Flicks

Mira Sorvino: Yes, the genre has certain traditions that have become part of our collective unconscious. Any time you do a film like MIMIC, the audience is going to have preconceptions. That can be a negative. You can also use those preconceptions to create the kind of anxiety and even fright that you want. Sometimes, you can build tension by raising their expectations that something is going to happen and then confounding those expectations.

Stoner: Hitchcock was known for that.

Sorvino: Yes, and this director [Guillermo Del Toro] has very strong instincts about this genre. It's a dark, almost gothic, feeling. And the music--we didn't use a rock score; it's the kind of classic soundtrack you used to hear in films of this type.

Stoner: Your character, and that of your fellow scientist-husband's, is an intellectual, but there is an interesting lesson about the limitations of the intellect in moments of great danger.

Sorvino: Well, it IS an indictment of the hubris of the intellect, I suppose. My character is brilliant, but all of her brilliance doesn't help her when the chips are down. She must learn to trust her instincts and survival skills. I liked that about her--that she was so courageous and resourceful. If people remembered me ONLY for this role, I could be happy because I respected her so much.

Stoner: This kind of film makes you wonder how you would handle a situation, doesn't it? Don't you wonder how Mira would act--not your character, YOU?

Sorvino: Sure, but you base your character on how you THINK you would react. I don't know, of course, but I tried to put myself in her situation. Then, the reactions that she had were as close to the ones that I could imagine for her IF I were in a similar situation. So, in a way, as an actress, that IS how I would react, as far as I can tell from this side of the experience.

Stoner: But how three-dimensional can a character be in a film like this?

Sorvino: That's what interested me in her. She's a real person who not only has to deal with a horrible situation but is also responsible for it to begin with. She caused it. That adds an extra level of credibility and complexity to her character. I liked the fact that she not only had to cope with all that she does, she also had to cope with the realization of her own culpability. There's more to her than just the usual woman in danger.