With a deep appreciation for normal life, Sofia Coppola nevertheless is raising another generation of creative Coppolas.
INTERVIEW MICHELE MANELIS ILLUSTRATION TOM MORGAN JONES
Sofia Coppola is often described as an enigma. In person, the soft-spoken Oscar-winning writer-director doesn’t give much away, exuding an effortless cool and quiet confidence in an industry plagued by self-serving stars with an insatiable hunger for attention.
Having collected numerous accolades and awards, Coppola has nothing to prove and no inclination to impress. “I’m not a very public person,” she said years ago. “I’m a normal person.” She has stayed true to her words and lives life away from the Hollywood gaze.
Coppola hails from one of Hollywood’s most revered families. Her father is Francis Ford Coppola, one of America’s great directors, and Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman are her cousins. She spent her formative years living a high-class gypsy lifestyle, with a home base in Northern California, and travels with her father to some of the more exotic locations in the world.
A trailblazer of sorts, Coppola has spent her career examining the female psyche in such movies as The Virgin Suicides (1999), Lost in Translation (2003), Marie Antoinette (2006), The Bling Ring (2013), and The Beguiled (2017). At age 47, she appears a good decade younger than her years. Married since 2011 to Thomas Mars from the French rock band Phoenix, she and her husband raise their two daughters, Romy, 11, and Cosima, 8, in New York City.
VM: In almost all of your films you gravitate towards the female experience and are the only woman in the Coppola dynasty. What was that like growing up in such a testosterone-heavy environment?
SC: Yes, I’m interested in stories about women because that’s my experience in the world. I grew up surrounded by all men. I was the only girl of my generation. It was fun, and it also meant that I was never looking for male attention.
VM: Your father’s history working with the biggest names in Hollywood evokes an image of your formative years having lively dinner table discussions with Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino.
SC: Yes, the actors my dad worked with were definitely around, and there’s this romanticized idea about it. But I grew up with lots of normal people around, too, who didn’t have glamorous jobs.
VM: What advice do you remember being given as a young girl?
SC: I met Anjelica Huston when I was 14 and I remember her telling me, “Don’t worry, you will grow into your nose someday.” And I thought, “Someday I want to be like Anjelica Huston.” She made me feel okay about the way that I was.
VM: How would you describe your relationship with your dad? Did you go through a difficult period in your teenage years?
SC: I’m in the hot seat now! Well I was a daddy’s girl, but I think like most teenage girls, there’s a friction with your mother because that’s who you rebel against to forge your identity. And I am close to both my parents. I think I was a typical teenager in that you have to break away and find your way around.
VM: What characteristics did you inherit from your mom?
SC: My mother was always interested in contemporary art and brought us to museums and always encouraged us to make art and be creative, so that was very encouraging and that’s what I got from her. And also, I think her demeanor. She is calm, and I think my demeanor on set comes from my mother who can keep a calm exterior in the middle of a storm. She’s also petite, so I’m lucky I got that from her, too.
VM: And your dad?
SC: I’m a hard worker. That’s always something my dad made a big point of and it’s something I value and hope I can pass on to my daughters. I wish I inherited his intuitive talent in the kitchen, but that didn’t happen.
VM: You seem very mellow, but as a director there are a lot of pressures. Are you good at handling stress?
SC: I do get stressed when shooting a movie, but I keep it to myself, because I don’t want everyone else to worry, and because I’m in charge of setting the tone and I want people to feel comfortable.
VM: Your mother, Eleanor, made her directorial debut last year for Paris Can Wait at the age of 81. That’s amazing.
SC: Yes, I’m very proud of her.
VM: For many women, once they become mothers they gain a new respect for their mom. Did you find that?
SC: Yes, I feel that now, having daughters, I draw so much on what my mother taught me and her values of what’s important and how you want to be as a woman and to be able to express yourself. So I find that I have learned a lot from her about being a mother and also an artist.
VM: You’ve made great strides for women filmmakers. You were the only American woman to ever win the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival (New Zealand’s Jane Campion was the other), when you won for The Beguiled last year. That’s quite an achievement.
SC: You hope to be on that director’s list, and it was a big surprise and very exciting to actually win. I was with my daughters when I found out. They were very excited for me.
VM: Your husband was born in France. I’m assuming your daughters are bilingual?
SC: Yes. My husband being European means that my daughters speak French. I hope they inherit his interest in knowledge and culture. I’m really excited to see what the girls are interested in as they grow older. Given my family history, and the fact my husband is a musician, it’d be unusual for them to do something outside film or music. Creatively, they’re exposed to a lot. One of my daughters has a good singing voice, which she certainly didn’t get from me!
VM: In 2003, you won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and you’ve amassed other accolades for your screenplays. Are you getting up at the crack of dawn to write?
SC: I’m not a morning person. I used to stay up all night when I was writing, but now that I have children, I have been forced into being a day person. I loved writing at night because you can be really alone. You’re cut off from the world, and it’s just a different atmosphere.
VM: Your father has a successful winery in Napa Valley. Do you appreciate wine?
SC: Yes, I feel lucky to have grown up in Napa Valley and I love wine. It’s nice to have our family in the wine business. I especially like red wine, such as our Director’s Cut Zinfandel.
VM: As a student you worked as an intern for Chanel and you went on to create your own label, Milk Fed, which is sold exclusively in Japan. You’ve also been creating purses for Louis Vuitton. Were you always interested in design?
SC: I like photography, fine art, and fashion design. I appreciate architecture too. I’m interested in visual beauty. I’ve been interested in fashion since I was a kid. When I do a movie, I find that the costumes are a big component that really interests me.
VM: Do you enjoy getting dressed up for red carpet events?
SC: I like picking out clothes because I don’t do it all the time. I only make a movie every couple of years, so it can be fun.
VM: What do you like to splurge on?
SC: I try to do everything in moderation and try not to get carried away. I like to keep things in balance.
