Sophia Loren Explains Why Jayne Mansfield’s Nipples Caused the Side-Eye Picture

In 1957, Sophia Loren gave Jayne Mansfield a serious judgmental side-eye. A picture of that incident became almost as iconic as the two women. Loren reveals a lot about her life in her memoirs, Yester...
Sophia Loren Explains Why Jayne Mansfield’s Nipples Caused the Side-Eye Picture
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In 1957, Sophia Loren gave Jayne Mansfield a serious judgmental side-eye. A picture of that incident became almost as iconic as the two women.

Loren reveals a lot about her life in her memoirs, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life, which was just released this Tuesday. To help promote the book, and her AFI Fest tribute, she spoke to Entertainment Weekly.

Entertainment Weekly did a phone interview with Loren from her Switzerland home. The photo was among the topics of discussion.

Loren revealed that a party was thrown to welcome her to Hollywood. Loren, then 22-years-old, had just starred in The Pride and the Passions. This film was one of the Italian beauty’s first American movies.

She told EW that, “Paramount had organized a party for me. All of cinema was there, it was incredible. And then comes in Jayne Mansfield, the last one to come. For me, that was when it got amazing,” said Loren.

Loren continued by saying, “She [Mansfield] came right for my table. She knew everyone was watching. She sat down. And now, she was barely… Listen. Look at the picture. Where are my eyes? I’m staring at her nipples because I am afraid they are about to come onto my plate. In my face you can see the fear. I’m so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow—BOOM!—and spill all over the table.” EW also asked Loren about the other pictures showing them laughing and having fun. She dismissed those photos and said, “This is the one that shows how it was. This is the only picture.”


The American Film Institute honors Loren at the AFI Fest in Hollywood on November 12.

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