- 8 hours ago
Inventing Anna Cast Interview
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00:00Sharonda Williams, Pair of Weights. Hi, how are both of you doing today?
00:03Hello, Sharonda.
00:06Okay, you're giving me color, the hair. Look at y'all. Y'all so cute.
00:11You know, we got to mix it up. We got to like, you know, we have to celebrate Inventing Anna
00:16and this event television, Shonda Rhimes' first show that she's written for Netflix.
00:24We have to bring the heat.
00:26Y'all did that.
00:27Well, one of the first questions that I wanted to ask the both of you is, you know, watching
00:33this series, it really reminded me on how important it is to bet on yourself, to believe in yourself
00:40so much that other people have to believe in you. And so my question for the both of you
00:45is, what was that moment where you, when you truly learn, like, this is the moment that
00:52made me want to bet on myself?
00:53Oh, that's, that's a deep question.
00:57That's an intense question.
00:59But y'all go deep with me, okay?
01:01You know, I, there's been many moments. I think that's something you have to reaffirm. I don't
01:06think that's a one in time.
01:07Yeah, I agree with that.
01:08There's been many moments when I've made choices. I remember one of the first, one of the first
01:13was me transitioning, you know, in 1998 and going to Dr. Rich's office and starting my medical
01:18transition and accepting that I was trans. But another one was when Candace Kane was on Dirty
01:23Sexy Money in 2007. And I was, and I saw the first openly transgender actress have a recurring
01:30role in a primetime television show. And I said, it's possible. This is possible. And I can do this.
01:36And I made 500 postcards that said, Laverne Cox is the answer to all your transgender acting needs,
01:42sent him to agents, 500 agents and casting directors, got four meetings. And my manager
01:48to this day, Paul Haleppo, happened because of that meeting. And that was me betting on myself,
01:56but it was also me finally claiming my transness in a way. And that changed my life.
02:03I love it. Okay. Katie, tell me about you.
02:08Oh my goodness. I mean, there's so, I like Laverne so eloquently said, I think a lot of times betting on
02:15yourself comes in waves and can waver. And it is about reconfirming it in yourself. I also think
02:23you change and you shift, you know, um, a lot in the choices that you make in your life. Um,
02:30gosh, you know, Shonda Rhimes has helped me so many times just reconfirm my talent and my
02:38deservingness to be here. Um, I can remember, um, you know, having not never booking a job ever,
02:47ever, ever waitressing, babysitting Laverne and I connect a lot on this. I was a cocktail waitress
02:52at Maritime Hotel for a million years in the two thousands. Like, and, you know, I remember
02:56first seeing the Grey's Anatomy and seeing, um, that, that Shonda Rhimes was casting all different
03:05types of women. Um, because I had been told, you know, I had been, I couldn't get an agent. They
03:11said I was too fat for TV and I would never work. I mean, horrible, horrible things, but I remember
03:16just seeing a Shonda Rhimes show the great, and I remember thinking she likes people. It seems like
03:23she likes people. And I like to play people, you know, like I'm, I'm, I might not be a model. I
03:28might not be this, that, or the other thing, but, but I think she likes people. And I remember the
03:33first time I got an audition being like, I think I'm supposed to be here. And I'm like affirmed my
03:39talent and my, um, you know, really coming to terms with who I am and what I bring to the table,
03:46um, and why it's important for me to be here. And sometimes what I'm hearing Katie's story is
03:52sometimes it helps for us to see someone else believe in us to inspire us to bet on ourselves,
04:00to like someone else to create a space. Sometimes the space has to be created so that you can actually
04:06begin to see yourself. Candace Kane created that space for me. Shonda Rhimes created that space for
04:11you to be able to bet on yourself. So like, like there has to be a framework sometimes, you know,
04:17and then sometimes we have to create the framework. Um, sometimes we have to create the table as we,
04:23as we often say. Well, look, you both have given me a word today. So thank you. Thank you for sharing
04:29your stories because it inspired me and it was fire so many others. So I am just sitting in love and light
04:35your way. I really appreciate you speaking with me and I hope you have the most amazing rest of
04:40your day. Thank you so much. Thank you. The nails are giving. The nails are giving. Giving. Gorgeous.
04:48Yes. Bye. Give it to us. Give it to us. Thank you. Hi, how are you doing today? How are you? I'm
04:57doing good. I like this whole color combo that you have going with the paint. It's, it's so accidental too,
05:03because this is a hotel. And of course we chose, you know, I chose to wear this, like not knowing
05:07what the hotel would look like. So yes, it's just, it's, we're, we're calling, we're, we're a vision
05:12in Sherbert today. I'm like, no one's going to believe you because of how spot on this is,
05:17but I'm going to believe you. Okay. But please believe me.
05:23One of the first questions that I wanted to ask you is, you know, one of the things that really stood
05:28out to me while watching the series was about how important it is to bet on yourself and how,
05:35you know, with this woman, she believed in herself so much that she was able to convince all of these
05:41other people to believe in her. I wanted to ask you, what was that moment in your life, you know,
05:47where you realized, like, I have to bet on myself. Like this was the moment that made me know that I
05:53have to bet on myself. Becoming an actor again. Yeah. As a grownup, I was in publishing. I was an
06:00editorial assistant for a science fiction fantasy imprint, which is a really fun nine to five job.
06:05But I was, you know, if, if, if choosing, you know, art and books about mages and wizards,
06:12isn't making you happy, then you have to figure out why. And because it's a pretty happy making
06:19experience. And, and that's when I, yeah, I had to admit that I, I needed to try being an actor.
06:26But as a grownup of my own volition of my own choice of agency and, and yeah, I quit the nine
06:33to five and kind of committed to, to living on some savings for a while. So yeah, that was a bet.
06:40That was a bet on myself. And it turned out I'm a hero. It paid off. Yeah, it did. I, I can't explain it.
06:49One of the things that the characters learn in this series is really when to place boundaries,
06:55right? Um, how to place healthy boundaries around people who can be draining. And I wanted to know
07:01for you, like, what advice would you have for that? Cause I think we all deal with it.
07:05I am just, I am this, you know, this is such a, uh, um, you know, um, uh, a topic of the time
07:13right now, right? Like anywhere you go, we will, you know, we're all helping each other figure out
07:18like, Oh no, healthy boundaries, healthy about, you know, like boundaries. Yes. What are those?
07:22And, you know, and yes, definitely, you know, the way that I was raised boundaries were not a thing.
07:27And, um, and I think that's the case for, for plenty, for different reasons. And we're all
07:32learning now. And, um, and I think that it's, it's, it's sort of a lovely thing to be, you know,
07:38rooting for each other in understanding this and, uh, and developing a new language around it.
07:44Um, you know, uh, yeah. Every time Casey talks about those things and, you know, sometimes,
07:50um, it can, it can feel, you know, a little tongue in cheek, but honestly, everything she says is,
07:55is spot on true. You know, you got to take that advice. Cause she got out of there.
08:01I'm going to protect my peace. I'm not doing this with y'all. Right. I'm not going to make it through
08:06the series. Cause I'm going to pick me first. That's right. That's right. But look, I want to thank
08:11you so much for talking to me today. I also want to thank you for choosing acting again as well
08:17for the opportunity to happen, but I'm just in this so much love and light your way. And I really
08:22hope that you enjoy the rest of your day. Oh, I receive it. And I said it too. Thank you.
08:29Thank you. Hi, how are both of you doing today? Well, look at that background.
08:36I love to keep the thing going. Okay. I have to keep it going. Thank you.
08:44Well, look, I got my entire life watching the series and you know, there's so many different
08:50things that you can take away from it. But I think for me, one of the biggest things was how
08:55Anna's character always better herself to the point where it was almost inspiring,
09:01like how much she believed in her dreams. And I want to know for the both of you, like,
09:06what was that moment when you truly learned like how to bet on yourself? Like what was that moment
09:12for you? I actually think the, the start of that journey that I am very much still on,
09:18um, I have to give to the show and to Shonda specifically. I remember at the table read,
09:25um, I was shaking in my boots a little bit and she might've felt it. Um, but she called me over
09:30and we had a little bit of a moment and she said, um, you know, I've had three moments of sort of gut
09:36feelings about actresses making, making a splash. And the first was Katie Lowe's. The second was Sandra
09:42Oh, and you are the third. And it really like changed the way I felt I was able to show up
09:52for this work, but, but also for myself. And I, and I haven't really looked back since she,
09:58she really implanted something in me that I'll, I'll take with me for the rest of my journey.
10:04That's so amazing. I'm so proud of you. Come on.
10:07Thank you, baby. Thank you.
10:09Okay. Um, I had the unbelievable privilege, Sharonda, to be on Broadway. Um, when I was 30 years old,
10:18I'm an Iranian immigrant, had two kids living on unemployment and I was on starring on a Broadway
10:24show opposite Robin Williams. And, um, Robin basically, you know, was my mentor. I mean,
10:32he really not about acting more about like human being and how to like treat other people and
10:38really how that's going to be more important. And he said to me once in backstage near our dressing
10:44rooms or next to each other, he said to me, he goes, the difference between an A plus actor
10:48and a B plus actor is not talent. It's how you treat people. And I kind of latch onto that.
10:57Iranians have a good sense of trying to be community members and trying to help one another
11:01when we can. And so I feel the more I bet on that and, and, and, and that the more I bet on myself
11:08because it gives me the confidence to kind of move forward.
11:11Okay. Y'all going to give me some words of wisdom.
11:14Come on now.
11:17We're just trying to keep up. We're trying to keep up with how amazing you look right now.
11:22Oh my goodness.
11:23Some facts.
11:24You got me in my feelings now. Okay.
11:26Me too.
11:27All right.
11:27I'm controlling this interview. My goodness. Hey, I'm gonna lose an eyelash.
11:32Oh, come on.
11:33I'm serious.
11:34I mean, one of the things that I find very fascinating about both of your characters in
11:41this series is it almost seems as though your characters both cling to Anna in an effort for
11:47you to escape the real problems within your lives. And I want to know, like, if you can
11:54shed some like backlight on your characters, why do you think that they're choosing to ignore
11:59their own issues or letting themselves get in the way of fixing their problems while still
12:04trying to cling to Anna as a scapegoat almost?
12:07I think for Neff, she identifies and is an artist in the same way that Anna is. She's a celebrator
12:16of the art. And Neff is actually trying to make a film throughout the process of her knowing Anna.
12:21Anna. And I think she's running up against the most difficult roadblock there is when it
12:27comes to making art, which is yourself. It's feeling like you are an imposter. It's feeling
12:32like you're not good enough. You don't have enough. And the lack of resources is also a
12:37very real thing. But I think a lot of it does come from a sense of self-doubt that we all
12:45have. And there's something electric about Anna's sort of inability to even access doubt. It is not
12:55in her orbit at all. And that is a foreign and desirable land that Neff wants to live in. And so I
13:05think being able to throw herself into being Anna's number one, number two, because Anna is Anna's number
13:13one, is a way that she can almost study Anna, soak up the energy, and feel a part of the magic that
13:23hopefully will give her, you know, a blueprint for building her own wings to fly her own dream.
13:30I think it's because, you know, one of the things that Shonda is really kind of going after on this
13:35show is, how far are you going to go for success? And there's something about how she is so
13:44unabashedly confident that you even said it's sometimes inspiring. And as someone, for Todd at
13:50least, that's trying to climb the ladder and be kind of like known and or thought of as like serious,
13:56and not the person that, you know, gets Alec Baldwin's stalker, like, I think there's something
14:02really energetic and exciting about what Anna has that I think he just gravitates towards.
14:07And to be honest, it seems like everyone that we talked to that actually met the actual Anna
14:10says the same thing. Like, there's something about her that's so intoxicating. We were told while we
14:16were shooting, and she was in prison the first time, that she was, that the security guards were
14:21wrapped around her finger. They were like, they basically gave her a full carpline. They loved her.
14:27That's why she got off a little bit early because of good behavior. So I don't know. She's got
14:32something going on. Well, look, I just want to thank the both of you for such a fantastic
14:37conversation. I really enjoy speaking with the both of you. I'm sending nothing but love and
14:42light your way. And I just hope that you have the most amazing part of your day. And yes to the
14:46Blazer games. Yes, Blazers. I'm here for it. Yes. Come on, y'all. Yes. Let's do it. Thank you so much.
14:53And I gotta say, you asked some of the best questions so far today. And I think Alexis is going to be
14:58telling you the truth. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. Much love. Bye.
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