Mira Sorvino's Daughter Proud of 'The Mommy Movie'
 Danielle K/Scott A/Bauer Griffin |
If no one else likes her work in the television film The Last Templar, it’s okay for actress Mira Sorvino — because her 4-year-old daughter, Mattea Angel, loved it! “I screened it for my family and she was like, ‘That’s mommy!,” shares the 41-year-old. “I had to cover her eyes during the scenes that had to do with the murder story and, of course, the love scene, but after it was over, she said, ‘I want to see The Mommy Movie again!’ She really loved it.”
The one part that Mattea didn’t quite like was seeing her mom “loving another child. She did not like that I had another daughter that I loved.” But Mira used her feelings as mom to Mattea and 2 ½-year-0ld son Johnny Christopher King to help build her character for the film.
“Knowing how much I care about my own children, and how excruciating it is to make any choice that involves spending time away from them — I’ve actually only spent two nights away from my daughter and one night away from my son ever — I could relate to that. So, I just beefed up her warmth towards her daughter, and how much she takes care of her.”
Click below to read about the family’s extensive travels!
Taking part in The Last Templar seemed a natural step for Mira, who admits she loves history and has started watching The History Channel. Recently, she and husband Christopher Backus, along with Mattea and Johnny, attended the Cairo Film Festival, where they saw “the pyramids and the Sphynx and the Valley of the Kings. The kids just loved that, so as soon as we came home, I started watching anything that there was on television on Egypt.” However, “the only problem is that they all have re-enactments of various assassinations. It’s a bit too much for the kids.”
The kids and their mom were able to learn more about history as they traveled for Mira’s role in The Last Templar. At one point they were all in the desert of Morocco with actor Omar Sharif, who “regaled us with amazing stories from throughout his filmography.” Omar may be “a very charming man,” but Mattea and Johnny were “a little nervous” when they met him. Omar put them completely at ease, though, when “he told them he was Santa Claus, and then they loved him.”
That wasn’t all the fun they had. While traveling, “we started a journal for my daughter, Mattea, and she was writing about riding camels,” shared Mira, adding, “We took a camel ride into the desert.” Mattea even learned a new language along the way:
“In Canada, we started teaching her French. She’s got a really great ear, so she was very proud of herself saying, ‘Bonjour!’ and ‘Merci!,’ and all of that.”
Thanks to the work that Mira does, her kids “seem to have a real appetite for travel now, which is great.” The actress revealed that “we just went to the Egypt Film Festival in November to premiere my film Leningrad, and [the kids] were very excited to see the pyramids and to, once again, ride more camels there and to go dance in the courtyard of the Temple of Luxor.” Mira loves that her children like to venture to different places because she traveled a lot with her own parents. “I still treasure those memories of being in the Bahamas with those supposed talking dolphins of Day of the Dolphin, or going to Spain when my dad did A Touch of Class,” she explains. To this day, Mira loves to travel and believes that her childhood “gave me my wanderlust and, as long as you spend all of your spare time with your children, when you’re doing this sort of thing, it’s not necessarily a bad thing for them.”
Mira enjoyed making this television film, but don’t expect to see her venturing into a regular prime time role anytime soon — other than an occasional guest appearance. She has yet to find something to make “me say, ‘Okay, I could potentially commit seven years of my life to this.’” Recognizing “that’s a huge amount of time” and that “my kids aren’t even in elementary school yet,” Mira knows that would not work for her.
“Working as much as I have, while they’ve been on the planet, has been a real trial for me. I grew up with a stay-at-home mom, so I always feel like a terrible person when I go off to work, but I’ve limited it to six months or less, per year.”
Even if she found a show where she could film for six months, “in the interim I’d be like, ‘Oh, I want to do that film.’ And then, all of a sudden, I’d be working all the time, and I wouldn’t be a very good mother.” However, Mira loved her stint on House and “would love nothing more than to come back for an arc on that show.” She believes that would be “the best of both worlds,” because “I could piggyback off of their remarkable show and their great writing.” Best of all, “I wouldn’t have to commit to seven years.”
Source: MediaBlvd
