Sophia Loren: Hollywood Women Don't Sacrifice More Than Men

"They have to be careful about the people they meet," she warned young actors. "It's hard work, and you have to learn it."

A version of this story first appeared in the Nov. 13 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

Looking back, Sophia Loren says she has given up a lot to gain her notable career.

"You sacrifice yourself during the steps you have to make, to be able to arrive where you want to arrive," she told The Hollywood Reporter at the Americans for the Arts' National Arts Awards, held recently at Cipriani 42nd Street. The actress was given the Carolyn Clark Powers Lifetime Achievement Award in a ceremony that also honored Lady Gaga, Herbie Hancock, Maria Bell, Alice Walton and Joan and Irwin Jacobs.

However, in a time where much industry conversation is zooming in on all things women and Hollywood — from Jennifer Lawrence's essay on the wage gap and Geena Davis' fight for equal representation onscreen to the latest studies highlighting the lack of women behind the screen and in the boardrooms — Loren sees things as somewhat indiscriminate.

When asked if she thinks women sacrifice more than men in the film business, she shook her head no. Instead, the Two Women star, who became the first woman to win a best actress Oscar for a performance in a language other than English, whispered, "I think you have to find the right people."

What advice does the the Hollywood legend have for fresher faces, particularly female? "[To] chose what they really want to do, they have to be careful about the people they meet, they have to be careful about what they're proposed," she warned. "It's hard work, and you have to learn it."