>>Narration: Sophia turned 50 last month with smiles and no regrets.
We caught up with her in San Francisco and talked of her
ongoing joy, motherhood, and of her latest works,
a new book on beauty and a new movie called 'Aurora'
in which she co-stars with her youngest son, Edoardo.
>>Q: Your recent film is a first for you in that one of
the co-stars is a family member. What's it been like?
>>Sophia Loren: When I started this one it was like I was
doing my first picture because I was so thrilled and so excited
like it was the first time, and because my son was in the film,
Edoardo, and I felt so much responsibility that um, I really
tried to keep calm and cool, but the first day of shooting on the
on the film, my son was so relaxed, because children are
marvelous, they are miracles you know, so relaxed and so much
at ease, and he was the one who was reassuring me on the set,
me, after such a long time of experience in films,
I think is quite a gift for acting.
>>What was it about this movie that
made you interested in it and want to do it?
>>It's a very simple story about simple emotions
and about a wonderful relationship between a mother and her son
and this is, this kind of pictures I like to see on the screen
and this was given to me to do, so that's why I did it.
>>Narration: It is with a similar care that Sophia has written
'Women and Beauty,' a book designed to dispense more
than the usual exercise and makeup tips.
>>Loren: It's a, a more mature look
to how and why a woman is beautiful
and this mature look depends very much on the qualities that
are available to us all like charm, like kindness, like warmth,
and like graciousness, and that what my book is about.
>>Q: How does it feel to be looked up to and admired by so many people?
>>Ah, it feels wonderful because it means that in my life
I have achieved the affection of so many people and the admiration
of so many people and I never take anything for granted.
I mean, I think that to be able to have what I have,
it means that I worked very hard to have it and sometimes
I sacrificed also part of my life to have it.
>>In an article I read, you were quoted as saying you were born old
>>And wise [laughter] It was my autobiography.
>>In some movies, here you were, just a teenager yourself,
and in some movies you were playing mothers with teenagers and
and then >>Well, my first film was 'Two Women' that represented
my turning point in my career was 'Two Women' and at that time
I was 25, 26 and I had a daughter of 14 years old, so I mean
I have been a mother a great deal in my career [laughs]
before I was a mother myself.
>>Narration: She says she was born old, but with each passing year
she seems younger and more vibrant than ever.
As always, her children, Carlo Ponti Jr. and Edoardo,
remain her true home base.
>>Q: Do you think you had a youth,
a time when you could enjoy being a teenager?
>>Loren: Well, now I have, because I have two sons.
One is 15 and the other one is 11 years old and
I really am now enjoying my
my childhood because I discovered them
things that I didn't discover then
because I had to face the real facts of life
but now I have more time. I've worked.
I've achieved a certain kind of success.
I can relax, and with them,
I discover the world and it's a wonderful feeling.