Was she really just blackballed by Harvey Weinstein (she apparently wouldn't sleep with Weinstein and he bad-mouthed her to every director he could such as Peter Jackson) or was it actually a case of her being given a number of opportunities and didn’t shine?
https://lebeauleblog.com/2011/08/07/thats-so-fetch-mira-sorvino/
I'd imagine it was more Weinstein because a lot less talented people than her had winning careers. I am sure that having a huge bigshot like Weinstein badmouth someone or make it known that he will not be happy is he sees anyone who has anything to do with him and his distribution company bring someone they doesn't like. This is the whole problem with the 0.1% running everything.
shareIt was the Jooze.
She didn't fit the usual roles in US movies.
Most roles in American movies are either hero's journeys, silly comedy or allegedly deep indie-like drama. It's (or it used to be) an industry of extremes. Mira Sorvino shined in Mighty Aphrodita, a movie that was a rara avis in American movie industry. That movie was a combination of heartwarming comedy, slice of life and light drama, perfect for Mira Sorvino, but extremely uncommon.
Something similar happened to Audrey Tatou after Amelie, and for the same reasons.
Did Hollywood actress Mira Sorvino do anything to derail a promising career in show business?
https://www.quora.com/Did-Hollywood-actress-Mira-Sorvino-do-anything-to-derail-a-promising-career-in-show-business/answer/Jon-Mixon-1
Aside from her claims about Harvey Weinstein, there are the unfortunate facts that:
1. Sorvino wasn’t bringing home the bacon at the box office - Mira Sorvino has never helmed a film that earned a great deal of money. She’s a character actor and even then she wasn’t in any films that were box office gold.
2. She didn’t choose her film roles well - Basically, since what were her “best” roles (Mighty Aphrodite and Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion) Sorvino has appeared in a range of films, most of them terrible. In fact, Sorvino seems to have gone out of her way to pick sh*tty as one would think that she would have been able to land at least one good one since 2010.
3. Her personal life should have been a LOT more low-key - Basically if you read about her offscreen life, you realize that you are less inclined to see her onscreen.
4. She really should have gone to television - Seriously. Sorvino was appealing when she was younger. However, her limited range and her noticeable lack of charisma in roles make her more suited to television (especially streaming) more than it does feature films. Why she didn’t go to television and try to land a series in the early 2000s remains a minor mystery.
Probably more Weinstein than anything else, she's continued to work as an actor in spite of falling off the A-list. Weinstein was shafting her career in the late 1990s, Peter Jackson when he was casting the "Lord of the Rings" movies Weinstein told him in a just-between-pals sort of way that Sorvino was difficult and Jackson should steer clear, the SOB was clever enough to disguise his intention and not just tell Hollywood not to hire her because she wouldn't fuck him.
But she has a lot of credits since then, in addition to having 4 kids and being politically active. She seems to be doing pretty well, in spite of not being an A-list star.