Honoring her loved one. Mira Sorvino opened up about her frustrations after her late father, Paul Sorvino, was left out of the 2023 Oscars “In Memoriam” segment.
“I for one am remembering Dad on this Oscars night….” Mira, 55, wrote via Twitter on Monday, March 13, one day after the event. “It is baffling beyond belief that my beloved father and many other amazing brilliant departed actors were left out. The Oscars forgot about Paul Sorvino, but the rest of us never will!!”
A section of the 95th annual Academy Awards, held on Sunday, March 12, paid tribute to those in the entertainment industry who have died in the past year. The segment was introduced by John Travolta and included a heartfelt performance by Lenny Kravitz who sang while Hollywood mourned those they’ve lost.
A photo of Mira’s father, however, did not grace the screen on Sunday night. The actor — best known for his roles in Goodfellas and Law & Order — died of natural causes in July 2022 at 83. Other notable stars, including Anne Heche and Charlbi Dean, who was the star of Best Picture nominee Triangle of Sadness, were also missing from the list. However, a QR code appeared on screen during the segment urging viewers to scan their phones for a more extensive list of honorees.
The Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion star later returned to social media on Monday to further share her disappointment in the decision, asking the Academy to fix their error in judgment.
“Incredibly hurt and shocked that my father’s lifelong, irreplaceable, enormous contribution to the world of cinema was overlooked by whomever made that list,” she wrote via Instagram. “We his adoring family, and you, his adoring public, know just how unique and incredible he was. We hope @theacademy does something to put this right.”
Mira also recalled a memory of sharing her own 1996 Oscars win — when she took home the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Linda Ash in Mighty Aphrodite — with her father.
“On this Oscars night I am so happy for all of the nominees and the winners, but I am also moved in a thousand different ways when I think of the night I got to share my Academy Award with my Dad, the very great actor Paul Sorvino, who was never nominated,” she captioned a clip from the big night. “To get to share this blindingly positive moment with my father… My first and best teacher, my beloved Daddy who came to all the school plays and loved from the bottom of his heart, the brilliant thespian whom all his colleagues revered as one of the greatest, to get to give back to him what he had been giving me all my life- love and belief and admiration and gratitude. On this first year after his passing it is truly a bittersweet but beautiful memory.”
In addition to his portrayal of Paulie Cicero in Goodfellas, Paul landed roles in various critically acclaimed films including The Rocketeer, Nixon, Money Talks and more. From 2019 to 2021, he starred on The Godfather of Harlem and he completed filming on several upcoming projects prior to his death.
The New York native worked in several facets of the entertainment industry and was nominated for a 1973 Tony Award for his time on Broadway’s That Championship Season — a role he reprised for the 1999 TV movie, which he also directed. Off screen, the SAG award nominee was also an opera singer and a sculptor.
On Monday, Paul’s wife, Dee Dee Sorvino — who tied the knot with the Law & Order alum in 2014 — also expressed her concern over the segment, even calling for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science to apologize for their failure to include him.
“Paul Sorvino was one of the greatest actors in cinematic history in Hollywood. It is unconscionable that he would be left out of the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars,” she said in a statement to People on Monday. “It’s a three-hour show, they can’t give a couple more minutes to get it right? Paul Sorvino gave decades to this industry and was loved by all. The Academy needs to issue an apology, admit the mistake and do better. Paul Sorvino deserves better, the audience deserves better. Is the Academy so jaded they forget people who are loved, who have given their hearts to this industry?”
Dee Dee concluded her statement by calling the decision a “big” mistake, adding that something must be done to “make it right.”
