Isabella Rossellini Says It 'Breaks My Heart' Younger Generation 'Doesn't Know' Her Famous Parents

Mar. 15, 2025

From L: Roberto Rossellini; Isabella Rossellini in New York City on April 25, 2018; Ingrid Bergman.Photo:Getty, Roy Rochlin/Getty, Reinhard-Archiv/ullstein bild via Getty

Getty, Roy Rochlin/Getty, Reinhard-Archiv/ullstein bild via Getty

Isabella Rosselliniis reflecting on the legacy of her late parents.

TheConclaveactress discussed being the child of two screen legends — three-timeOscar-winning actressIngrid Bergmanand filmmaker Roberto Rossellini — in a new interview withVariety, admitting she felt some sadness about their names fading in discussions among younger people.

“I used to be introduced as ‘Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini’s daughter,’ and it bothered me, because I would think, ‘I am my own person,' " said Isabella, 72.

“But now,” she continued, “the younger generation doesn’t know them, and it breaks my heart. Their reputations outlived them, but fame is very brief.”

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Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman in Naples, Italy, on May 12, 1953.Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty

Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty

Although she is one of Hollywood’s greatest screen legends, Bergman’s path to stardom certainly wasn’t easy. As she rose to fame with roles in iconic films likeCasablanca, she quickly learned the downside of being in the public eye and found her personal life thrust into the spotlight.

“She was one of the first women thought to have a full career, and she paid a very heavy price for it,” Isabellatold PEOPLE in 2015of her mother.

After making headlines following a scandalous affair and unexpected pregnancy, Bergman was denounced on the U.S. Senate floor for immorality, divorced and locked in a custody battle over her daughter Pia, with ex-husband Petter Lindström.

But even through personal turmoil, Bergman continued thrive as an actress, earning three Oscars throughout her career — and 33 years after her mother’s death, Isabella told PEOPLE she has discovered the same “joy for life” that her mother once did through acting.

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Isabella Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman in the U.K., 1971.Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty

Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty

Bergman died on her 67th birthday: Aug. 29, 1982.

Back in 2022, Isabella looked back on the40th anniversary of her mother’s deathwith love, respect and even an evolved sense of understanding.

“If I could say anything to Mama, I would say, ‘Thank you.’ I think of her every day,” the actress told PEOPLE at the time. “When people pass, the relationship with the person remains at the moment when they passed. But they often don’t evolve.”

Conclave, which premiered Friday, Aug. 30, at the Telluride Film Festival,is in theaters Nov. 1.

source: people.com