‘Shining Vale’ Season 2: How Mira Sorvino Tackled Multiple Characters and Prioritized Her Religion Over the Script
variety.comEmily Longeretta Mira Sorvino wasn’t about to start conjuring up any spirits on the set of “Shining Vale.” When she learned she’d be playing three characters — Rosemary Wellington, Ruth Levin and Nellie Burke — in the second season of the Starz comedy, the actor immediately asked showrunner Jeff Astrof for details so she could start prepping. “It was very ambitious,” Astroff told Variety on the Los Angeles set of the second season about his big ideas for the new episodes.
But he was determined to continue the story, which picks up four months after the events of Season 1, as Pat (Courteney Cox) has been institutionalized and put under shock therapy.
This season pulls inspiration from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Ring” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” among other sources.
In fact, Sorvino’s Ruth, who is Pat’s neighbor, is similar to Minnie Castevet, the character played by Ruth Gordon in “Rosemary’s Baby.” “I rewatched but I wasn’t going to do an imitation; the character is Jewish, from Brooklyn, and very outspoken.
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