TO START 2017 OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT I AM FEATURING A UNIQUELY TALENTED WOMAN, MARY-LOUISE PARKER . SHE GAVE AN IMPASSIONED SPEECH AT THE MUSE AWARDS, AND I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE A BIT OF IT HERE.
PHOTO CREDIT: BEN DIERCK, FOR THE ELLE DIARIES
MARY- LOUISE PARKER, WHO YOU MAY KNOW BEST AS NANCY BOTWIN, FROM THE HIT SERIES WEEDS IS, IN PERSON, SO CONTRARY TO HER ROLE IN THIS WILD AND WILDLY SUCCESSFUL SHOW. SHE WAS MODEST, SOFT-SPOKEN, AND CEREBRAL IN PERSON AT THE GALA LUNCHEON. WHEN SHE SPOKE, HER WORDS WERE MEASURED WITH A DASH OF SELF-DEPRECATING SNARK.
MARY- LOUSIE HAS WORKED WITH THE SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES – THE LARGEST NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO THE CARE OF ORPHANED AND ABANDONED CHILDREN, SHE SHOWED A SHORT FILM AT THE GALA, AND PREFACED THE SHOW WITH THESE WORDS, THAT MEAN SO MUCH RIGHT NOW, THAT THEY SEEM URGENT TO MY EARS.
” IF IT CAN REMIND EVERYONE, AND MYSELF CERTAINLY, THAT ANY GESTURE NOW, NOW MATTER NOW SMALL, TOWARDS SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE FEELING UNDERVALUED, OR ATTACKED OR STIGMATIZED OR WHATEVER. ANY TINY, TINY GESTURE IS IMPORTANT”
I THINK THIS QUOTE IS PROFOUNDLY MEANINGFUL IN TODAY’S WORLD. SOMETIMES THE BEST WE CAN DO IS SMALL, BUT CONSISTENT ACTS OF KINDNESSES, HOPING THAT THE SUM OF THEM WILL AMOUNT TO SOMETHING.
FOR THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH HER INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF WORK ON TV, THEATRE, AND FILM ( AND ALSO RECENTLY IN PUBLISHING), HERE IS A RUN DOWN OF SOME OF HER BEST, AND BEST KNOWN WORK. ( IT IS A JUST A SAMPLING) !
SHE STARTED ON RYAN’S HOPE, A SOAP OPERA, AND WE HAVE SEEN HER IN FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, THE AIDS DRAMA, LONGTIME COMPANION ( A MOVING AND STRONG PIECE), THE CLIENT, BOYS ON THE SIDE, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, PIPE DREAM, PROOF, ANGELS IN AMERICA, AND WE HAVE SEEN HER ON WEST WING. SHE HAS AUTHORED A BEST-SELLING BOOK, TOO. IT IS CALLED DEAR MR. YOU, AND IT IS WELL REVIEWED. I CANT WAIT TO GET A COPY!
SOME QUOTES THAT PROVIDE INSIGHT ON HER ACTING CAREER AND HER PERSONALITY:
source:
“I don’t really ever think about whether or not I like the characters I’m playing. I’m more into the minutiae of their behaviour or what they’re doing in a certain scene.”
“The theater is who I am – it’s where I feel the most inspired, the most at home, the most useful.”
“I don’t live in Los Angeles and I don’t do a lot of superfluous press.”
“I don’t get tired of hearing that somebody liked my work.”
SOME QUOTES THAT ARE INSIGHTFUL INTO HER PERSONALITY:
“I certainly was never the pretty girl at school, but I can go to a lot of different places with this face.”
“People have a problem with me being different, but that propels me forward in life.”
“It’s good to feel stupid sometimes and do things that are out of your comfort zone.”
“Mediocrity is underrated.”
“Words are really powerful. I don’t believe that axiom at all – words can absolutely hurt you. Words can wound. They can do a lot of damage. I think they can do way more damage than sticks and stones. I’ll take sticks and stones.”
“I like to pretend that I’m a tough guy. It’s kind of an admission of defeat if I have to ask for help – or even kindness. But if it doesn’t come, at some point I snap and demand it.”
SOME QUOTES ON PARENTING:
“I don’t think you necessarily have to be part of a traditional nuclear family to be a good mother.”
“I have a child and I don’t want to be at work all the time when he is small. I want to spend time with him.”
I AM JUST WATCHING THE GOLDEN GLOBES AWARD AND LISTENED TO MERYL STREEP SPEAK. ( MS. STREEP IS ALSO A FORMER NYWIFT HONOREE) SHE WAS SO MOVING AND HER WORDS, TOO, FEEL URGENT. I ADMIRE WOMEN WITH POWERFUL VOICES, WHO SPEAK UP AND HELP US TO FEEL MORE CERTAIN OF OUR OWN HEART AND MINDS. THIS IS HOW LISTENING TO THE WOMEN SPEAK AT NYWIFT- (NEW YORK WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION.) MADE ME FEEL.
REMEMBER THESE WORDS, OF MARY-LOISE PARKER, AND MERYL STREEP-JUST TONIGHT ON THE GOLDEN GLOBES. I WILL FEATURE MORE OF THESE WOMEN, HONOREES FROM THE LUNCHEON , SOON AS PART OF A SERIES.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NYWIFT, CLICK HERE.
BELOW I REITERATITE MS. PARKER’S WORDS, THEY MERIT THE REPETITION.
” IF I CAN REMIND EVERYONE, AND MYSELF CERTAINLY, THAT ANY GESTURE NOW, NOW MATTER NOW SMALL, TOWARDS SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE FEELING UNDERVALUED, OR ATTACKED , OR STIGMATIZED OR WHATEVER. ANY TINY, TINY GESTURE IS IMPORTANT”
MOREOVER, I HOPE THAT WE AS WOMEN FEEL STRONG, AND THAT AS THE WINDS OF CHANGE BLOW IN, WE FEEL BUTTRESSED BY THE WORDS OF THESE GREAT WOMEN, AND THE WOMEN IN OUR LIFE THAT GIVE US MEANING.
REMEMBER THE” TINY GESTURE”.
REMEMBER TO BE KIND. KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS.
BELOW A SHOT OF ME AT THE MUSE AWARDS, PRESENTED BY #NYWIFT. HOW LUCKY I FELT TO BE THERE.
NOW, AS THE WORLD AROUND IS POLARIZING AND WEAKENING, I HOPE WE CAN ALL BECOME THE BEST VERSIONS OF OURSELVES. IT WILL BE NECESSARY FOR OUR NEIGHBORS, OUR LOVED ONES, OUR DAUGHTERS.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF STRONG WOMEN?
