Mira Sorvino
| Mira Sorvino | |
|---|---|
Sorvino at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
|
|
| Born | Mira Katherine Sorvino September 28, 1967 New York City, New York, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Spouse(s) | Christopher Backus (m. 2004) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parents | Paul Sorvino Lorraine Ruth Davis |
| Website | |
| Mira Sorvino on Twitter | |
Mira Katherine Sorvino (born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence after winning the Academy Award and Golden Globe for best supporting actress for her performance in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995). She is also known for her roles in the films Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), Mimic (1997), The Replacement Killers (1998), Summer of Sam (1999), and more recently Like Dandelion Dust (2009). She received Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her role in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996), and a Golden Globe nomination for her role in Human Trafficking (2005).
Contents
Early life[edit]
Sorvino was born on September 28, 1967 in New York City, New York.[1] Her mother, Lorraine Ruth Davis, is a drama therapist for Alzheimer's disease patients and a former actress; her father, Paul Sorvino, is a character actor and director.[2][3] She has two siblings, Michael and Amanda. Sorvino is of Italian descent on her father's side.[4]
Sorvino was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey,[5] where she wrote and acted in backyard plays with her childhood friend Hope Davis and in theater productions at Dwight-Englewood School. Sorvino was accepted into Harvard University, and studied one year as an exchange student in Beijing, China, where she became fluent in Mandarin Chinese.[6] In 1989, she graduated from Harvard magna cum laude with a degree in East Asian Studies.[7] She also helped found the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones, one of Harvard's co-ed a cappella groups in 1985.[8]
Career[edit]
Sorvino spent the next three years in New York City, trying to make a name for herself as an actress.[citation needed] When the 1993 film Amongst Friends entered pre-production, she was hired as third assistant director, then was promoted to casting director, then to assistant producer, and was finally offered a lead role. Positive reviews[9][10] opened doors for her.
After small roles in Robert Redford's Quiz Show and Whit Stillman's Barcelona, she was cast in the 1995 Woody Allen film Mighty Aphrodite. Her portrayal of a happy go lucky prostitute made her a star, winning her an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.[citation needed] Other credits include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion alongside Lisa Kudrow, At First Sight with Val Kilmer, and Summer of Sam from Spike Lee. She portrayed Marilyn Monroe for the 1996 HBO film Norma Jean & Marilyn, and the lead role in the 1997 horror movie Mimic.
In recent years, Sorvino has starred in lower-budget and independent films.[citation needed] In 2005, she received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the Lifetime film Human Trafficking.[citation needed]
In February 2008, she guest starred in the "Frozen" episode of the medical television drama House. There was talk of making her character, psychiatrist Cate Milton, a recurring character; however, the writers strike put a temporary freeze on such discussions.[11]
More recently, she starred in Attack on Leningrad (2009), Multiple Sarcasms (2010) alongside Timothy Hutton and Stockard Channing, and Nancy Savoca's Union Square (release date, July 2012), with Patti Lupone and Tammy Blanchard.[12]
She was considered for the role of video game heroine Jill Valentine in Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) before the role was played by British actress Sienna Guillory.[citation needed]
In 2012, the feature film Union Square, co-written and directed by the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Award Winner, Nancy Savoca, was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. In it, Mira co-stars with Patti Lupone, Tammy Blanchard, Mike Doyle, Michael Rispoli and Daphne Rubin-Vega.[13] The movie opened on July 13, 2012 to packed houses in New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto, garnering notice and acclaim from major print sources such as the New York Times[14] and the Los Angeles Times,[15] to online sources like Newsday,[16] Yahoo Voices [17] and the Pasadena Sun.[18]
In 2012, Mira Sorvino played the Elaine, the mother of the lead, in the film adaptation of Wendy Mass’s popular children’s book Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life.[19]
In 2014, she recurred as Head Detective Betsy Brannigan on the final season of Psych, and will recur on the fourth season of Falling Skies as a character named Sara.[20]
Personal life[edit]
Sorvino met actor Christopher Backus at a friend's charades party in August 2003. On June 11, 2004, they married in a private civil ceremony at the Santa Barbara, California courthouse, then later had a hilltop ceremony in Capri, Italy. The couple have four children: daughters Mattea Angel (born 2004)[21] and Lucia (born 2012)[22] and sons Johnny Christopher King (born 2006)[23] and Holden Paul Terry Backus (born 2009).[24] She had previously dated filmmaker Quentin Tarantino for close to three years in the 1990s.
She has been affiliated with Amnesty International since 2004,[25] and, in 2006, was honored with Amnesty International’s Artist of Conscience Award given to those who have displayed longstanding philanthropic and humanist efforts. Sorvino has been a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking, since 2009 through 2012, and has lobbied Congress to abolish human trafficking in Darfur.[26]
In honor of Sorvino's role as Dr. Susan Tyler, an entomologist who was investigating deadly insect mutations in the feature film Mimic, a compound excreted by the sunburst diving beetle as a defensive mechanism was named "mirasorvone" by Thomas Eisner.[27],[28]
Sorvino was once an atheist[citation needed] but has since become a devout Christian.[29][30]
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
Television[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Swans Crossing | Sophia Eva McCormick De Castro | 6 episodes |
| 1994 | Parallel Lives | Matty Derosa | Television film |
| 1995 | Buccaneers, TheThe Buccaneers | Conchita Closson | 5 episodes |
| 1996 | Norma Jean & Marilyn | Marilyn Monroe | Television film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 2000 | Great Gatsby, TheThe Great Gatsby | Daisy Buchanan | Television film |
| 2003 | Will & Grace | Diane | Episode "Last Ex To Brooklyn" |
| 2005 | Human Trafficking | Kate Morozov | Television film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film |
| 2008 | House | Dr. Cate Milton | Episode "Frozen" |
| 2009 | Last Templar, TheThe Last Templar | Tess Chaykin | Television film |
| 2012 | Finding Mrs. Claus | Mrs. Claus | Television film |
| 2014 | Psych | Head Detective Betsy Brannigan | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | Falling Skies | Sara | Recurring Cast Member |
| 2014 | Intruders | Amy Whelan | Regular (8 episodes) |
References[edit]
- ^ Bialas, Michael (July 10, 2012). "Mira Sorvino on Family Values, Reunions and Her Juiciest Role Yet". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
- ^ "Mira Sorvino". Film Reference. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
- ^ Laurino, Maria (August 28, 1994). "The Many Screen Ethnicities of Mira Sorvino". The New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
- ^ O'Neal, Sean (November 23, 2011). "Mira Sorvino Random Roles". A.V. Club. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ Seal, Mark. "Mira Sorvino's Barcelona", American Way, January 1, 2001. Accessed December 18, 2013. "When Mira Sorvino arrived in Barcelona in 1994 to film a movie called Barcelona, she had a past in academia and a future in acting. Raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, she was the daughter of tough-guy character actor Paul Sorvino, who raised his kids to strive for an education instead of childhood acting careers."
- ^ Brennan, Sandra. "Mira Sorvino". Allmovie. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
- ^ "Notable Graduates". Harvard University. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ "The Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones". Harvard University. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ James Berardinelli (1993). "Review: Amongst Friends".
- ^ Hal Hinson (August 13, 1993). "Amongst Friends". Washington Post.
- ^ Isabella Vosmikova (2008-01-24). "TV Addict Interview: Mira Sorvino Guest Stars on HOUSE".
- ^ Union Square at Tiff.net
- ^ Union Square at Tiff.net
- ^ Scott, A. O. (July 12, 2012). "‘Union Square,' by Nancy Savoca, With Mira Sorvino". The New York Times.
- ^ Goldstein, Gary (July 13, 2012). "Review: 'Union Square' is a compelling family drama". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ filmthreat.com
- ^ Cornet, Roth. "Mira Sorvino Joins the Cast of TNT's Falling Skies". IGN. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ Mira Sorvino Gives Birth to a Girl - Pregnancy, Mira Sorvino : People.com
- ^ http://celebritybabies.people.com/2012/05/04/mira-sorvino-welcomes-daughter-lucia/
- ^ "Mira Sorvino Has a Boy", Alison Gee, May 30, 2006, People
- ^ "Mira Sorvino Welcomes Son Holden Paul Terry". July 13, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- ^ "Mira Sorvino aiding Amnesty International". USA Today. March 10, 2004. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ "Spotlight on Human Trafficking with Mira Sorvino". National Conference of State Legislatures. August 10, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ Jerrold Meinwald; et al. (March 17, 1998). "Mirasorvone: A masked 20-ketopregnane from the defensive secretion of a diving beetle (Thermonectus marmoratus)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences) 95 (6): 2733–2737. doi:10.1073/pnas.95.6.2733. OCLC 1607201. PMC 19637. PMID 9501158.
- ^ http://www.webofstories.com/play/51826
- ^ Moring, Mark (October 3, 2012). "Mira Sorvino: Saving Sex Slaves". Christianity Today. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Goodwyn, Hannah. "Mira Sorvino on Faith and Like Dandelion Dust". Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
External links[edit]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mira Sorvino. |
- Mira Sorvino at the Internet Movie Database
- Mira Sorvino on Twitter
- Honolulu Advertiser Interview (October 24, 2005)
|
- 1967 births
- American film actresses
- American people of Italian descent
- American television actresses
- Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners
- Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
- Harvard University alumni
- Living people
- People from Manhattan
- People from Tenafly, New Jersey
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
