10 Breakout Movie Performances That Ultimately Went Nowhere

The Big Break:

Previously best known as the daughter of jobbing gangster or cop character actor Paul Sorvino, Mira Sorvino shot to fame as a dim-witted happy-go-lucky sex worker in Woody Allen's frothy 1995 comedy Mighty Aphrodite.

Showing up at that year's awards ceremonies on the arm of new boyfriend Quentin Tarantino, the hottest directorial star of the moment, to win herself an Oscar and a Golden Globe, Sorvino seemed to have a bright future ahead of her.

Her association with Miramax, the studio behind both Mighty Aphrodite and Tarantino's own success, promised to be her doorway to future stardom with the studio giving her the lead in the first Hollywood movie of promising new Mexican director Guillermo del Toro and linking her to their possible Lord Of The Rings adaptation.

But Then:

The problem with Miramax, however, was having to work with the Weinstein brothers. While making Del Toro's Mimic, her biggest budget film to date, Sorvino had to intervene on her director's behalf after Bob Weinstein stormed onto the set to browbeat Del Toro into making a "scarier" movie, trying to fire him before his Hollywood career had really begun. The toxic production translated to a film that was a critical and commercial flop.

And, of course, Bob wasn't even the worst Weinstein. Sorvino was one of the many up-and-coming 90s stars to fall foul of notorious sexual predator Harvey Weinstein. On rejecting his advances, Harvey spread the story that she was impossible to work with. His anti-recommendation even carried forward to Lord Of The Rings when production passed from Miramax to New Line, resulting in Sorvino missing out on a part in the era-defining franchise.

Sorvino continues to work regularly in minor movie roles and TV guest spots, but her career is closer to that of her supporting player father than the star she might have been.