Highly respected actor, Oscar winner, and late-life mother. Mira Sorvino has done it all. She and her husband, fellow actor and director Christopher Backus, were no strangers to parenthood when Sorvino turned 40; they'd already had two children. They weren't done yet though, went on to add son Holden Paul Terry in June 2009 at the age of 41, and also daughter Lucia in 2012, by which time she was 44. They joined Jonathan Christopher King and Mattea Angel to complete the family.
Away from her acting and her family life, Sorvino is one of the many women who have united to call out Harvey Weinstein for his allegedly unwelcome advances during a time when she was trying to establish herself in the industry, making her one of the icons of the #MeToo movement. She's also been affiliated with Amnesty International since 2004, taking a particular interest in trying to combat human trafficking.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.