Sofia Coppola

In 2002, Sofia Coppola came to my acting class to workshop her script for her upcoming movie, Lost in Translation. I was an out-of-work actor who had just bombed an audition for the role of Dog Walker on an episode of Law & Order. Suddenly, I was being directed by one of the most exciting young directors of my generation. She had made only one movie, The Virgin Suicides, but she was already a paradigm-shifting icon.

Since then, she has continued to train her empathic gaze and singular aesthetic on the empty spaces and in-betweens of women’s lives. I was lucky enough to play one of those women in On the Rocks, almost 20 years after our first meeting. Sofia has an elegant leadership style as a director that makes it a pleasure to be on her set—she is collaborative and communicates with grace. But beneath that is a deftness, a quiet determination; she has the vision of a master painter. Whether the movies are set in 18th century France, 1960s Tennessee, or modern-day Manhattan, there is an achingly beautiful, unmistakable continuity in the Sofia Coppola Cinematic Universe.

Jones is an actor, writer, and Emmy-nominated producer

Order your copy of the 2024 TIME100 issue here