Ingrid Bergman had to test the waters before trusting the Hollywood system

By the late 1940s, World War II was over. European cinema was booming, telling rich and moving stories of post-war life. Nowhere did you find this more than in the neorealist movement in Italy, and one of its main figureheads was director Roberto Rossellini, who beautifully captured the harsh aftermath of World War II in masterpieces. works like "Rome, Open City" and "Paisan". Ingrid Bergman was a big fan of Rossellini's films and wanted to work with him. So she returned to Italy and made "Stromboli", released in 1950.

Infamously, Bergman and Rossellini began an affair while filming "Stromboli" and had a child. This scandal was so extreme that she could not find acting work in the United States for years. Many fear that their accent or their looks will cause them to be rejected by the public as an actor, but it was just stupid and destructive American Puritanism that did that. Bergman remained in Europe, working with her husband Roberto and a few other European filmmakers. Ironically, that's what she always saw herself doing with her career, but it ended up being forced on her. She didn't do another Hollywood production until her relationship with Rossellini was all but over, when she appeared in "Anastasia" in 1956, which won Bergman his second Oscar.

Once she was able to find her way back into Hollywood's good graces, Ingrid Bergman had the ability to go and do what she pleased. It could be in Hollywood, in Europe or in the theater. If the role was worth her time, she would go for it, and that mentality carried over into her later years as well. Bergman has seen the ups and downs of the entertainment industry and has always delivered a great job no matter where she has.