Mira Katherine Sorvino (born September 28, 1967 in Tenafly, New Jersey) is an Academy Award-winning American actress.
She is the daughter of Lorraine Davis, a drama therapist for Alzheimer's patients, and Italian American character actor Paul Sorvino; she has two siblings, Michael, and Amanda, a playwright.
Her father did not want his children to become actors; at a young age, however, Sorvino wrote and acted in backyard plays with childhood friend Hope Davis, in theater productions at Dwight-Englewood High School, and later at Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude in East Asian Studies. Her thesis was on anti-African sentiment in China. While at Harvard, she helped found the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones, one of Harvard's premier co-ed a cappella groups.
She spent the next three years in New York City, trying to make a name for herself as an actress. When the 1993 film Amongst Friends entered pre-production, she was hired as third assistant director, then was promoted...
Created by dipity on Jan 24, 2008
Last updated: 03/05/10 at 08:05 PM
Reservation Road is a 2007 film directed by Terry George and based on the book of the same title by John Burnham Schwartz, who, along with George, adapted the novel for the screenplay. The film deals with the aftermath of a tragic car accident. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. The film is expected to be in theaters November 9, 2007 The film was filmed in Stamford, CT around November 2006...,
The Final Cut is a film written and directed by Omar Naim, released in 2004. The cast includes Robin Williams, James Caviezel, Mira Sorvino and Genevieve Buechner. It was produced by the Canadian production company, Lions Gate Films. The film featured original music by Brian Tyler. The story takes place in an alternate reality in which people can pay to have their babies implant with memory chips. Those "Zoe Implants", developed by EYE Tech company, record every moment of their lives, so that they may be viewed by loved ones after one's death. The plot centers on Alan Hakman (Williams), a cutter, whose job it is to edit the Zoe footage into a feature-film length piece, called a "Rememory".The Final Cut is about subjectivity, memory and history; posing the question, "If history is what is written and remembered, then what happens when memories are edited and rewritten?" The topic is similarly dealt with in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, wherein the protagonist works...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364343
Gods and Generals is a 2003 film based on the novel, Gods and Generals, by Jeffrey Shaara. It is considered a prequel to the 1993 film Gettysburg, which was based on The Killer Angels, a novel by Michael Shaara, Jeff Shaara's father. The film stars Jeff Daniels as Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and Robert Duvall as Robert E. Lee. While many of the actors from Gettysburg reprised their roles for this film, Stephen Lang is one of a few to play a different character: George Pickett in Gettysburg and Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals. Martin Sheen, the original Lee, had conflicts due to the shooting schedule of The West Wing, and was replaced by Duvall. It was directed by Ronald F. Maxwell, who had also previously adapted Gettysburg in 1993. After the box office underperformance of Gettysburg, Maxwell was unable to get the prequel greenlit until media mogul Ted Turner provided the entire $60 million budget. The film prominently features the Battles of First Bull Run, ...
WiseGirls is a 2002 film starring Mira Sorvino, Mariah Carey and Melora Walters as waitresses working at a restaurant run by mobsters. It was directed by David Anspaugh and premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival (see 2002 in film), where it received positive reviews and a standing ovation. Mariah Carey received good reviews from The Hollywood Reporter and FOX News for her performance.The film centres around Meg (Mira Sorvino), a med student who after a traumatic experience moves to Staten Island to live with her grandmother while she gets back on her feet. Her grandmother's carer, Mrs. Saladino, recommends Meg to work as a waitress in a family-run Italian restaurant called 'Santalino's'. There, Meg meets Raychel (Mariah Carey) and Kate (Melora Walters) and becomes firm friends with the two. Not long after starting, Meg discoveres exactly what clientele she is serving... the Mob. Meg wants to get out, but between drug-running and cover-up murders, she finds herself deeper in than...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284655
The Grey Zone is a film directed by Tim Blake Nelson in 2001 and stars David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino and Daniel Benzali. It is based on the book; Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account written by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, published in 1993 by Arcade Publishing (ISBN 1-55970-202-8).The title comes from the title of an essay by Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi. The film tells the story of the Sonderkommando XII in the Auschwitz concentration camp in October 1944. These prisoners were made to assist the Germans in shepherding their victims to the gas chambers and disposal of the bodies in ovens.Tagline:The film opens in October 1944, in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. A small group of Sonderkommandos are plotting an insurrection that, they hope, will destroy at least one of the camp's four crematoria and gas chambers. They are receiving firearms from Polish citizens in the nearby village and gunpowder from the UNIO munitions factory; the women prisoners...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252480
The Triumph of Love is a 2001 romantic comedy film, based on Marivaux's play Le Triomphe de l'Amour (1732), directed by Clare Peploe, produced by her husband Bernardo Bertolucci, and starring Mira Sorvino and Ben Kingsley.In an unidentified country in 18th century Europe, a usurper's daughter (Mira Sorvino) has inherited the throne and feels guilty about her family's crimes. She learns that the rightful heir, Agis (Jay Rodan), exists but has been taught to hate her and reject all love. She falls in love with him at her first sight of him, but he is kept in seclusion by a brother (Ben Kingsley) and sister (Fiona Shaw) to protect him from her. To get close enough to Agis, she must embark on a series of bribes, deceptions, and seductions......
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253840
Summer of Sam is a 1999 film about the Son of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced by Spike Lee.It is the story of a group of people in New York City (particularly the Throgs Neck/Country Club section of The Bronx) in the summer of 1977, a time in which the headlines were dominated by the Son of Sam serial killer case. The film stars John Leguizamo, Mira Sorvino, Adrien Brody, Jennifer Esposito, Michael Imperioli (who co-wrote the screenplay), and Bebe Neuwirth.While the Son of Sam is terrorizing New York City, fear-driven residents of a tight-knit Italian American neighborhood start pointing fingers at anyone who doesn't fit in the crowd as suspects. The movie focuses on a pair of young couples. John Leguizamo plays Vincent, an unfaithful hairdresser married to Dionna (played by Mira Sorvino), a hard-working waitress. Adrien Brody plays Ritchie, one of Vincent's closest friends and a newly-turned punk who dates a woman named Ruby (Jennifer Esposito); Ritchie leads a...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162677
The Replacement Killers is a 1998 film, directed by Antoine Fuqua in his feature film debut. It stars Chow Yun Fat and Mira Sorvino. The film was Chow's American debut, but not his first shot on American soil; he previously appeared in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow 2, which was filmed partially in New York.
The film earned $8 million during its opening weekend in the U.S. and a total of $19.2 million in U.S. box officeAn "Extended Edition" DVD of the film with approximately 11 minutes of additional footage was released on April 25, 2006.
Among Rotten Tomatoes critics, only 10 of 28 (36%) rated it "Fresh", though, the website's "Cream of the Crop" reviews were 60% favorable. Roger Ebert, included in the latter group, liked the film's "simplicity of form and its richness of visuals." He continued:
Stephen Holden, in a review for The New York Times, was less impressed, calling it a "seamless fusion of Hong Kong action-adventure style and cool, Los Angeles street chic...that is otherwise...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120008
Mimic is a 1997 science fiction horror film, directed by Guillermo del Toro, with a script inspired by a short story of the same name by Donald A. Wollheim. The movie was followed by two direct-to-video sequels: Mimic 2 (2001) and Mimic 3: Sentinel (2003).
In Manhattan, cockroaches are spreading a deadly disease that is claiming hundreds of the city's children, so entomologist Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) uses genetic engineering techniques to create what she and her colleague (and husband) Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) call the Judas Breed, a large insect that will feed on the roaches carrying diseases. Since the Judas bugs have been designed so that they can't breed, the mutated species should die out in a matter of months. However, Susan, Peter, and their staff severely underestimated the creature's ability to adapt to its conditions. The Judas Breed has indeed found a way to reproduce itself, and can mimic the appearance and behavior of other creatures with uncanny accuracy --...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119675
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion is a 1997 comedy film starring Lisa Kudrow, Mira Sorvino, Janeane Garofalo, Camryn Manheim, and Alan Cumming. The plot revolves around two 28-year-old women who appear to have achieved very little success in life and decide to invent fake careers to impress former classmates at their 10 year high school reunion. The characters are taken from the stage play Ladies' Room, which also featured Kudrow.
Michele Weinberger (Kudrow) and Romy White (Sorvino) are two 28-year-old friends living together in Los Angeles, California. They are both single. When the story begins, Romy works as a cashier in a Jaguar car dealership; Michele is unemployed. They live a life of partying and fun and don't take life too seriously. After 10 years of this laid-back lifestyle, they get word of their 10-year high school reunion in their hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Desperate to make good impressions, they make last ditch attempts to get boyfriends, get better jobs, and...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120032
Beautiful Girls (1996) is a film directed by Ted Demme and starring Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, Mira Sorvino, Annabeth Gish, Timothy Hutton, Lauren Holly, Natalie Portman, Martha Plimpton, Michael Rapaport and Rosie O'Donnell.
A piano player (played by Timothy Hutton), at a crossroads in his life, returns to his hometown for a high school reunion, where he finds that his classmates are not very successful in life either, especially not in love. His heart, however, is captured by a young girl who is only thirteen but an "old soul" (played by Natalie Portman).
The theme song to the film is "Beautiful Girl" by singer Pete Droge.
Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg was living in Boston, waiting to see if Disney would use his script for Con Air. He said in an interview, "It was the worst winter ever in this small hometown. Snow plows were coming by, and I was just tired of writing these movies with people getting shot and killed. So I said, 'There is more action going on in my hometown with my...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115639
Mighty Aphrodite is a 1995 comedy film, written by, directed by and starring Woody Allen.
Allen plays Lenny, a sportswriter, who is married to Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter). Unwilling to have children of their own, they adopt a child. As the child grows and shows intellectual abilities, Lenny becomes obsessed with the children's birth parents, who he is convinced are likewise brilliant.
However, Lenny finds the birth mother, Linda (Mira Sorvino), is a prostitute and part-time porn star with limited intellectual interests and an incredibly squeaky voice. Lenny wants to free Linda from her life, but must deal with her pimp, Ricky (Dan Moran) and a society which feels morally superior to Linda because of her professional life.
The plot is clearly based on the myth of Pygmalion, which was also explored in the George Bernard Shaw play of the same name and the musical made from the play, My Fair Lady. Allen continues the classical theme by using a Greek Chorus as a sounding board for...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113819
Barcelona was a 1994 movie written and directed by Whit Stillman and set in Barcelona, Spain. The movie starred Taylor Nichols, Chris Eigeman and Mira Sorvino.
The main character in Barcelona is a Chicago salesman named Ted Boynton, who lives and works in Barcelona in the 1980s. Ted's cousin Fred, a naval officer, unexpectedly comes to stay with him at the beginning of the film. Fred has been sent to Barcelona to handle public relations ahead of the arrival of the U.S. fleet.
The cousins have had a history of conflict since they were kids, which is referred to several times in the film. Ted and Fred develop relationships with various, single Barcelona women, and experience the negative reaction of some of Barcelona's residents to Fred's presence. Ted also faces possible problems with his American employer and the idea of attraction to physical beauty.
...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109219
Mira Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey, Bergen County
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