofia Carmina Coppola

Nickname

Domino

Height

5' 5½" (1.66 m)

Spouse

Thomas Mars	(27 August 2011 - present) 2 children
Spike Jonze	(26 June 1999 - 9 December 2003) (divorced)

Trade Mark

Sun filmed through leaves

Character seen gazing out of a car window from the outside, looking in

Character walking down a long hallway

Introduction scene focusing on the main character during an unidentified point in time, shown to express their loneliness

Casts former child actors as her leads (Kirsten Dunst, Scarlett Johansson, Stephen Dorff, Emma Watson).

Frequenty uses pole-dancing scenes in her movies

Trivia

Cousin of Jason Schwartzman and Robert Schwartzman.

Daughter of director Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola (nee' Neil).

Cousin of Nicolas Cage, Marc Coppola and Christopher Coppola.

Her film debut: as the baby (boy!) in the christening scene toward the climax of The Godfather (1972).

Designer for street fashion label Milkfed, which she calls "a small t-shirt company"

Replaced Winona Ryder in the role of Mary Corleone in The Godfather: Part III (1990).

Sister of Roman Coppola and Gian-Carlo Coppola.

Is the third woman in history and the First American Woman to be nominated for a Best Director Academy Award.

In 2004, she became the first American woman ever nominated for best director Oscar. The two other past Oscar nominees were Jane Campion who is a New Zealander and Lina Wertmüller who is Italian.

Sofia and her ex-husband Spike Jonze have both received Oscar nominations for Best Director, having been the first married couple to do so.

With her 2004 Oscar win for screen writing, she joined her family, The Coppolas, to becoming the second family to have Oscar winners in three generations with her father, Francis Ford Coppola, grandfather, Carmine Coppola, and cousin, Nicolas Cage, all winners. The first family is the Hustons - Anjelica Huston, John Huston and Walter Huston.

A friendship of many years with Quentin Tarantino blossomed into a serious relationship recently following Sofia's separation from her husband, Spike Jonze.

Is one of a select few who has won both an Academy Award and a Razzie.

Niece of Talia Shire, David Shire, Jack Schwartzman and August Coppola.

Studied photography at Mills College in Oakland, California, just east of San Francisco, and painting at the California Institute of the Arts (Cal-Arts) in Valencia, California, just north of Los Angeles.

Designer Marc Jacobs named a bag after her: The Sofia Bag.

Is one of two "Star Wars" cast members to direct a cast mate in a movie. Frank Oz directed Ian McDiarmid in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Terence Stamp in Bowfinger (1999). Coppola directed Hayden Christensen in The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Rose Byrne in Marie Antoinette (2006).

Has stated that her favorite band is The Chemical Brothers.

Has mainly Irish and Italian ancestry, along with some English.

Her first appearance on film was as the baby in the Baptism sequence in The Godfather (1972). This was the inspiration for a scene in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), in which Chancellor Palpatine declares the formation of the Empire while Anakin Skywalker kills the separatist leaders. Coppola appeared earlier in the Star Wars series, as the handmaiden Sache in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

Friend of Zoe R. Cassavetes.

She was one of the cast members who were involved in all three of The Godfather films, along with Al Pacino. She played as the christened baby in The Godfather (1972), as a child on a steamboat in The Godfather: Part II (1974), and eventually as Mary Corleone in The Godfather: Part III (1990). Nevertheless, her appearances in the first and second movie were left uncredited.

Great-granddaughter of Francesco Pennino.

Aunt of Gia Coppola.

Granddaughter of Carmine Coppola and Italia Coppola.

Is an alumnus of the children's theatre group MET2 along with Adam Lambert, Nicolas Cage , Matt McFarland, Kylie Tyndall, Keaton Tyndall, Vivian Bayubay, Nathan Norton, Derek Klena, Lauren Klena, & Roma Watkins.

At age 32, became the youngest woman ever to be Oscar-nominated as Best Director for Lost in Translation (2003).

Her favorite films are Rumble Fish (1983), The Last Picture Show (1971), Sixteen Candles (1984), Lolita (1962) and Breathless (1960).

Collaborated with french fashion house Louis Vuitton on a collection of handbags (2008) and the resort collection 2012 (2011).

Gave birth to her first child at age 35, a daughter Romy Croquet on November 28, 2006. Child's father is her boyfriend [now second husband], Thomas Mars.

Gave birth to her second child at age 39, a daughter Cosima Croquet on May 18, 2010. Child's father is her boyfriend [now second husband], Thomas Mars.

Married to her longtime boyfriend Thomas Mars, with whom she has two daughters - 4-year-old Romy and 1-year-old Cosima. It is her second marriage. [August 27, 2011].

Personal Quotes

On taking her stage name, "Domino", at the age of 11: "I thought it was glamorous."

"You're considered superficial and silly if you are interested in fashion, but I think you can be substantial and still be interested in frivolity." - when discussing the topic of her movie, Marie Antoinette (2006).

That's the way I work: I try to imagine what I would like to see.

[on Marie Antoinette (2006)] All I can say is that I set out to challenge myself with each movie, and having to do a period film was a huge challenge. How to do it in a fresh way, and from the point of view of a strange girl in a strange world? If you attempt something new, it's always a risk.

I was going to art school and trying different things. I was interested in a lot of, mostly visual arts. I didn't know what I wanted to do and then I made a short film and felt like it was a combination of all these interests of mine with design and photography and music. But it was really when I read the book The Virgin Suicides that made me wanna make a movie.

I'm always a sucker for a love story.

[on Marie Antoinette (2006)] I was drawn to the idea of this girl being so young, and that our perceptions of Marie Antoinette, the myth, how she was turned into this villainous queen, are so different to the actual person, and she was just this kid that got sucked into a weird situation.

We were always around my dad, so he wasn't absentee at all. I don't think it was normal, but it was exciting. You always had lots of creative people around, and my parents took us everywhere. I got exposed to so many different cultures and people. I mean, I got to go to Akira Kurosawa's house as a child.

My dad came on the set of The Virgin Suicides (1999) and told me, "You should say 'Action' louder, more from your diaphragm." I thought, O.K., you can go now. I'm not going to say it wasn't intimidating, but when you direct is the only time you get to have the world exactly how you want it. My movies are very close to what I set out to do. And I'm superopinionated about what I do and don't like. I may say it differently, but I still get what I want.

There's so many more female directors than when I started. That's encouraging. Maybe it's because it's such an all-encompassing job, and if you have a family, it's harder to do. But there are female surgeons. And there's plenty of women working in the film business.