She won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in the comedy film, Mighty Aphrodite. She has also appeared in Like Dandelion Dust and The Presence. In 2016, she guest starred as herself in an episode of Netflix series Lady Dynamite.
She acted in theater productions while studying East Asian Studies at Harvard.
She played Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and starred in Attack at Leningrad.
She married Christopher Backus in June of 2004. The couple welcomed their first child, Mattea, in November of 2004, followed by three more children: Johnny, Lucia and Holden. Her father is Paul Sorvino.
She portrayed Marilyn Monroe in the movie Norma Jean & Marilyn.