Mira Sorvino Wants to Make a ‘Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion’ Sequel
Mira Sorvino wants to put this out into the universe — she is totally down for making a sequel to the 1997 cult comedy “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.”
“I would be so into it,” she told IndieWire at the Television Critics Association press tour. “Let the powers that be that would control the possibility of it happening decide to do it. Let’s make a sequel.”
“Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” directed by David Mirkin, featured Sorvino alongside Lisa Kudrow as two lifelong best friends who travel back to their hometown for the titular high school reunion despite the fact that they may not have fully shed their oddball natures. Thanks to Robin Schiff’s sharp script, the film dodged romantic comedy tropes to emerge as a fun, original take on female friendship — as fun and original as the clothes that Romy and Michele designed themselves.
A modest box office success (grossing $30 million domestic theatrically), “Romy and Michele” featured a cast that in the year 2017 comes off as relatively bonkers, including Janeane Garofalo, Camryn Manheim, Alan Cumming and Justin Theroux. It’s also built a massive cult following over the years, which Sorvino discovered last year at a 20th reunion screening in Los Angeles, which she attended with Schiff.
“They had this amazing prom party with all these balloons. They played all this ’80s music and had a dance party. It was so much fun,” Sorvino said. “The audience had such an overwhelmingly positive response when we walked out that I felt like for the first and only time in my life what it must feel like to be a rock star. There was this wave of standing ovation and screaming for several minutes for me and Robin, and we were like, ‘Oh my god, thank you. This is incredible.'”
Sorvino has kept busy as an actor in the 20 years since the film’s release, recently adding television to her slate with a number of appearances on shows including “Modern Family” and “Lady Dynamite.” While a number of projects are on the horizon, next she gets to join the spy game in Audience Network’s “Condor,” a new take on the classic story “Six Days of the Condor” that also stars William Hurt, Brendan Fraser, and Bob Balaban.
While bouncing between film and television is a part of her life now, something Sorvino observed was that “there’s a little bit less ego in television, honestly. I think films are constructed like mini-kingdoms. The hierarchy is king and everything has such a power structure and it’s so isolated, whereas people on television are going to work. It’s a job. You’re reporting to a larger company. You’ve got your parent network. You’ve got your studio. It’s a little bit more egalitarian and people are expected to be pretty fair in the way they treat everybody. That’s what I’ve found to be true.”
That said, Sorvino continues to be interested in film, which is good news for any fans hoping for a potential “Romy and Michele” sequel. “There’s such an enduring love for those characters — the geek underdog girl best friend heroes,” she said. “I think that means a lot to people. I think it struck a real nerve for anyone who was ever in a difficult spot in high school or beyond. The power of friendship is the power of being yourself, but also being ridiculously stupid and funny about it all.”
And the bond between Romy and Michele as characters remains as inspiring as Sorvino’s affection for Kudrow. “Lisa is funnier than ever. She’s really an extraordinary lady and I admire her so much,” she said.
And that’s why, she believes, “I think there’s an appetite for another one.”
“Condor” premieres June 2018 on the Audience Network. “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion 2” is hopefully happening soon.
