( CNN ) -- It 's a famous photograph : Sophia Loren , seated at a table , looking with side-eyed concern at Jayne Mansfield 's breasts , which threaten to spill out of her low-cut dress . The 1957 photo , which was taken when the Italian film star was new to Hollywood , shows Loren as shocked and frightened -- and she absolutely was , she tells Entertainment Weekly . `` Listen . Look at the picture . Where are my eyes ? I 'm staring at her nipples because I am afraid they are about to come onto my plate , '' she told the magazine . `` In my face you can see the fear . I 'm so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow -- BOOM ! -- and spill all over the table . '' Loren , now 80 , was 23 at the time , a beauty who 'd dazzled at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival . Mansfield , perhaps known today as the mother of `` Law & Order : SVU 's '' Mariska Hargitay , was making her name as the blonde bombshell star of `` The Girl Ca n't Help It '' and `` Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter ? '' She knew how to make an entrance , recalled Loren . `` Paramount had organized a party for me . All of cinema was there ; it was incredible , '' she said . `` And then comes in Jayne Mansfield , the last one to come . ... She came right for my table . She knew everyone was watching . '' Indeed , there are a number of other photographs of Mansfield 's arrival , many showing Loren smiling . But Loren says that the only one accurately showing her mood is the side-eye . She wo n't even sign it -- partly out of respect for Mansfield , who died in a car crash in 1967 , and partly because it frankly makes her uncomfortable . `` Many , many times I am given this photo to autograph it . And I never do , '' she said . `` I do n't want to have anything to do with that . '' Loren 's memoir , `` Yesterday , Today and Tomorrow : My Life , '' was released Tuesday .
Sophia Loren : Side-eye in photo showed shock , fear . Was worried that Mansfield 's nipples were `` about to come onto my plate '' Loren was new to Hollywood ; Mansfield was established star . Loren 's memoir was just released .