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Sofia Coppola says when she first began her career in the film industry, she was most recognized as being, “the amateur actress who single-handedly ruined The Godfather.”
Sofia, now 54, appeared in all three Godfather films: as a newly baptized infant in the first movie, a young immigrant girl on a ship in The Godfather II, and as Mary Corleone in The Godfather III (in a performance that was widely criticized at the time).
Sofia spoke on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2025 at the Museum of Modern Art’s 17th annual Film Benefit Presented by Chanel in her honor. The event raised funds to ensure that great works of cinema continue to join the collection of The Museum of Modern Art.
Accepting her award, Sofia said, “When I started, I was in my twenties and it was the nineties in LA where I was known as the daughter of — this was before Nepo babies were charming and most of them ended up in rehab — and I was the amateur actress who single-handedly ruined The Godfather.”
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“Most people didn’t think I had something to say that mattered, but I found a few that did,” she added, going on to thank her agent and others who had assisted in her early career.
Sofia added that she was grateful to actress grateful to Anjelica Huston, “who told me when I was 20: ‘Not everyone’s going to love you. Don’t waste your time on the people who don’t.’ “
The Godfather films were all directed by Sofia’s father, Francis Ford Coppola, widely hailed as one of the greatest movie directors of the last century. He has won several Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and two Palme d’Or awards at the Cannes Film Festival.
His children all followed in his footsteps by cultivating careers in film — including Sofia, who began as an actress but became an award-winning filmmaker in her own right (she has won an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Golden Lion, and a Cannes Film Festival Award).
Sofia has reflected on her role in The Godfather III in the past, telling The New York Times in 2020 that”it was embarrassing to be thrown out to the public in that kind of way.”
“But it wasn’t my dream to be an actress, so I wasn’t crushed,” she told the Times. “I had other interests. It didn’t destroy me.”
Sofia added: “It taught me that as a creative person, you have to put your work out there. It toughens you up. I know it’s a cliché, but it can make you stronger.”
