Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Entertainment

Chatting with Mira Sorvino: Academy Award-winning actress

Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite”) chatted about her latest endeavors and her career in the entertainment industry.

Mira Sorvino
Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino. Photo Courtesy of Mira Sorvino.
Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino. Photo Courtesy of Mira Sorvino.

Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite”) chatted about her latest endeavors and her career in the entertainment industry.

Patchogue Theatre event

On March 1, Sorvino will be a part of a special screening of “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts on Long Island, which will feature a Q &A session with the actress.

“I am excited about it,” she said. “Obviously, I’m originally from the East Coast and it will be really fun to reconnect with people on this movie that I love so much and have a Q & A with them.”

90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut

Sorvino is looking forward to being a part of the upcoming 90s Con, which will take place on March 15, 16, and 17 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.

“I am also excited about 90s Con,” she said. “I’ve only done a few conventions, and I have to say that they are a sweet way to find out that your work has had meaning to people. The fans will come up to you and tell you how much a certain film has meant to them, and that is so touching.”

“As actors, it’s not like we are on a theater stage where we can hear the applause and feel the energy in the room. You just do the work, then it goes off and gets edited and released, and there is a disconnect between you and the actual audience,” she elaborated.

“Meeting the fans is a way to actually feel valued, and that your work meant something to people, and that is really lovely,” she added.

‘Sound of Freedom’ movie

Sorvino played the role of Katherine in the film “Sound of Freedom” opposite Jim Caviezel and Bill Camp, among other actors.

“That’s a movie that really hits you in the heartstrings,” she said. “It really does.”

She was drawn to her character due to her “moral integrity” as well as her “staunch belief in doing what is right.”

‘Dancing with the Stars’

On being a part of “Dancing with the Stars,” she said, “It was super fun, very challenging, and very nerve-wracking.”

“During the first couple of dances, I really had stage fright, which I haven’t had since the beginning of my career,” she said. “I hadn’t danced much in about 30 years so that was a bit challenging, but I loved it too. It was an amazing experience. I was very sad when Gleb [Savchenko] and I got voted off.”

“Then, I decided to not let it defeat me and since I have loved dancing so much, I have been taking six classes a week in the hopes that in a year or so I might be ready to do a Broadway role or something like that,” she elaborated.

“I actually have to thank ‘Dancing with the Stars’ for giving me the impetus to pursue this real-life dream that I’ve had forever,” she expressed.

“Being on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ proved to me that I can dance professionally, and now, I’m becoming a much stronger and better dancer, and I am just loving it,” she exclaimed. “I am so happy because dancing makes me joyful. I am overjoyed in my dance classes.”

Sorvino went on to praise Gleb Savchenko for being a great dancing partner and instructor during their tenure on the reality dancing competition.

Dialogue-heavy

When asked how she handles being dialogue-heavy, she said, “I’ve done this for so long, I don’t really know how I do it. I just work on the script, and I work on the screen. I do it out loud, and I break it down. I figure out what each beat means.”

Sorvino continued, “Sometimes, I would rehearse the beats without the lines (I would do ad-libs) and then I would go back to the lines to make sure that I am natural and not getting frozen up in some specific planned delivery of the lines.”

“Instead, I want to make sure that I know what I am doing in the lines. The more you work on the scenes, it just comes. You just learn the lines because they come. The brain is a muscle,” she added.

The digital age

On being an actress in the digital age, she said, “The digital age is just another way to deliver our content to the fans. Honestly, some of the jobs that I’ve done didn’t have much of a chance had it been back in the days when it was mostly theatrical and the major television stations.”

“I did a movie a couple of years ago called ‘Badland’ with Bruce Dern and Wes Studi, and it did super well on Netflix,” she said. “We did that film on a tiny budget, which was definitely less than a million dollars. It was a labor of love and people got to fall in love with it.”

“Overall, it is gratifying to see these projects, that otherwise wouldn’t necessarily catch fire, to actually be discovered by people and appreciated,” she added.

Advice for young and aspiring actors

For young and aspiring actors, Sorvino said, “Go to acting class and study in the Meisner method.”

“We studied with Bill Esper and I studied with Wynn Handman, whose studios are still open in New York City. I would definitely recommend that school. The Meisner technique is a very reality-producing technique, and I love it,” she noted.

“Also, work as hard as you possibly can and take every opportunity you can,” she underscored. “Go on every casting call. Each job you take, no matter how small, teaches you something. Just don’t do something that compromises your dignity or goes against your belief system.”

Sorvino on the importance of building relationships

“Be sure to build relationships because a lot of times, people will work with you again, especially if they like working with you. When they move onto something bigger, they will think of you,” she explained.

“Also, you grow in knowledge and stature by performing something by tackling the challenge of an individual project, and that grows you as an actor and builds your resume,” she elaborated.

“So, don’t sit back on your heels waiting for the calls to come in, go out there and actively pursue this profession,” she said.

“I got some of my jobs in acting class,” she revealed. “People would recommend me for things after seeing me in class and then, I would get the audition and then, I would book the role. Leave no stone unturned, and don’t get down. It takes a long time but believe in yourself because if you don’t, then nobody else will.”

Stage of her life

On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said with a sweet laugh, “Act II.”

Superpower of choice

If she were to have any superpower it would be “world peace,” especially because “there is so much unnecessary suffering in the world today.”

Academy Award win for ‘Best Supporting Actress’

In 1996, Sorvino won the Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actress” for “Mighty Aphrodite” for playing Linda Ash. “That Oscar win was beautiful. It was an amazing experience, and it was mind-blowingly positive,” she said, graciously.

The actress reflected, “I was so grateful to be able to share it with my dad the way that I did, especially when I told them that they were also honoring my father [Paul Sorvino] who taught me everything I know about acting. That was a special moment because he had never been nominated for an Oscar.”

“The Oscar was a wonderful gift,” she admitted. “It was a beautiful moment for us and a very special time.”

Favorite motto to live by

On her favorite mottos to live by, she shared, “My grandmother Angela Maria Mattea Renzi Sorvino (who everybody called “Marietta”) used to say that we are reborn each morning, and not every evil comes to destroy you.”

“Both of these are really important to me because they are both sides of the coin for me,” she said.

Alternate career choice

If she weren’t in the entertainment world, Sorvino would be a “college professor.”

Bill Sorvino

She also complimented her cousin, actor Bill Sorvino. “I love Bill Sorvino, he is so great. In our youth, we used to play together all the time, and now our kids are friends, so that’s awesome,” she said.

Success

On her definition of the word success, Sorvino said, “The ability to feel fulfilled in what you do for your work, and the time and health to be able to spend with your family and your loved ones. For me, my family and loved ones are everything to me.”

“The best balance is when you have a job that allows you to spend a lot of time with your family and provide for them, as well as celebrate the fruits of your labor together and perhaps go to Disneyland once in a while. That is the combo package,” she said with a sweet laugh.

Message for her fans and supporters

For her fans, she expressed, “I am so grateful for all the people that send me love. I get to meet some of them at the Cons, or hopefully, get to exchange talks with them at the Patchogue event, and be able to talk to them personally, or through social media.”

“Now, I get even more love and support that I didn’t even know was out there before those forms of technologies existed. These people bolster my spirits who are such good human beings, and they send me a lot of love and I really appreciate it,” she concluded.

To learn more about Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 22,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

You may also like:

World

Countries party to the Paris Agreement have been consistently late in submitting climate targets to the United Nations - Copyright AFP/File Valery HACHENick PerryNearly...

World

US President Donald Trump first unveiled his Gaza plan last week - Copyright AFP ROBERTO SCHMIDTDanny KEMPPresident Donald Trump said Palestinians would have no...

Entertainment

Tony winner Danny Burstein chatted about starring as Herbie in the new production of “Gypsy” on Broadway.

Business

US federal workers face another deadline Monday to accept a mass buyout from their government jobs as a judge holds a key hearing.