Christopher Backus and Mira Sorvino Share the Invaluable Parenting Advice They Got from Her Late Dad Paul Sorvino (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Paul Sorvino attends the 2008 Venetian Ball; Christopher Backus and Mira Sorvino attend the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.Photo:George Pimentel/WireImage; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

George Pimentel/WireImage; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Christopher BackusandMira Sorvinoare sharing the important parenting advice they once received from her late fatherPaul Sorvino.The actor, 43, and theRomy and Michele’s High School Reunionactress, 57, spoke with PEOPLE about their new filmDaft State, and shared some of the great parenting advice they got from Paul that helped Backus in his lead role in the new psychological thriller, out now.Backus and Mira are parents to daughtersMattea, 20, andLucia, 12, as well as sonsJohnny, 18, andHolden, 15. And the real-life dad of four remembered specific words from his late father-in-law as he played a struggling dad inDaft State.“Mira’s dad once said to me, ‘You imagine that someone took one hair off your kid’s head. It’s a rage. You can feel it,’ " Backus remembers. “If something happens to someone else somewhere far away, you go, ‘That’s really sad,’ but it doesn’t really have the same effect as the one piece of hair that’s taken from your kid’s head.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.Mira Sorvino and Christopher Backus with their kids Johnny, Holden and Mattea.Mira Sorvino Instagram"So it’s finding the right balance to play that side,” he adds.Mira agrees, saying that her dad once did a movie calledSurvivingabout a teen suicide, and made the mistake of drawing from the fantasy of one of his daughters dying to act the scene out.“And he said he never slept through the night again. He never slept through the night again without nightmares,” she shares.“So he warned me never use your own kids,” Mira recalls, before relating the experience of her dad’s to her and Backus' work on their upcoming movieBaggage Check, which they’re filming now and in which she and her husband play “an estranged couple” whose child was abducted years earlier.Christopher Backus and Mira Sorvino with their kids in 2023.Fred Hayes/Getty"So I try and build in my mind — in this story we have this son, Bryce. And I’m building in my mind who Bryce is and what I love about Bryce and what’s special about him,” theOscarwinner says.“And I love my own children so much. It’s quite easy for me to imagine loving this other pretend child because the love that I have is so big for them,” she continues. “But weirdly, while we’re shooting this, all of a sudden because my phone is doing this thing now where it’s showing me random pictures from my albums as my screensaver because I don’t pick screensavers.“Mira adds, “And somehow I press something and it keeps showing me pictures of young Johnny when Johnny was the age of this Bryce character. They come across, I was like, “No, get off!' “Daft Stateis out now.

Christopher BackusandMira Sorvinoare sharing the important parenting advice they once received from her late fatherPaul Sorvino.

The actor, 43, and theRomy and Michele’s High School Reunionactress, 57, spoke with PEOPLE about their new filmDaft State, and shared some of the great parenting advice they got from Paul that helped Backus in his lead role in the new psychological thriller, out now.

Backus and Mira are parents to daughtersMattea, 20, andLucia, 12, as well as sonsJohnny, 18, andHolden, 15. And the real-life dad of four remembered specific words from his late father-in-law as he played a struggling dad inDaft State.

“Mira’s dad once said to me, ‘You imagine that someone took one hair off your kid’s head. It’s a rage. You can feel it,’ " Backus remembers. “If something happens to someone else somewhere far away, you go, ‘That’s really sad,’ but it doesn’t really have the same effect as the one piece of hair that’s taken from your kid’s head.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Mira Sorvino and Christopher Backus with their kids Johnny, Holden and Mattea.Mira Sorvino Instagram

Mira Sorvino Instagram

“So it’s finding the right balance to play that side,” he adds.

Mira agrees, saying that her dad once did a movie calledSurvivingabout a teen suicide, and made the mistake of drawing from the fantasy of one of his daughters dying to act the scene out.

“And he said he never slept through the night again. He never slept through the night again without nightmares,” she shares.

“So he warned me never use your own kids,” Mira recalls, before relating the experience of her dad’s to her and Backus' work on their upcoming movieBaggage Check, which they’re filming now and in which she and her husband play “an estranged couple” whose child was abducted years earlier.

Christopher Backus and Mira Sorvino with their kids in 2023.Fred Hayes/Getty

Fred Hayes/Getty

“So I try and build in my mind — in this story we have this son, Bryce. And I’m building in my mind who Bryce is and what I love about Bryce and what’s special about him,” theOscarwinner says.

“And I love my own children so much. It’s quite easy for me to imagine loving this other pretend child because the love that I have is so big for them,” she continues. “But weirdly, while we’re shooting this, all of a sudden because my phone is doing this thing now where it’s showing me random pictures from my albums as my screensaver because I don’t pick screensavers.”

Mira adds, “And somehow I press something and it keeps showing me pictures of young Johnny when Johnny was the age of this Bryce character. They come across, I was like, “No, get off!' "

Daft Stateis out now.

source: people.com