“There will never be another Paul Sorvino.”
Acclaimed actor Paul Sorvino has passed away at the age of 83.
The veteran performer, perhaps best known for his role as Paul Cicero in Goodfellas, died of natural causes, per a statement issued by his family.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news on Monday evening (25 July), quoting his wife Dee Dee, who said: “Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage.”
Sorvino’s family includes daughter Mira, who has enjoyed a prolific film career of her own as an actor, winning both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for 1995 comedy Mighty Aphrodite.
Mira Sorvino thanked her father, Paul Sorvino, in her Oscars acceptance speech, which brought him to tears pic.twitter.com/ebzpTT1IKb
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 25, 2022
Paul Sorvino’s run kicked off in 1970 and featured numerous memorable performances in the likes of The Gambler, Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet, Nixon, The Firm, The Rocketeer, Dick Tracy, and of course the aforementioned Goodfellas, in which he played a pivotal part just outside of the film’s three leading men.
Speaking to the New York Times in 2015, Sorvino recalled his nervousness at stepping into the shoes of “a really tough guy”, noting that he wasn’t certain he was up to the task.
“I’d done a lot of comedies as well as dramas, but I’d never done a really tough guy,” he said.
“I never had it in me. And this [part] called for a lethality, which I felt was way beyond me. I called my manager three days before we started shooting and said, ‘Get me out. I’m going to ruin this great man’s picture, and I’m going to ruin myself.’ He, being wise, said, ‘Call me tomorrow, and if necessary I will get you out.’
“Then I was going by the hall mirror to adjust my tie. I was just inconsolable. And I looked in the mirror and literally jumped back a foot. I saw a look I’d never seen, something in my eyes that alarmed me. A deadly soulless look in my eyes that scared me and was overwhelmingly threatening. And I looked to the heavens and said, ‘You’ve found it.’.”
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