The Coppola Family: All About the Film Dynasty Including Sofia Coppola and Nicolas Cage

The Coppola family has a long filmmaking legacy — including legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, his sister Talia Shire, his three children Gian-Carlo, Roman and Sofia Coppola, granddaughter Gia Coppola and nephews Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman.

Francis is widely hailed as one of the greatest film directors of the last century, directing iconic films ranging from Godfather franchise for Outsiders. He won several Oscars, three Golden Globes and two Golden Palms at the Cannes Film Festival.

All of his children followed in his footsteps, nurturing careers in film. Francis’ eldest son Gian-Carlo died in 1986 at the age of 22, but he had already amassed some film credits – Gian-Carlo’s daughter Gia also became a director. Roman is the director and owner of the production company that his father started, American Zoetrope. Sofia has written and directed films such as Marie Antoinette, Lost in Translation and Priscilla, a 2023 Elvis Presley biopic based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir Elvis and me.

‘The Godfather’ director Francis Ford Coppola plans to spend $120 million of his own money on a new film

There are even more movie stars in the Coppola family: actors Nicolas and Jason are Francis’ nephews. Nicolas won an Oscar and a Golden Globe, after starring in films like Moonstruck, Leaving Las Vegas, the National treasure franchise and The unbearable weight of immense talent. Jason appeared in movies like Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Francis’ sister, Talia Shire, became famous as Adrian Balboa in Rocky films and as Connie Corleone in Godfather trilogy. Her sons are Jason, actor and musician Robert Schwartzman and screenwriter Matthew Shire.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Coppola family.

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola at Taormina Film Fest 2022 in Italy.

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Franjo was born on April 7, 1939 to Italian and Carmine Coppola parents.

His father, Carmine, was an award-winning composer and musician who over time contributed music to many of Francis’ films, including Godfather trilogy. Carmine won an Oscar for Part II and was nominated for Part III. Italia was a songwriter who collaborated with her husband on many songs; she also appeared as an extra in Francis’ films and published a cookbook. Francis has an older brother, writer and academic Augusto Coppola, and a younger sister, actress Talia.

Francis’s first major studio release, You’re a big boy now (1966), was originally a film school project picked up by Warner Bros. The film earned supporting actress Geraldine Page an Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. Four years later, in 1970, Francis won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for a War Film Patton.

He let go Godfather 1972, followed by its sequels, The Godfather Part II in 1974 and The Godfather Part III In 1990, Francis also directed film mainstays such as Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He even gave his nephew Nicolas one of his earliest roles in the Peggy Sue got married (1986).

Franjo is currently working on Megalopolisstarring Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, nephew Jason Schwartzman and sister Talia Shire.

As for his personal life, Francis married writer and documentary filmmaker Eleanor Neil in 1963. They have three children: Gian-Carlo, Roman and Sofia.

Talia Shire

Talia Shire 2022.

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Francis’ sister, Talia Shire (née Coppola), was born on April 25, 1946. She appeared in films as early as 1968, but she truly made a name for herself portraying Connie Corleone in Godfather and Adrian Balboa in Rocky movies. Both roles earned her an Oscar nod: she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Godfather Part II 1974 and Best Actress for Rocky in in 1976.

Talia was married to composer David Shire from 1970 to 1980 and they had a son, screenwriter and producer Matthew Shire, in 1975. She married her second husband, producer Jack Schwartzman, in 1980. The couple had two sons – Jason and Robert – before Jack died of cancer in 1994.

Jason and Robert are both actors and musicians. Robert is known for Suicide virgins (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001) and as the frontman of the band Rooney.

Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills.

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

Sofia Coppola, Francis’ youngest child, became one of the most prominent directors of her generation.

Sofia debuted in Hollywood as the baby of the year Godfather and continued with small roles in several of her father’s films such as Outsiders, Peggy Sue got married and Rumble Fish.

IN The Godfather Part III, Sofia played Michael Corleone’s daughter, Mary Corleone. Her performance was not well received, but as she said The New York Times In 2020, the negativity hasn’t discouraged her filmmaking aspirations. “It was embarrassing to be thrown out in public like that,” she said. “But it wasn’t my dream to be an actress, so I wasn’t devastated.”

Sofia made her feature directorial debut in 1999 suicide virgins, starring Kirsten Dunst and Kathleen Turner. Her next project, Lost in translation starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, premiered in 2003. It was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and made Sofia an Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay. She was the third woman to be nominated for Best Director.

Her sequel was a 2006 biopic Marie Antoinette, in which she cast her cousin Jason as Louis XVI opposite Dunst’s Marie. Sofia has been directing ever since Sparkling ring, On the rocks and the 2023 Elvis Presley biopic Priscilla.

Sofia was married to director Spike Jonze from 1999 to 2003 and then briefly dated director Quentin Tarantino until she started a relationship with Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars in 2006. Sofia and Mars married in 2011 at her family’s estate in Italy after having two daughters: Romy Mars, born on November 28, 2006 and Cosima Mars, born on May 18, 2010.

In May 2024, Francis brought Sofia’s teenage daughter Romy to the Cannes premiere of his film Megalopolis. The pair walked the red carpet together before she helped him into his seat at the cinema.

Roman Coppola

Roman Coppola at the screening of ‘Mozart in the Jungle’ in 2016 in Los Angeles.

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Francis’ second son, Roman Coppola, was born on April 22, 1965. He is a director and screenwriter who began working on his father’s films such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Electrical outlet and The Rainmaker. He also collaborated with his sister Sofija on Maria Antoinette and Suicide virgins and with director Wes Anderson on the scripts for Darjeeling Limited, Kingdom of the Rising Moon, Island of dogs and French dispatch.

Roman directed two feature films, CQ (2001) and A look into the mind of Charles Swan III (2012). As a music video director, Roman has worked with The Strokes, Daft Punk, Green Day and his brother-in-law’s band Phoenix, among many others.

In 2007, he became a co-owner of American Zoetrope, the production company his father founded with George Lucas.

He is married to musician and writer Jennifer Furches. According to The The New Yorkerthey have three children: Pascal, Marcello and Alessandro.

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage at the 2022 premiere of ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ in New York.

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

The son of August Coppola and Joy Vogelsang, Nicolas Cage was born on January 7, 1964, and began acting at the age of 18 with a minor role in Fast times at Ridgemont High.

He went on to act in films like National treasure, Face/Off, Infatuated with the moon and Raising Arizona. Nicolas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Adaptation and won the award for best actor Departure from Las Vegas 1996. In the 2022 film The unbearable weight of immense talent, Cage played a version of himself as a struggling actor opposite Pedro Pascal.

The actor was married five times and has three children. Nicolas married actress Patricia Arquette in 1995 after meeting her in 1987 and proposing on the spot. They divorced in 2001. He married Lisa Marie Presley in 2002, but filed for divorce three months later. Nicolas met his third wife, Alice Kim, in 2004 while she was working at a restaurant in Los Angeles, and the couple married two months later. They had a son, Kal-El, in 2005 and divorced in 2016. In 2019, he married makeup artist Erika Koike, but Nicolas filed for divorce four days later, claiming that Koike withheld important information, including that of other romantic partners.

Nicolas married his wife Riko Shibata in Las Vegas in 2021. “I’m really happily married,” Cage told Los Angeles Times next year. “I know five is a lot, but I think I got it right this time.” They had a daughter, August Francesca, in 2022.

He also has a son, Weston, who was born in 1990 by his girlfriend at the time, Christina Fulton. Weston has since made Nicolas a grandfather. The actor told PEOPLE in 2015 that he is loving “every second” of this new role in his family.

Jason Schwartzman

Jason Schwartzman at the premiere of the film ‘Asteroid City’ in New York 2023.

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

The son of Talia and Jack Schwartzman, Jason Schwartzman was born on June 26, 1980. He made his film debut in the 2008 Wes Anderson film. Rushmore and collaborated with Anderson on seven more films, including Darjeeling Limited, which he wrote together with Anderson and his cousin Roman. Recently, Jason appeared in Anderson Asteroid City with Johansson and Tom Hanks.

Jason worked with his cousin Sofia Maria Antoinette and with his brother Matthew in the Amazon Prime Video series Mozart in the jungle. He wrote, directed and produced episodes of the series, while Matthew was the executive story editor and screenwriter.

In addition to acting, writing and directing, he also plays music. He was a member of the band Phantom Planet and released music under his solo project Coconut Records.

Jason is married to clothing designer Brady Cunningham. They have two daughters: Marlowe Rivers and Una.

Gia Coppola

Gia Coppola at the 2022 CHANEL Event in Los Angeles.

Jon Kopaloff/Getty

When Gian-Carlo Coppola died in 1986, his fiancee Jacqui Getty (née Jacqui de la Fontaine) was pregnant with their daughter, Gian-Carlo “Gia” Coppola. Gia was born on January 1, 1987.

Before Gia joined the family business, Francis’ 1996 film Electrical outlet was dedicated to her. As a teenager, she worked on the sets of her aunt Sofia Somewhere and her grandfather Twixt. She started directing short films on her own, and then directed two feature films. Palo Alto (2013) starring Emma Roberts and James Franco, based on Franco’s short story collection of the same name. It premiered in 2020 mainstream, starring Maya Hawke and Andrew Garfield.

Following the family tradition, Gia used family members in her films. Her aunt Talia appeared Palo Alto, and her cousin Jason also appeared Mainstream.

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Source: HIS Education