Sophia Loren: 'Long break from acting just happened'

Sophia Loren didn't plan on taking a long break from acting, it "just happened".

The Italian veteran, best known for her starring roles during Hollywood's Golden Era, is set to star in the upcoming Netflix feature film The Life Ahead, her first movie since Nine, back in 2009.

The film, based on the 1975 novel The Life Before Us written by Romain Gary, was also directed by her son Edoardo Ponti, and in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sophia explained her long break from the big screen wasn't pre-planned but "just happened".

"I wanted to be inspired and challenged. I didn't know any films that I wanted to do right away," the Houseboat actress told the publication. "If you choose the things that you think you can do best, you always save yourself in a way, because you put on the screen an image of yourself, which is truthful."

The Oscar-winning actress, who has enjoyed 70 years in showbusiness, explained she loves cinema "so much" she just wants to keep doing it forever.

"I know it's difficult to find good stories, but sometimes I fall in love with the right ones," she continued. "I intend to make movies forever."

In The Life Ahead. Loren plays Madame Rosa, a Holocaust survivor who acts as a caregiver and nurturer to children of sex workers - and Rosa develops a bond with one of the children, named Momo, played by first-time actor Ibrahima Gueye.

"He was a great partner (and) very in touch with his emotions. I think he will have a great future in this profession, if he chooses it," Loren raved of Gueye's performance. "For his first thing on the screen, he was never upset about the camera, upset about the people around. He just did what he had to do."