Sofia Coppola Covers ELLE’s Women of Impact Issue, Talks Motherhood, Revisiting MARIE ANTOINETTE and More

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Sofia Coppola covers the ELLE’s April 2026 Women of Impact Issue, on newsstands April 7. Ahead of her first-ever documentary, A24’s Marc by Sofia, the Oscar-winning filmmaker reflects on her decades-long friendship and creative partnership with Marc Jacobs and why she initially passed on the project: Making her first documentary about one of her best friends? “Too much pressure.” Still, the idea lingered in her mind that the film could be the latest flower in their long, creative daisy chain. “I have this lucky advantage,” she says. “I was thinking, I’d like to see it if Betty Catroux made a documentary on Saint Laurent,” name-checking the French model and muse.

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On raising two teenage daughters and the intensity of mother-daughter relationships: Given her body of work, “I feel like I would’ve been better at being the mom of teenagers. But somehow it doesn’t really apply,” Coppola says with a laugh. “It’s such a complex relationship. I mean, it’s so intense. There’s nothing deeper, I don’t think,” she says of mothers and daughters. “Anything that deep, it’s painful the way that nothing else is, but then so gratifying.”

On embracing her daughter Romy Mars’s generation and her viral TikTok with Jacob Elordi: “I love that she’s so part of her era,” she says. Last year, she directed Romy in the video for her new single “A-Lister,” a satirical shrug at fame shot at the Coppola winery. When I ask if Romy took direction from her seasoned mother, Coppola demurs: “I was trying to take direction from her.” In a sense, both Coppola and Romy have directed Elordi. “I can’t believe she gets him to dance,” Coppola says with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘Don’t take advantage of him!’ He’s such a good sport.”

On seeing her younger self reflected in Romy Mars: She refers to Romy’s online “persona,” a subtle reminder that TikTok is a performance. A friend told Coppola: “I think you would be doing TikToks if you were that age.” She doesn’t disagree. She likens the platform to the fanzines of her youth.

On grappling with self-doubt through much of the ‘90s: “I was awkward and I didn’t know what I was doing, and I was trying different things and felt really frustrated that I couldn’t pick one,” she tells me. “I wasn’t, like, taken seriously.”

On honoring her late mother, Eleanor Coppola, through the upcoming Marie Antoinette documentary: Since Eleanor’s death, Coppola has been fulfilling one of her mom’s last wishes: turning Eleanor’s footage from the set of Marie Antoinette into a documentary, which is slated for release this October, the film’s 20th anniversary. “I am looking at it, now that she’s gone, through her eyes,” Coppola tells me, her own eyes ever so slightly glassy. “I’m glad that I could—it sounds corny, but honor her in that way.”

On learning from her mother how to be in charge without being loud: “Being really clear on what you want and sticking to it,” she says simply. “You can do that without yelling.”

On her fascination with Britney Spears and her cultural legacy: The image of a bald Spears, umbrella in hand, attacking a paparazzo’s car? While terribly sad, Coppola says, “I thought it was such a punk moment.…She’s become this symbol of women’s rights. That would never happen to a man.” She doesn’t specify what “that” means, but I think she means all of it. “Supposedly Jon Chu is doing it,” a tentatively grinning Coppola says, “but I hope—yeah, I would love to do that story.”

On not being sure what comes after her foray into documentaries: Days before our interview, news broke that Sydney Sweeney would star in an Apple TV adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country. I cringe bringing it up to Coppola, who was previously developing her own version of her favorite Wharton novel for Apple, reportedly starring Florence Pugh as social climber Undine Spragg. Now, an unruffled Coppola clarifies, “I really wanted Jennifer Lawrence to play that character. In my head, she’s Undine. I think it required a big star and a big budget, so that iteration didn’t happen.” She’s also put aside a much-anticipated yet mysterious new project with Dunst, which stays mysterious in our interview. “It felt too sad,” she says. “It’s confusing in these dark times. I want to offer some hope and beauty in the world, but then you also don’t want to do something shallow, because it feels like a time for deep things.”

On expanding access for women filmmakers: “There need to be more women bosses in the industry, but there also needs to be more cultural support,” Coppola says, noting that European countries often fund films directly (also of note, many of these funds mandate gender equity). She observes more women in film school now than 20 years ago, and she’s helping them break in with the launch of her Young Filmmakers Association, which runs programs to help close the opportunity gap. “I feel like, having grown up in it, how do you bring more people in who aren’t connected?”

Photographer: Carin Backoff
Stylist: Alex White
Writer: Michelle Ruiz
Hair: Orlando Pita for Orlo Salon
Makeup: Dick Page
Manicure: Eri Handa

[Photo Credit: Carin Backoff for ELLE Magazine]

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