However，Loren also， chides like that:\"If you're mature，that'still' upsets you a bit.\" She counts Jack Niholson， Billy Crystal， Sean Connery and Jim Carrey among her current favorite male leads. After all， as she points out，Hollywood isn't exactly equal-opportunity employer. Age discrimination is \"still a big problem，\" Loren adds，\"and I don't think it will ever be solved.\"

Not that she has anything but affection for her younger colleagues. Julia Roberts has\"a beautiful laugh，which is her own.\" Demi Moore? \"She dares， and I like a person who dares.\" Gwyneth Paltrow?\"Very tender，\" she says，then adds，\"but nowadays girls don't need any advice. They all look so very sure of themselves.\" True enough， says Whoopi Goldberg， who hosted the Academy Awards. \"All these nice，wonderful girls coming up， they're cute，\" Goldberg says. \"But there's only one Sophia.\" It's indeed the case. Who among today's crop would have the moxie11 to dance a striptease12 --at age 59--as Loren did for Marcello Mastroianni in 1994's Ready to Wear? Or to seduce septuagenarian13 Walter matthau in 1995's Grumpier Old Men? \"She's not only the most beautiful woman in the world， she's one of the most talented actresses，\" says Grumpy guy Jack Lemmon. \"She's got brains and wit and everything that we consider attractive.\"

And she makes it all look so easy. Beauty secrets? \"A lot of rest. Good thoughts. Exercise，\" says the star. She rises most days at 5 a. m. and usually goes to bed by 8 p. m.. In between，her daily beauty rituals are decidedly low-maintenance. She washes her hair with baby shampoo and colors it herself when necessary. She does her own manicures and her own makeup，using products blended to her skin tones by a movie-makeup-artist friend from Italy. Her only indulgences，she says，are the potions——such as an eye cream containing vitamin A and a rosewater face lotion. These are specially formulated for her caramel-smooth skin at a lab she won't name tucked away somewhere in France. At the five-bedroom Geneva apartment she shares with her husband， producer Carlo Ponti， 85， or relaxing on their 40-acre Southern California ranch，Loren forswears glamour gowns for sweat pants and T-shirts，but never， ever， jeans. \"They're too heavy，\" she declares. Having no patience for shopping，she attends Armani's ready-to-wear shows in Milan， where she selects her dressier wardrobe from his comparatively low-key collections. \"A woman wants to be sexy，\" says Loren， who disdains the gar- ish，leave-nothing-to-the-imagination fashions seen on today's runways. \"But she has to be comfortable in what she wears.\"

As for plastic surgery， she hasn't ruled it out14 but says she isn't ready yet. \"Some people like to keep their lines，\" she says. \"But maybe one day I'll say I don't like that anymore. Then I'll pick up the phone and go.\" In the meantime， Loren opts for daily exercise: 45 minutes of stretching and abdominal crunches and a one-hour walk. She also keeps a lid on la dolce vita15 . She eats European style. \"She weighs now what she did years ago，\" says Hollywood fashion designer and friend Nolan Miller. \"I don't think it would ever enter her mind to be a size 6.\"

Now， Loren is in her sixties. Through the decades， Loren has endured two miscarriages; two difficult， bed-ridden pregnancies; a 17-day jail; in 1982 for under-paying taxes in Italy; and a medical care last August that saw her hospitalized for 10 days with an irregular heart-beat. But her spirit remains indomitable——and unassailed by the aging process. \"I haven't started worrying about that，\" says Loren，who says she looks at least 15 years younger than she is. \"Why should I?\" her confidence doesn't stem just from being one of the world's most stunning--and age-resistant-- women. \"Being beautiful can never hurt，\" she says. \"But you have to have more. You have to sparkle， you have to be fun， you have to make your brain work if you have one.\" And she says: \"Any woman can look her best if she feels good in her skin. It's not a question of clothes or makeup. It's how she sparkles16.\"

Such an eternal woman of beauty and wit!Even the brightest stars find themselves moonstruck17 --if not dumb- struck--by her timeless appeal. \"She enjoys being attractive to men. There's that song 'W-O-M-A-N' . That's Sophia.\" Gregory Peck says. And Roberto Benigni made such comments to her: \"Sophia Loren isn't Italian. She is Italy. I've proposed to take the image of Italy off the map and put a photograph of Sophia in its place. When Sophia moves， Italy moves.\"

Flattered by the renewed attention，Loren the wife and mother finds herself preoccupied by more pressing concerns than Loren the sex symbol. Such as badgering her two unmarried sons for grandchildren. \"I want to be a grandmother，\" she says em- phatically. \"Oh， yes--but I want to be the sexiest grandmother in the world.\" Bravissima18

然而，索菲亞也會(huì)嘮叨說(shuō)：“如果您年紀(jì)大了，那‘仍然’會(huì)讓您有點(diǎn)兒難過(guò)?！彼龜?shù)了一些和她同時(shí)代她最喜愛(ài)的男演員：杰克·尼克遜，比利·克萊斯托，辛·康納利以及吉姆·卡瑞。畢竟，正如她所指出的那樣，好萊塢絕對(duì)不是一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)均等的主人。年齡的歧視“仍然是個(gè)大問(wèn)題”，羅蘭補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“我認(rèn)為那將不會(huì)得到解決?！?/p>

但這并不是說(shuō)她不熱愛(ài)那些年輕的演員們，朱麗亞·羅伯茲“笑起來(lái)有一種她獨(dú)有的美”。黛米·摩爾?“她有膽量，我喜歡有膽量的人?！备裎柠惤z·帕特羅?“非常溫柔?！彼f(shuō)，并補(bǔ)充道：“但現(xiàn)在的女孩子們不需要任何建議，她們對(duì)自己都非常有信心?！边@是千真萬(wàn)確的。奧斯卡頒獎(jiǎng)典禮的主持人伍皮·戈德堡如是說(shuō)?！八羞@些可愛(ài)的、美妙的女孩子走上臺(tái)來(lái)，個(gè)個(gè)都是精巧可人，”哥德伯格說(shuō)：“然而，索菲亞只有一個(gè)。”誠(chéng)哉斯言。在今天的這批影星中，有誰(shuí)到了59歲——還能具有像羅蘭那樣的勇氣，在1994年的影片《準(zhǔn)備穿衣服了嗎》中飾演瑪瑟羅·馬斯喬安妮而跳起了脫衣舞?或在1995年的影片《脾氣更壞的老年人》中引誘年逾古稀的老頭子瓦特爾·馬特胡呢?“她不僅是世界上最美麗的女人，還是最富天才的女演員之一?！薄秹钠狻分械难輪T杰克·拉蒙說(shuō)：“她有頭腦，有智慧，有我們認(rèn)為迷人的一切?！?/p>

而她卻讓這一切顯得非常容易。羅蘭的美容秘訣?“大量的休息，良好的思維，還有鍛煉?！边@位明星如是說(shuō)。大部分的早上她5點(diǎn)鐘起床，通常晚上8點(diǎn)就睡覺(jué)，而在這段時(shí)間當(dāng)中，她的美容公式就是堅(jiān)定不移地少量進(jìn)食。她用嬰兒洗發(fā)水洗頭，在必要的時(shí)候她還會(huì)親自染發(fā)。她自己修指甲，自己化妝，使用的化妝品是與她的皮膚相吻合的、來(lái)自意大利的一位電影化妝藝術(shù)家朋友的產(chǎn)品。她說(shuō)她惟一的嗜好就是這些玩意兒——比如含維他命A的眼霜，含玫瑰水的洗面液，這些都是由她不愿意透露名字的位于法國(guó)某地的一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)室為她褐色而光滑的皮膚專門配方的。在日內(nèi)瓦她與她丈夫，85歲的制片商卡羅·龐蒂共有的那套擁有五間臥室的公寓里，或是在他們40英畝的南加州的大農(nóng)場(chǎng)里享受休閑時(shí)光時(shí)，羅蘭會(huì)脫掉她華麗的長(zhǎng)服，換上寬松的長(zhǎng)運(yùn)動(dòng)褲，T恤衫，但從來(lái)不曾穿牛仔。她宣稱：“他們太沉了?！庇捎趯?duì)購(gòu)物缺乏耐心，她參加阿曼妮在米蘭舉辦的成衣時(shí)裝秀，在那里，從他那相對(duì)低調(diào)的時(shí)裝展覽中挑選出她的全部服裝。羅蘭鄙棄那些她在現(xiàn)代T型舞臺(tái)上所見(jiàn)到的毫無(wú)想像余地的艷麗的時(shí)尚服裝，“每個(gè)女人都希望自己很性感，”她說(shuō)，“但她必須穿讓她感覺(jué)舒適的衣服?！?/p>

至于整形手術(shù)，她并不排除它的可能性，但至今她還沒(méi)有準(zhǔn)備做。“有人喜歡保持他們的輪廓，”她說(shuō)，“但可能有一天我，會(huì)說(shuō)我討厭再像這樣了，那時(shí)我可能會(huì)打個(gè)電話就走?！蓖瑫r(shí)，她選擇日常鍛煉：每日45分鐘的伸展運(yùn)動(dòng)和腹部按摩，并散步1小時(shí)。她還盡量避免奢侈豪華的生活。她吃具有歐洲風(fēng)格的食物?！八F(xiàn)在的體重跟她數(shù)年前一樣，”好萊塢時(shí)尚設(shè)計(jì)師及朋友諾蘭·邁勒說(shuō)：“我想她的腦海里是不會(huì)有六號(hào)這個(gè)尺碼的?！?/p>

羅蘭現(xiàn)在60多歲了，在這幾十年中，她經(jīng)歷過(guò)兩次流產(chǎn)，兩次難產(chǎn)；1982年，在意大利因?yàn)樯俑抖惗慌芯辛?7天； 1997年8月由于心律不齊而住院10天，受到驚嚇。但她依然保持著不屈不撓的精神——也沒(méi)有被衰老這一過(guò)程而擊倒?！拔疫€沒(méi)有擔(dān)心這個(gè)問(wèn)題，”羅蘭說(shuō)，她說(shuō)她看上去比她的實(shí)際年齡至少要年輕15歲?！拔覟槭裁匆獡?dān)心呢?”她的信心并不僅只是源自于作為世界上最讓人震驚，最能抗衰老的一個(gè)女人。“漂亮永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)是傷害。”她說(shuō)：“但是你還應(yīng)該擁有更多。你必須才華橫溢，你必須開心幽默，你必須用頭腦去思考，假如你有的話?！彼€說(shuō)：“任何一個(gè)女人如果她自我感覺(jué)皮膚良好，她就會(huì)處于最佳狀態(tài)。問(wèn)題不在于服裝或化妝品，而在于她是怎樣的才華橫溢?！?/p>

如此充滿美麗與智慧的一個(gè)永遠(yuǎn)的女人!即便是最璀璨的明星都發(fā)現(xiàn)他們自己被她那永恒的吸引力所傾倒——如果不是被驚呆的話。格里高利·派克就曾說(shuō)：“她愛(ài)在男人面前表現(xiàn)得很有魅力，有一首名為‘女——人’的歌，那便是索菲亞。”羅伯特·本利格里對(duì)索菲亞是這樣評(píng)價(jià)的：“索菲亞不是意大利人。她就是意大利。我曾建議把意大利的版圖從地圖上取下來(lái)，用索菲亞的照片取而代之。當(dāng)索菲亞移動(dòng)時(shí)，意大利也隨之移動(dòng)?！?/p>

盡管又重新受到關(guān)注與贊賞，身為妻子與母親的羅蘭發(fā)現(xiàn)盤駐在自己心頭的并不是她作為性感的象征，她有著更為急切的牽掛，比如，吵嚷著要她那兩個(gè)還未成家的兒子給她幾個(gè)孫子?！拔蚁氘?dāng)祖母，”她強(qiáng)調(diào)說(shuō)：“噢，是的——但我想當(dāng)世界上最性感的祖母。”哇，絕了!!

注釋：

（11）moxie：勇氣。

（12）striptease：脫衣舞。

（13）septuagenarian：指70～79歲之間的老年人。

（14）ruled it out：rule something out，意為“拒絕考慮某事，宣布某事不可能”。

（15）la dolce vita：意大利語(yǔ)，意為“奢侈豪華的生活”。

（16）sparkle：此處譯為“才華橫溢”。

（17）moonstruck：原形為\"moonstrike\"，意為“被迷住”。

（18）Bravissima：意大利語(yǔ)，意為“太棒了，太好了!”