The world said goodbye to legendary actor Paul Sorvino this week, who died at 83 on Monday from natural causes after having suffered from health issues in recent years.
In addition to being a great actor, best known for his role as Paulie Cicero in the 1990 gangster film Goodfellas, Sorvino was also a loving and protective father to his daughter, Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino. Unfortunately, as the 54-year-old revealed to Ronan Farrow for his October 2017 New Yorker bombshell, she too had fallen victim to the advances of disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, and genuinely believed that her career had been sabotaged after she rebuffed him.
A few months later, while attending a Golden Globes event in January 2018, the elder Sorvino was asked about the scandal and he certainly did not mince words.
“It is reprehensible beyond description that women have been treated in this manner,” Sorvino told Los Angeles KCAL 9 News at the time. “You know, when you’ve had a phenomenal mother like I had, you are automatically a feminist. That’s why I have this wonderful wife. The reality is that anyone who takes advantage of women should be publicly strangled and I’ll — I’ll volunteer.”
A clip of the interview resurfaced shortly after the news of Sorvino’s death hit the internet and quickly went viral.
Shortly after Farrow published his report, Sorvino penned an op-ed for Time magazine to elaborate on why she ultimately decided to share her story — even if she knew it meant potentially further jeopardizing her career.
For another 24 hours, I second-guessed my decision, wondering if I would ever work again, wondering if being a whistleblower would mean being blacklisted. But once I knew the story was going to print and it was irrevocable, an enormous peace washed over me — a sense that finally I had taken my personal power back from a man who has made me scared every time I have seen him in public. My fear of what could be done to me has been outweighed by an overwhelming sense that I am living with full courage and honesty.
In the days since, as other women have spoken out, the support has been overwhelming and deeply gratifying. Those of us who have spoken out tapped into an national community of girls, women, boys and men, from every walk of life, who have been subject to this pandemic of sexual harassment and abuse.
Even if Sorvino was initially reluctant to come forward, it sounds like she had the support of her famous father, anyway. He will certainly be missed.