Mira Sorvino Remembers How Rejecting Harvey Weinstein Fundamentally Changed Her Career
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If you’ve followed Mira Sorvino’s career, then you know that has been quite unpredictable. Since winning her Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1996 for her work in the movie Mighty Aphrodite, for example, the actress pivoted into smaller, indie projects. Talking to a panel at 90s Con this weekend, the actress explained the sad truth behind it all.
She started by remembering how the Oscar plummeted her into stardom. “For me, it was definitely an upgrade in terms of scripts being offered, but I was basically not known before,” Sorvino said, per People. “I mean, it was my 10th film, but I wasn’t a household name. I had some press on a few different projects, like Quiz Show and Barcelona, but people didn’t really know who I was. So it turned me through that Oscar season into a known actress rather than an unknown actress.”
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“For a time, I had a lot of wonderful offers,” Sorvino continued, adding that it all changed when she “rejected” convicted former movie producer Harvey Weinstein for the “third time.” “My career was stifled by Harvey Weinstein,” she said. “So, I stopped doing [major] studio movies after 1998.”
“I stopped being a viable movie actress,” she explained. “I still did indies and I still did television, but that was very hard.”
And while now she knows Weinstein was behind it all, Sorvino admitted to being confused about the sudden shift. “I didn’t know at the time what was happening,” she said. “It became, you know, a sort of feeling like fate was just not going on my side but it was going to be just a matter of time ’till I was gonna get back my status.”
In other words, without being able to trace the opportunities (or lack thereof) to Weinstein, Sorvino had no explanation for what happened.
As a reminder, Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in 2020. At the time, he was sentenced to a 23-year sentence which has since been increased by 16 years.
“But then, I got married. I became a mother,” Sorvino said of her daughter, 19-year-old Mattea Angel Backus. “I became a UN Goodwill Ambassador in Human Trafficking, [which has] just been a huge part of my life. It’s a position I’ve held since 2009, officially. But yeah, my family. My family is my everything and I don’t see my worth as being a famous actress. I see my worth as being a good person.”
While it is heartbreaking to know the impact and the power Weinstein once had over the industry, we’re glad Sorvino was able to find herself no matter what. We’re hoping nothing stops her now!
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