Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage: For My Mom

Sometimes, I don't know whose life I'm living. Just today on my morning hike I passed Laurence Fishburne and I swear to God we did a little heeeyy nod to each other as if he were saying, "Yep, it's me." I'm not particularly enamored with celebrity, but occasionally I will meet a well-known actor who rocks my world because they seem to be in the business for all of the right reasons and they use their celebrity status for good.

When I was a teenager (you know, like two years ago? ha. ha.) I couldn't seem to find my place in the world. Does any teenager? I didn't have a lot of friends, I was horribly picked on, I was brainy and a little too serious, and I felt suffocated and limited in options in my tiny town of 1,000 people. On top of that, I wanted be an actor. My mom recognized all of my dreams and struggles and honed in on this interview that Geena Davis did for Parade Magazine or some-such at the height of her career, cut it out and told me to keep it for inspiration. "This is you!" she said. Bless my lovely mom! I wish I still had the article, but the gist of it was that Ms. Davis had also felt suffocated, misunderstood, picked on, left out, too brainy (she is a Mensa member, after all) and she suffered from low self-esteem. Point is, she overcame all of those obstacles to win an Oscar and that was sweet music to my angst-y fifteen year old ears.

It's funny how something so simple had such an impact on me. It's also funny how life has a way of coming full circle. Part of my new job is planning special industry events and my first event just so happened to be an evening with none other than Geena Davis! I had the opportunity to tell her this story at the end of the night. I think people--even celebrities--need to know when they've had a positive impact. Whose life am I living again?

But more importantly, that Geena Davis is a smart cookie. She raised enough money to fund the largest research project ever undertaken on gender in the media. In 2007, she launched The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media and began a grassroots campaign to share her findings in a collaborative environment with the entertainment industry in an effort to dramatically increase the presence of female characters, specifically aimed at children, in order to reduce stereotyping of both males and females. Her presentation at the event was not only electrifying but shocking. I encourage everybody in the entertainment field to check out her website--www.seejane.org--and investigate her research, including this statistic: Of the 400 top-grossing films in the G, PG, PG-13 and R Category from 1990-2006, 73% of the roles were male. That translates to a ratio of 2.71 male roles to every 1 female. As Ms. Davis pointed out, 51% of the world is female...but we'll settle for half.

I like smart actors. I like actors who use their influence for good. I like actresses who take on bold, strong female roles. My mom was right about that Geena Davis. She is definitely a good person to look to for guidance in this tenuous business.

--Stacey Jackson