9 Actors Who Had Remarkable Breakout Roles

7) Sofia Coppola – The Godfather III, II….and I

Sofia Coppola is a bit of a wild-card on this list, because she is now far better known as a director than as an actress. The Virgin Suicides (1999), Lost in Translation (2003) and most recently – and fashionably – The Bling Ring (2013) are among her most notable directing credits.

But she does have a portfolio of acting credits – just enough, at least, to qualify her for this list. For this, I am extremely grateful. Here’s why.

Of all of Coppola’s acting roles, her most famous is probably that of Mary Carlone in the third part of her father, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Trilogy (1972 – 1990). Although you would be forgiven for thinking that this was the first time she had appeared in the trilogy, you would be wrong – she is also credited as ‘girl on ship’ in The Godfather II. Given the notoriety and popularity of the Godfather films, this may have not gone unnoticed by a few fans. But still, this was not her first appearance in the trilogy. Sofia Coppola does actually appear in The Godfather I – as none other than the infant Michael Francis Rizzi, the baby used for the famous baptism scene.

She is not actually officially listed on the movie credits as playing Michael, but Sofia it is – allowing her movie debut to firstly blow all other child actors out of the water by her appearing for the first time when she was literally still a baby, and secondly be made remarkable for the fact that she isn’t even playing a girl.

Which just goes to show that some parents really are well and truly justified in dressing their girl babies in an eye-watering amount of pink – just to be on the safe side.