Actor Mira Sorvino has given her thoughts on the recent arrest and arraignment of Harvey Weinstein, saying that “it feels like a really good first step” but that celebrations will be saved for when he “gets convicted and goes to jail.”

Speaking on The Today Show to promote her new show Condor, Sorvino opened up about being sexually harassed by Weinstein in the Nineties and what it has been like watching the allegations against him unfold.   

Weinstein appeared in court in New York on Tuesday (5 June) and pleaded not guilty to all rape and criminal sex charges made against him by numerous women.

He is currently free on $1million (£751,000) bail and has agreed to wear a GPS tracker and to surrender his passport. If he is convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison. 

Speaking about the recent proceedings to the chat show hosts, Sorvino said: “He’s raped many people I love so it’s not really a happy occasion.

“I think maybe there will be some celebration when he gets convicted and goes to jail. That’s when the process will be complete and we will see justice really being served.”

Sorvino spoke to Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker back in October 2017, accusing the movie mogul of sexually harassing her, using his power against her and jeopardising her career. 

Although Sorvino maintains that at the time of the harassment, she told “everyone” she knew about what Weinstein was doing, she didn’t feel encouraged to go public by those close to her. 

Elaborating on this, she said: “No one said, ‘Hey this is sexual harassment, you should go to the authorities, you have a case, you should go to the police, maybe it’s assault’.’”

“No one said anything like that. Everyone was just kind of comforting about it. I didn’t really understand the law and I didn’t think I was important enough to make a big deal over. So I just kind of tried to put it to the side and keep working and go on about my life. I think a lot of people felt that way and none of us compared notes.”

Sorvino also commented on her previous suspicions that Weinstein had intentionally damaged her career, which were confirmed when Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson admitted that Weinstein had discouraged him from casting both Sorvino and Ashley Judd.

“I just knew that my career had kind of slumped and I thought, ‘Well maybe it’s my fault,’” Sorvino explained. 

“Maybe I’ve had too many children, I’ve been pregnant too many times. You know, sometimes you have bad luck and I was like, okay, maybe it wasn’t meant to be that my career was going to continue at the same level that it had been.”

Sorvino is now working on raising awareness of sexual harassment in California. Speaking about her work with schools and community, she said: “If we’re at the cusp of this moment where all of this action, all of this legislation, but also this culture changing where we’re working with children, we’re working with high school students, we’re working with men to change the idea of what being a strong man is and how to not do this to people and for women and boys and girls to know their rights, then all of this will have been worth it in some crazy way. 

“If culture’s going to change and less people will be sexually assaulted because of this movement and this outcry among millions across the world, then it was all worth it.”

Images: Getty