Nicolas Cage Reflects on Having 3 Kids With 3 Different Women
The mantra of The Godfather was “never go against the family.”
Luckily that wasn’t a problem for Francis Ford Coppola‘s son Roman Coppola and daughter Sofia Coppola, who followed their Oscar-winning father into filmmaking, as did Francis’ granddaughter Gia Coppola.
And the 85-year-old couldn’t have scripted it any better.
In addition to always bringing his wife Eleanor Coppola and their kids with him on location, the winemaker also invited relatives to have what he called a “creative summer” every year at his Napa Valley estate.
“We used to do one-act plays or write songs,” Francisāwho reassured fans Aug. 5 that his trip to a hospital in Rome was for a routine procedureātold People in April 2025, “and that’s what I think bred this appetite for artistic creation among all the kids.”
As Sofia, now 54, admitted to Interview in 2000, “It’s hard to be around my dad and not be curious about filmmaking, because he thinks itās the ultimate medium.”
Not that she had to join the family business, but it called to her all the same.
“I didn’t feel much pressure at all and developed my own voice pretty early on,” the Lost in Translation director told The Talks in 2011. “Of course I am proud of my dad and where I come from, but I do have my own way of working, my own style.”
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Gia, who directed 2024’sĀ The Last Showgirl, said that they’re still basically putting on those summer plays in Napa, only “now with actual gear.”
“We’re a very bohemian family that fosters creativity,” she told The Times, “and so it doesnāt feel, like, ‘industry’ in any way.”
Meanwhile, acting called to Francis’ nephews Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman.
“I can’t explain it,” Jason, whose mother is Francis’ younger sister Talia Shire, said in 2014 on Overheard With Evan Smith. “Maybe it’s a thing, if it is around you, families are involved in one tradeā¦I was just so bad at math and things like that.”
And there’s even more artistry where that came from. Like the best Coppola films, enjoy the sprawling epic that is this guide to their family: Ā
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Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola
Francis Ford CoppolaĀ was born in 1939, the second ofĀ Carmine CoppolaĀ andĀ Italia Coppola‘s three children. (Carmine later composed music for his son’s films, winning an Oscar for the score ofĀ The Godfather Part II).
Eleanor Coppola (nĆ©e Neil)āthe art director on Francis’ first film,Ā Dementia 13āwas pregnant with their first child when they tied the knot in February 1963.
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Their sonĀ Gian-Carlo CoppolaĀ was born that September, followed by sonĀ Roman CoppolaĀ in April 1964 and daughterĀ Sofia CoppolaĀ in May 1971.
Francis won his first Academy Award for writing the 1970 war epic Patton, then focused on his own productions to heady success, acquiring four more Oscars for directing and producing Best Picture winners The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
While Eleanor hit pause on her own aspirations to raise her family, her career as a writer and Emmy-winning documentarianāfor 1991’s Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, about the famously tortured production of her husband’s Apocalypse Nowāflourished later in life.
After her death in 2024 at the age of 87, Sofia shared with theĀ New York TimesĀ what Eleanor told herĀ when she became a mom in 2006: “Get a great babysitter, so you can do your work and not feel guilty.”
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Sofia Coppola
Sofia was admittedly “self-conscious in front of the camera,” as she toldĀ InterviewĀ in 200. So, she settled behind it and never looked back, winning the Best Original Screenplay winner for 2004’sĀ Lost in TranslationĀ and making her own name as a filmmaker, designer and style icon.
Sofia was married to Spike Jonze from 1999 until 2003. Then, she and PhoenixĀ singerĀ Thomas MarsĀ welcomed daughtersĀ Romy MarsĀ in November 2006 andĀ Cosima MarsĀ in May 2010 before tying the knot in Italy in 2011.
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RomyĀ provoked a rare personal commentĀ from her super-private mom in 2023 after she posted a TikTok in which she lamented being grounded for trying to charter a helicopter on her dad’s dime to see a friend.
Sofia toldĀ The Hollywood ReporterĀ that making a video was a constructive way for Romy to rebel.
“But people discussing my parenting publicly,” she added, “is not what I would’ve hoped for.”
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Gian-Carlo Coppola
Gian-Carlo (pictured at right) appeared poised to start learning the family trade, having been credited as an associate producer on 1983’s The Outsiders and Rumble Fish. However, he was killed in a speedboat crash in September 1986 at the age of 22.
When he died, he was expecting a baby with his costume designer fiancƩe Jacqui de La Fontaine. Their daughter Gia Coppola was born in January 1987.
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Gia Coppola
Despite growing up close to her late father’s side of the family, Gia had no intention of making moviesāshe studied photography at Bard Collegeāuntil the stars aligned and she agreed to direct an adaptation ofĀ James Franco‘s 2010 bookĀ Palo Alto.
“My family was obviously very supportive,” she toldĀ The GuardianĀ in 2014, “but they also wanted me to do this on my own and werenāt being intrusive about it.”
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On the personal front, GiaĀ married artistĀ Honor TitusĀ in March 2023 and they welcomed sonĀ Beaumountā Francis’ first great-grandchildāa month later.
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Roman Coppola
Roman got his first producing credit at 18 on Rumble Fish and has been in the family business ever since.
In addition to his own directing work, he has collaborated on most ofĀ Wes Anderson‘s films, sharing a Best Original Screenplay nomination in 2013 for Moonrise Kingdom.
In 2007, he and Sofia took ownership of American Zoetrope, the production company their father cofounded withĀ George Lucas.
Roman shares sonsĀ AlessandroĀ andĀ Marcello, as well as daughterĀ Pascal, with wifeĀ Jennifer Furches.
“Iād like my kids to have the experiences I had as a kid, being on my dadās movie sets,ā Roman told theĀ New YorkerĀ in 2020. “Like, āOh, theyāre doing the napalm drop today, so Iām going to skip school,ā which in retrospect was kind of remarkable.”
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Nicolas Cage
Francis’ older brotherĀ AugustĀ Coppola, a professor of comparative literature, had sonsĀ Marc Coppola,Ā Christopher CoppolaĀ andĀ Nicolas CoppolaĀ with his first wife, dancer-choreographerĀ Joy Vogelsang.
Their youngest first started acting as a Coppola before changing his name toĀ Nicolas Cage.
His intent was to prove “that I had something, and it wasnāt simply because I was born into a Coppola family,” the Oscar winner explained toĀ GQĀ in 2022. “It was because I thought I had a unique way of feeling things and looking at things.”
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The prolific actor welcomed sonĀ Weston Coppola CageĀ with then-girlfriendĀ Christina FultonĀ in 1990. After marriages toĀ Patricia ArquetteĀ andĀ Lisa-Marie PresleyĀ ended in divorce, he had sonĀ Kal-ElĀ with third wifeĀ Alice KimĀ in 2005.
They divorced in 2016 and then his 2019 marriage toĀ Erika KoikeĀ ended in an annulment after just several days.Ā
Nicolas marriedĀ Riko ShibataĀ in 2021 and their daughterĀ August, named after his late dad, was born the following year.
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Talia Shire
Francis’ younger sisterĀ Talia Coppola, born in 1946, started acting under her maiden name, becoming Talia Shire after marrying composer David Shire in 1970.
The Rocky actress wasĀ pregnant with sonĀ Matthew ShireĀ when she attended the 1975 Oscars as a Best Supporting Actress nominee for The Godfather Part II and he was born that September.
Two weeks after her divorce from David was finalized, she married producer Jack Schwartzman in August 1980ātwo months after their son Jason Schwartzman.
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They welcomed son Robert SchwartzmanĀ in 1982 and Talia also considers her step-kids, cinematographerĀ John SchwartzmanĀ and set designerĀ Stephanie Schwartzman from Jack’s first marriage, to be part of her brood.
Jack died of pancreatic cancer in 1994. He was 61.
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Matthew Shire
MatthewĀ marriedĀ Kate GerstenĀ (who wrote the screenplay for Gia’s latest feature, The Last Showgirl) in 2016, two years after they met in the writers room of the Amazon seriesĀ Mozart in the Jungle,Ā cocreated by Roman and Jason.
Like the rest of Matthew’s family, they are extremely private about their childrenābut they do haveĀ two sons.
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Jason Schwartzman
Jason made his acting debut at 17 in 1998’sĀ RushmoreĀ and he never stopped.
He admitted to theĀ IndependentĀ in 2019 that he never “felt bold enough” to assume he’d have a career in Hollywood because of his roots, adding, “I didnāt think that I was going to get to be a part of movies, truly.ā
One thing he was 100-percent sure about: His love for wife Brady Cunningham, the artist mother of his two daughters and son.
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Robert Schwartzman
Robert didn’t plan on an acting career, but YA-classic status became his after he scored the role of Mia’s admirer Michael inĀ The Princess Diaries. (While Michael’s absence from the sequel was attributed to him being on tour with his band, Robert reallyĀ wasĀ on tour with his bandĀ Rooney.)
He did grow up wanting to make movies and has directed several, starting with 2016’sĀ Dreamland.
Robert married photographerĀ Zoey GrossmanĀ in 2017 and sheĀ sharedĀ in February 2022 that they had welcomed twin sonsĀ LennoxĀ andĀ Nino.Ā
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