Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Lorraine Davis, a drama therapist for Alzheimer's disease patients and former actress, and Paul Sorvino, an Italian American character actor and director. She has two siblings, Michael and Amanda; the latter is a playwright.

Her father did not want his children to become actors; at a young age, however, Sorvino wrote and acted in backyard plays with her childhood friend Hope Davis, in theater productions at Dwight-Englewood School, and at Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude in political sciences. She also helped found the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones, one of Harvard's premier co-ed a cappella groups. Her solo piece was Yazoo's "Only You".

Sorvino spent the next three years in New York City, trying to make a name for herself as an actress. When the 1993 film Amongst Friends entered pre-production, she was hired as third assistant director, then was promoted to casting director, then to assistant producer, and was finally offered a lead role. Positive reviews opened doors for her.

After small roles in Robert Redford's Quiz Show and Whit Stillman's Barcelona, she was cast in the 1995 Woody Allen film Mighty Aphrodite. Her portrayal of a happy-go-lucky prostitute made her a star, winning her an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Other credits include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion alongside Lisa Kudrow and At First Sight with Val Kilmer. She portrayed Marilyn Monroe for the 1996 HBO film Norma Jean & Marilyn.

In recent years, Sorvino has starred in lower budget and independent films. In 2005, she received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the Lifetime film Human Trafficking.

In February 2008 she guest starred in the "Frozen", of the medical television drama House. There was talk of making her character, psychiatrist Cate Milton, a recurring character; however, the writers strike put a temporary freeze on such discussions.

More recently she starred in Leningrad (2008) and Multiple Sarcasms (2010) alongisde Timothy Hutton and Stockard Channing.

She was considered for the role of video game heroine Jill Valentine in 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse' (2004) before the role was played by British actress Sienna Guillory.

Sorvino is 1.78 m (5'10") tall.[citation needed] She met actor Christopher Backus at a friend's charades party in August 2003: "He walked into the kitchen looking for silverware. We saw each other and something made us want to talk to each other more," she told People. They were engaged within a month. On June 11, 2004, they married in a private civil ceremony at the Santa Barbara, California courthouse, then later had a hilltop ceremony in Capri, Italy. Their daughter, Mattea Angel, was born on November 3, 2004 and their son, Johnny Christopher King, was born on May 29, 2006. On June 22, 2009, Sorvino gave birth to a boy named Holden Paul Terry Backus, after a long and complicated pregnancy. She has also dated director Quentin Tarantino and French actor Olivier Martinez.

She is affiliated with Amnesty International, and has been among the many Hollywood celebrities calling for United Nations action in Darfur. She spent a year of study in Beijing while attending Harvard. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and also speaks French.