Sophia Loren made her debut in the 1950 Italian comedy film ‘Bluebeard's Six Wives’ where she made a brief appearance as a kidnapped girl. She next appeared in films like ‘Brief Rapture’ (1951), ‘The Reluctant Magician’ (1951), ‘Era lui... sì! Sì!’ (1951), and ‘And Arrived the Accordatore’ (1952). In 1952, she portrayed ‘Leonora di Guzman’ in the Italian anthology film ‘La Favorita’ directed by Cesare Barlacchi. In 1954, she starred as ‘Cleopatra/Nisca’ in the Italian comedy film ‘Two Nights with Cleopatra.’ This was one of the early films of Loren where she played a leading role. She then starred in films like ‘Poverty and Nobility’ (1954), ‘The Gold of Naples’ (1954), ‘The Miller's Beautiful Wife’ (1955), ‘Lucky to Be a Woman’ (1956), and ‘The Pride and the Passion’ (1957).
In the 1958 American drama film ‘The Black Orchid,’ Loren portrayed ‘Rose Bianco.’ The film received positive reviews from critics. In 1960, she got her breakthrough role as ‘Cesira’ in the Italian-French international co-production war drama film ‘Two Women’ directed by Vittorio De Sica. Loren earned many awards and accolades for her performance in the film, including ‘Academy Award,’ ‘Golden Globe Award,’ and ‘Silver Ribbon Award.’ She starred as ‘Filumena Marturano’ in the 1964 Italian film ‘Marriage Italian Style’ for which she won several award nominations including ‘Academy Award’ and ‘Golden Globe Award’ nominations.
Loren also starred in films like ‘Lady L’ (1965), ‘Arabesque’ (1966), ‘A Countess from Hong Kong’ (1967), ‘The Priest's Wife’ (1970), ‘Man of La Mancha’ (1972), ‘The Cassandra Crossing’ (1976), ‘Firepower’ (1979), ‘Grumpier Old Men’ (1995), and ‘Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers’ (2004). In 2009, she starred as ‘Mamma’ in the romantic musical drama film ‘Nine’ directed by Rob Marshall. Even though the film opened to mixed or average reviews, it failed to achieve success at the box office. Loren was last seen in the 2021 American documentary short film ‘What Would Sophia Loren Do?’