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What the Hell Happened to Mira Sorvino?
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TMC
Jan 25, 2013, 4:29:24 AM1/25/13
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http://lebeauleblog.com/2011/08/07/thats-so-fetch-mira-sorvino/
Posted by lebeau
Mira Sorvino, daughter of character actor Paul Sorvino, scored an
Oscar and a Golden Globe in her first major role. Five years later,
her career had cooled to the point where she was doing TV movies.
What the hell happened?
Sorvino got her start on the syndicated TV show, Swans Crossing in
1992. The teen drama, which starred Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah
Michelle Gellar, aired 13 episodes. Sorvino guest starred on 4.
The next year, Sorvino was hired as a third assistant director on the
low-budget crime drama, Amongst Friends. Gradually, Sorvino was
bumped up to casting director and eventually assistant producer. As a
resulted, she landed a role for herself as well as roles for family
members.
Mira Sorvino started her career with small roles in the 1994 films
Quiz Show and Barcelona. The following year, Woody Allen cast her as
a hooker with a heart of gold in Mighty Aphrodite and BAM! she won an
Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
It’s really quite remarkable considering that 1) Woody Allen was
hardly a starmaker in 1995 and 2) Sorvino played the part with an
annoying helium voice the entire time.
I think the Academy embraced Woody returning to more light-hearted
material like Mighty Aphrodite. And Sorvino seemed like a fetching,
fresh-faced starlet in the making. If nothing else, she deserved the
award for kissing Woody Allen.
Hollywood was caught unaware by Sorvino’s sudden rise to stardom. At
the time she won the Oscar, she had already completed a couple of
other movies which were released in 1996. The first was the ensemble
Beautiful Girls.
Beautiful Girls was a comedy/drama starring Timothy Hutton. It helped
to transition Natalie Portman out of being a child actor. But the
cast was too crowded to do much for anyone else.
Sorvino also starred in the HBO movie, Norma Jean & Marilyn. The
Monroe biopic cast Ashley Judd as Norma Jean and Sorvino as Marilyn
Monroe after she had undergone her Hollywood transformation.
Sorvino as Marilyn slowly unraveled while being haunted by visions of
her former self as played by Judd. Although it was just an HBO movie,
people took notice of Sorvino’s brave performance and she was
nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
1997 seemed like it would be the year in which Sorvino could
capitalize on her Oscar win. She started off the year by starring
opposite Friends star, Lisa Kudrow in Romy and Michelle’s High School
Reunion.
The film took the popular “dumb guy buddy comedy” formula and recast
it for women. In general, reviews were positive. But the film was
not a hit. It has gained a cult following over the years.
The same year, Sorvino also starred in The Mimic. There was a lot of
buzz around The Mimic at the time because it was the first American
film by Guillermo del Toro.
The Mimic is worth watching for all of del Toro’s touches which would
later be more fully explored in better movies. On its own, The Mimic
is a little too by-the-numbers to be interesting. The reviews were
mixed, but not horrible. The box office was about the same.
Around this time, Sorvino was dating “It” director, Quentin
Tarantino. Tarantino encouraged Sorvino to surf the wave of Hong Kong
action films that were flooding into America. Unfortunately, the film
she made with Chao Yun-fat, The Replacement Killers, failed with
critics and audiences alike.
Having struck out in horror and action, Sorvino tried her hand at
romantic drama. In 1999, she starred opposite career poison Val
Kilmer in At First Sight.
At First Sight was extra heavy on the cheese casting Kilmer as a blind
man who finds love. The reviews were unkind and the film bombed at
the box office.
In 1999, Sorvino also appeared in Spike Lee’s underrated drama, The
Summer of Sam.
Like most Lee joints that aren’t Do The Right Thing, Summer of Sam is
a little bloated. But there’s a lot to like in this film about the
summer of 1977 in New York.
At the time the Son of Sam killer was on the loose. Sorvino plays
John Leguizamo’s disco loving girl friend who starts to wear a wig so
as not to be a victim of the killer. The movie isn’t about the
murders so much as the paranoia they stirred in New York city in 1977.
Reviews were mixed and the movie bombed. Sorvino’s career was about
to go into free fall. So much so that in 2000, her only release was
an adaptation of The Great Gatsby on basic cable.
Five years after winning an Oscar and Golden globe for Mighty
Aphrodite, Sorvino had struck out in just about every genre of film.
The offers dried up.
Sorvino’s next relatively high profile role (other than appearing on
an episode of Will and Grace) was the 2004 sci-fi drama, The Final
Cut.
The Final Cut stars Robin Williams as a “cutter”, someone who edits
people’s memories. Even with the star power of Williams, the movie
was poorly received and did nothing to revive Sorvino’s flagging
career.
Since then, Sorvino has found work mostly on TV. Usually in the form
of mini-series or guest appearances on shows like House.
Sorvino shot to stardom overnight winning an Academy Award in her
first major role. But she was unable to capitalize on her rise to
fame and fell just as quickly. It’s a shame because if the right
movie had come along, Sorvino could have been great in any of the many
genres she tried.
Posted by lebeau
Mira Sorvino, daughter of character actor Paul Sorvino, scored an
Oscar and a Golden Globe in her first major role. Five years later,
her career had cooled to the point where she was doing TV movies.
What the hell happened?
Sorvino got her start on the syndicated TV show, Swans Crossing in
1992. The teen drama, which starred Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah
Michelle Gellar, aired 13 episodes. Sorvino guest starred on 4.
The next year, Sorvino was hired as a third assistant director on the
low-budget crime drama, Amongst Friends. Gradually, Sorvino was
bumped up to casting director and eventually assistant producer. As a
resulted, she landed a role for herself as well as roles for family
members.
Mira Sorvino started her career with small roles in the 1994 films
Quiz Show and Barcelona. The following year, Woody Allen cast her as
a hooker with a heart of gold in Mighty Aphrodite and BAM! she won an
Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
It’s really quite remarkable considering that 1) Woody Allen was
hardly a starmaker in 1995 and 2) Sorvino played the part with an
annoying helium voice the entire time.
I think the Academy embraced Woody returning to more light-hearted
material like Mighty Aphrodite. And Sorvino seemed like a fetching,
fresh-faced starlet in the making. If nothing else, she deserved the
award for kissing Woody Allen.
Hollywood was caught unaware by Sorvino’s sudden rise to stardom. At
the time she won the Oscar, she had already completed a couple of
other movies which were released in 1996. The first was the ensemble
Beautiful Girls.
Beautiful Girls was a comedy/drama starring Timothy Hutton. It helped
to transition Natalie Portman out of being a child actor. But the
cast was too crowded to do much for anyone else.
Sorvino also starred in the HBO movie, Norma Jean & Marilyn. The
Monroe biopic cast Ashley Judd as Norma Jean and Sorvino as Marilyn
Monroe after she had undergone her Hollywood transformation.
Sorvino as Marilyn slowly unraveled while being haunted by visions of
her former self as played by Judd. Although it was just an HBO movie,
people took notice of Sorvino’s brave performance and she was
nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
1997 seemed like it would be the year in which Sorvino could
capitalize on her Oscar win. She started off the year by starring
opposite Friends star, Lisa Kudrow in Romy and Michelle’s High School
Reunion.
The film took the popular “dumb guy buddy comedy” formula and recast
it for women. In general, reviews were positive. But the film was
not a hit. It has gained a cult following over the years.
The same year, Sorvino also starred in The Mimic. There was a lot of
buzz around The Mimic at the time because it was the first American
film by Guillermo del Toro.
The Mimic is worth watching for all of del Toro’s touches which would
later be more fully explored in better movies. On its own, The Mimic
is a little too by-the-numbers to be interesting. The reviews were
mixed, but not horrible. The box office was about the same.
Around this time, Sorvino was dating “It” director, Quentin
Tarantino. Tarantino encouraged Sorvino to surf the wave of Hong Kong
action films that were flooding into America. Unfortunately, the film
she made with Chao Yun-fat, The Replacement Killers, failed with
critics and audiences alike.
Having struck out in horror and action, Sorvino tried her hand at
romantic drama. In 1999, she starred opposite career poison Val
Kilmer in At First Sight.
At First Sight was extra heavy on the cheese casting Kilmer as a blind
man who finds love. The reviews were unkind and the film bombed at
the box office.
In 1999, Sorvino also appeared in Spike Lee’s underrated drama, The
Summer of Sam.
Like most Lee joints that aren’t Do The Right Thing, Summer of Sam is
a little bloated. But there’s a lot to like in this film about the
summer of 1977 in New York.
At the time the Son of Sam killer was on the loose. Sorvino plays
John Leguizamo’s disco loving girl friend who starts to wear a wig so
as not to be a victim of the killer. The movie isn’t about the
murders so much as the paranoia they stirred in New York city in 1977.
Reviews were mixed and the movie bombed. Sorvino’s career was about
to go into free fall. So much so that in 2000, her only release was
an adaptation of The Great Gatsby on basic cable.
Five years after winning an Oscar and Golden globe for Mighty
Aphrodite, Sorvino had struck out in just about every genre of film.
The offers dried up.
Sorvino’s next relatively high profile role (other than appearing on
an episode of Will and Grace) was the 2004 sci-fi drama, The Final
Cut.
The Final Cut stars Robin Williams as a “cutter”, someone who edits
people’s memories. Even with the star power of Williams, the movie
was poorly received and did nothing to revive Sorvino’s flagging
career.
Since then, Sorvino has found work mostly on TV. Usually in the form
of mini-series or guest appearances on shows like House.
Sorvino shot to stardom overnight winning an Academy Award in her
first major role. But she was unable to capitalize on her rise to
fame and fell just as quickly. It’s a shame because if the right
movie had come along, Sorvino could have been great in any of the many
genres she tried.
Remysun
Jan 25, 2013, 5:59:41 AM1/25/13
to
She was also in Tienanmen Square when the massacre happened in 1989.
Vaughan Anderson
Jan 25, 2013, 6:44:59 PM1/25/13
to
first second I saw her, I got a huge crush. Being Harvard educated,
you'd think she would bring something to the job that would set her
above the rest. But apparently she can't tell a good script from
bad. Gwyneth Paltrow and Anne Hathaway both dropped out of college,
yet they know precisely which roles are the good ones and which are
not.
RichA
Jan 26, 2013, 10:25:10 AM1/26/13
to
She didn't deserve the Oscar she got. No more than did Marisa Tomei.
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