Francis Ford Coppola's only daughter got her start in show business early. Born May 14, 1971, in New York, NY, she was literally baptized into movies when an infant was needed for a scene in The Godfather. At the age of 17, she co-wrote Life Without Zoe, a segment for New York Stories, with her father, and also designed the costumes.

In 1990, when Winona Ryder had to drop out of The Godfather III and Sofia took on her first big role as a family favor, her acting was universally derided as wooden and stilted. Coppola entered the California Institute of the Arts, concentrating on costuming, photography and writing.

She adapted Jeffrey Eugenides's novel The Virgin Suicides for the screen and debuted her directing career with the highly praised 2000 independent film of the same name. Her second feature, Lost in Translation, was widely regarded as one of the best independent films of 2003.