As her campaign against sexual harassment in Hollywood continues, Mira Sorvino spoke on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s podcast “HFPA In Conversation,” saying that one of her many sexual harassment encounters involved an unnamed Oscar-winning director.
During the interview, Sorvino described the director as one who is “known for his social justice profile” in several of his films. She said that during the final round of auditions for one of his films, the director told her, “‘You know, as I look at you my mind can’t help but traveling from the artistic possibilities to the sexual.’”
“I think my mouth just opened and my silence was deafening,” Sorvino said of the exchange. The actress said it was just one of several instances in which she was harassed while auditioning for acting parts, and that she was told by friends that “you’re going to absolutely have to have sex with all kinds of people to advance your career.”
Sorvino has been one of the most prominent faces of the #MeToo movement since she came forward about Harvey Weinstein’s harassment of her in Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker exposé that led to the producer’s downfall. Since then, Peter Jackson said that Sorvino, along with fellow Weinstein accuser Ashley Judd, lost roles in his “Lord of the Rings” films after Weinstein and his studio, Miramax, told him that they were a “nightmare to work with.”
“I burst out crying,” Sorvino tweeted in response to Jackson’s confession. “There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure. Thank you Peter Jackson for being honest. I’m just heartsick.”
Sorvino also apologized to Dylan Farrow in an open letter published in January for working with Woody Allen, who is accused of abusing Farrow in 1992, on the film “Mighty Aphrodite.” Sorvino’s performance in that film won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1995.
“I have since gotten to know Dylan and I believe her. She’s a wonderful person and I think she’s been maligned for a long time,” she said we can’t just wish away with cognitive dissonance the fact that our heroes are capable of doing something heinous, and he was my hero.”
A representative for Sorvino didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for further comment.
Listen to Sorvino’s interview on “HFPA In Conversation” below: