2005 Honoree

“In charity, every little bit works. You can’t change the world. You can’t do everything. But you sure try to bring awareness and do as much as you can.”

2008 Honoree

From Bond girl bombshell and X-Men super mutant to a major force for justice, Famke Janssen brings a controlled passion, a latent threat, as she fights to end corruption, human trafficking, and our dependence on oil – both celluloid and real.

And if you look just a little under the PR nonsense, you will see this is for real: she is a super being – a real, concerned and committed activist with an abundance of natural ability to really make a difference. Appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador of Integrity at the UN Convention against Corruption in Bali earlier this year, Famke has a long history of involvement fighting social injustice. Her UN concerns range from needle exchange programs to human trafficking. “The U.N. doesn’t have a clear definition on what corruption is. It’s a worldwide problem, affecting women, children, and the poor. Locally, it applies to the corruption underlying the building boom in this city. As far as the contracts, resignations, cranes, citations, improper building permits – I’m writing an Op-Ed piece on it right now!”

This must have gotten her fired up, because on the other end of the line, I hear her tapping her fingers furiously on her keyboard. She begs my patience for a moment as she searches YouTube for a PSA that she and Jason Schwartzman (of Rushmore fame) filmed to raise awareness for Burma Myanmar.

In the clip, Schwartzman wanders into Famke’s travel agency, yearning for adventure. “I’d like to take a vacation… something exotic, different culture, crazy foods, wild animals.”

Famke puts down the model airplane she’s been twirling. “Animals. Wild. You? I know just the place – Burma!”

“Burma?”

“Ancient culture, child soldiers, and sunsets to die for! Tigers…death squads… walruses… repressed people scared of their own government…” Schwartzman runs for the door.

“We used humor as a tool. We’re talking about serious topics, but we have to use what we have to offer. We’re not politicians, we’re actors.” This actor is speaking her mind and fighting worldwide corruption, not as a mutant, but as a powerful voice in the artistic community.
She is also vocal about her support for End Oil, a non-profit organization whose mission is to ultimately end oil dependency by educating individuals, government, and society about ways to incorporate alternative uses of energy into their daily routine. To shrink her own carbon footprint, she gets around the city on her Dutch bike or walks.

But she’s wary of all the green initiatives that seem to have sprung up overnight, dismayed that organizations may be jumping on the environmental bandwagon for the wrong reasons. “It’s very disturbing. Omigod, every time you turn on the television, it’s green this, green that. Then at the end, you see, sponsored by some car company. There’s nothing green about it. It’s ridiculous.”

Even though Famke won’t personally be pulling a voting lever in November (she has a green card, but cannot vote unless she gives up her European citizenship), she’s rooting for the Democrats with pumped chest. Disappointed by Hillary’s loss, she shares that “as a woman, it would have been extremely exciting. I think she is one of the smartest people I have seen in my life. We haven’t seen the end of her.”

She believes that if Obama wins and breaks the color barrier, “it would make such a huge impact on the world… what it says that an African American with the name ‘Barack Obama’ is president… this would be a great time to clean house and start over.”

She speaks from experience when it comes to starting over, first with her emigration to the States and second, rediscovering herself after she divorced producer/husband Tod Williams eight years ago. “I had never really lived alone before. Even when I first moved to the States, I had a boyfriend, and then I had a husband. It was a whole change; a big growth spurt. I learned to stand up on my own two feet… I wasn’t leaning anymore. When you’re part of a couple, the other person takes care of you, you do things together – silly things, like drilling holes in walls to hang up paintings.”
Far more impressive than learning how to master a level, she bought her own place in Greenwich Village, and keeps a close eye on the real estate market, doubting the theory that the New York City market is untouchable. “It’s hard to imagine right now with the building boom going on around me, but we are in the middle of a recession and everyone is hurt by it. A lot of Europeans are investing, but when the Euro becomes less strong, they may go into a recession, too. Everything is linked. New York might get hit at some point. If I had European money right now, I’d buy up the whole city!”
She also tells me that although New York City is certainly home, living in the States as a foreigner still has its difficulties. “It’s a very different culture, it’s deceiving. The biggest hurdle is you think you know it because you speak the language (she also speaks French, German, and Dutch), you’ve seen it portrayed in film… and it’s not like moving to India or Africa, but still people think and act very differently.”
And as a foreign celebrity to boot? “I don’t mean to be discouraging, but it’s hard to overcome. I’ve been fighting a stereotype for as long as I can remember. People still see me as a foreigner who doesn’t speak English, who is some type of superhero. I’ve just learned not to care about it anymore. People have an impression and it doesn’t matter… they see what they want to see.”

But with several new projects in the works and a few films out in the fall, perhaps the public’s view of Famke will broaden indeed. She will star alongside Liam Neeson in the drama, Taken, about a young girl abducted into the human slave trade. Kiddie Ride, set on the Jersey shore, will share the lives of three childhood friends who unravel a secret from their past, and most recently, she has been in Germany filming Black Death.

Of future collaborations, she gushes over the Cohen Brothers, “I’m one of their biggest fans… and Alexander Payne. I’d love to work with him, too.”

However, she doesn’t want to limit herself to simply working in front of the camera. Famke pursued a passion for writing and literature at Columbia University, and recently she has used this love of words to pen her own screenplay. “Right now I’m focused on getting my movie made,” she says.

So, for the super woman with a mile-long list of things to be admired, including a quick wit, intelligence, compassion and of course her extraordinary DNA that contributed to a striking jaw line and deep-set eyes, are there any words of wisdom she can offer for the rest of us mere mortals?

She implores women who mull over the past to stop thinking about what could’ve been and start focusing on the things that they can change. “I prefer to look ahead instead of looking back. It’s very important to keep evolving. Not to be stagnant. Not to be stoic.”

by Rainbow Kirby
photography by Sarah McColgan

2009 Honoree

by Chesley Turner
photography by Patrick Hoelck

Sometimes the simplest statements hold the most truth. In one breath, Virginia Madsen sums up her worldview with a contemplative, but still effortless grace. “And power is not something you can seek. It’s something that’s given to you. Once you have it, it’s what you do with it that defines you.” Virginia speaks with conviction and understanding, telltale signs of a woman who is passionate about her life, and who redirects that passion into everything she does.

As a woman in the entertainment business, Virginia is very much aware of the provenance and pitfalls of power. “Many people find themselves in a position of power after they get famous quickly, without being successful. They don’t handle it well. I’m very thankful that when it came to me, it happened in my 40s. I could handle it, and I knew what it meant.” So how does one handle power? “In order to be a woman of power, you have to know how to delegate, to coordinate your life so you don’t get overwhelmed. It’s very stressful when you’re successful. One of the best ways to handle that is to be physically healthy.”

Such pragmatic reflection on the subjects of power and womanhood is not surprising. One of Virginia’s recent projects as a producer was a documentary entitled, I Know a Woman Like That. The documentary looks at an older generation of women with passion for life, and was inspired by a conversation with her mother. “She had lost a very dear friend of hers who died at almost 100. [This woman] had inspired my mother; she was well-traveled, well-read, youthful in her spirit, and she wasn’t freaked out about being old.” Her mother had felt a loss in the death of such a powerful personality, and conveyed her hope that Virginia have a similar role model. “She said she hoped I would know a woman like that. And of course I did. It was my mother.”

Virginia’s admiration for her mother is clear. “She always wants people to know how much they have to look forward to; how it’s important to live vibrantly when the world tells you to sit in a corner, face the wall, and give up. I wanted to find out what made her like that.” And so the idea for I Know a Woman Like That was born. For months, Virginia and her co-creators searched for women who lived their lives in an amazing way. There was the 100 year-old woman who is always gardening in a big purple hat, the women who raise their grandchildren, and the widow from Chicago who had no time for empty-nesting; she packed her bags and began traveling. “It’s very inspiring. It’s an interesting question to ask yourself: can you be old and powerful? What has she got? ‘Cause i want it. Can you bottle it? What kind of power do you have when you’re old?”

Virginia is quick to point out that the film is not about how to stay young-looking. “It’s not about physical youth. We’re all gonna get old, and we’re all gonna look old. This isn’t about staying young. This is about how to be old.” Recognizing the modern mania with youth, and the fear of growing old, I Know a Woman Like That puts a spin on age that is inspiring, channelling the vibrancy of older women who are role models, and presenting it to viewers with an invitation to emulate. “We’re all going there. We can blaze our own trail. We can go there as we choose, not as society tells us to.” Virginia identifies an important distinction between the power of the young woman, and the power of an older generation: “When you’re young, power is given to you. When you’re older, you can create your own power. You find it within, in wisdom.”

I Know a Woman Like That is the inaugural work of Title IX, the production company that Virginia co-created. It is a clear manifestation of the transition in a woman’s life between being the young woman to whom power is given, and being the mature woman who creates her own power by communicating wisdom. “I never wanted to be the boss – acting will always be my first profession. But I started this company because I have a lot to say, and so does my producing partner, who’s 25. It’s like Santana said,” referring to when the guitar god recorded an album of duets with younger artists. “When you reach a certain age, you must learn to facilitate, because you have so much knowledge to give.” Compounding that idea is the simple fact that, thus far, Title IX Productions have all been about empowering women. I Know a Woman Like That recently aired at the Chicago Film Festival, while her next project, Fighting Gravity, addresses the controversial lack of a women’s division in Olympic Ski Jumping. The 2010 production will highlight the women who compete in this sport, and their campaign for a chance to inspire the women who will follow in their wake. That seems to be a theme with Virginia.

While it’s clear that she has a passion for inspiring and communicating to women, Virginia is equally intent on cultivating her personal acting skills. Boasting an impressive career with roles that run the gamut, Virginia has starred in everything from sci-fi epics like Dune to horror/thriller nail-biters like The Haunting in Connecticut and The Number 23, to animated features like Wonder Woman, to the Oscar-winning Sideways. So what’s next? Expand. Citing her work with Matthew Broderick and Alan Alda in Diminished Capacity, she remembers, “I learned so much about timing, and about building a character in that world.” She also cites her experience with Kevin Spacey and Craig Robinson on the soon-to-be-released Father of Invention. “They are also kings of comedy. This was a much broader comedy than I was comfortable doing, and so I made a commitment… Craig and Kevin taught me how to dive into the deep end of the pool, to go for it. You have to be willing to look like a total ass.” Despite taking the “how-to comedy course” from some imminent male actors, Virginia recognizes the undertaking of this challenge as an inherently female manifestation. “Women are very good at evolving… If we don’t evolve, we get unhappy. Always be curious. Always.”

While exploring the many manifestations of power and passion, it’s easy to make the correlation to modern politics. In a country where passion and conviction has lead to an extreme transition of power, what does Virginia think about the current political climate? With a firmness that only a mother can have, she lays out her perspective. “Here’s where we are right now: I think Obama is just fine where he is. He is who we voted for. I’m a mother, so I know that patience is a virtue. When you’re trying to change something, it’s not gonna happen overnight, and our country, quite frankly, has been spoon-fed instant gratification for a long, long time. Overall, we have a sense of entitlement that has to be checked at the door.” She recognizes the paternal qualities of Obama, and that change takes time. “He never promised a rose garden. In fact, he planted a vegetable garden. That’s very symbolic of his presidency. Change in America needs to be tended to, nurtured. It’s not a drive-thru.” Furthermore, Virginia recognizes that, while it’s all too easy to point fingers, Americans need to recognize our own role in our own future. “I’m very patriotic; I’m a big flag waver. We have a duty to stand behind our President and be patient. We have to tow the line, and all those old-fashioned Roosevelt sayings. It’s our responsibility to rebuild the country.”

Virginia’s answers about politics display a clear maternal instinct. It’s no coincidence that one of her favorite roles in life is that of mother to her 13 year-old son, Jack. Though they currently live in suburbia, reaping the benefits of “sidewalks and bicycles… the normal way to be a young person,” Virginia knows he’s going places. With a mix of confidence and anxiousness, she says, “He wants to live in New York City. It’s perfect for him. He’s a Leo, full of fire and boundless energy, and the city will suit him quite well: people everywhere, sound, music, gritty, full of passion.” She has the perfect blend of pragmatism and optimism. “I’m going to be horrified of where he lives; it’ll be a fifth floor walk-up and he’ll love it. There are hard lessons to learn in the big city, and I welcome that for him.” It’s clear that Virginia’s passion for empowerment doesn’t end at the women she features in her documentaries, or the challenges she finds in acting.

The question of power; how to get it, how to keep it, what to do once you have it, seems to be an omnipresent quandary in modern society. Weaving forward-thinking ideals, like activist, and classical feminine archetypes, like mother, into a single way of life is a real challenge for the modern woman, especially for one so often in the spotlight. But Virginia Madsen seems to have found the secret that holds it all together: live your life with passion.

2012 Honoree

“With a voice like whiskey on a cold day, confidence that springs from a passionate exuberance for life, and an impressive knowledge base, she’s got sex appeal in spades. ”

by Chesley Turner
photography by Jim Wright

“I think for men and women, the whole thrust of your life, from the time you’re becoming who you are in your 20s to defining and finding your voice as you get older, is all about the choices you make and the energy you put into the people you associate with. How you end up spending your energy defines who you are. You want to be as authentic as possible and make sure that every day you make choices that reflect who you are, from the tiniest little thing to big career choices or partner choices or raising your children. Be the protagonist in your own life. Don’t be defined by convention or be enslaved by worrying about what others think.”

With a stream of formidable axioms, Susan Sarandon begins her New York Moves interview. Right from the start, we find a woman who speaks from experience to defend us from our uncertainties with assertive, inspirational encouragement. And she’s not even done yet.

“Then, even the mistakes are joyful ones, because they lead you down the right path each time. I always told my children to make as big mistakes as possible. Because being fearful is not going to lead you anywhere. The things that you regret the most are the chances that you didn’t take. You can always get yourself out of a bad mistake, but at the end of the very long day that is our life, don’t look back. I have absolutely no regrets, I only wish I had made my mistakes faster and learned my lessons quicker. But I don’t regret any of them. Everything leads you toward creating the human being you want to be. It’s just a question of remaining mindful and present.”

With apologies to the reader: it’s impossible to edit that quote down to a bite-sized snippet. It’s like particularly good creme brulee – you’re just meant to enjoy the whole thing.

Thus speaks Susan Sarandon, a mainstay of the Hollywood screen, and a woman who could remind you of your mother – protective and pragmatic and encouraging – if she weren’t so damn sexy. With a voice like whiskey on a cold day, confidence that springs from a passionate exuberance for life, and an impressive knowledge base, she’s got sex appeal in spades.

Perhaps one of the most refreshing things to find in an established actress is understanding and opinion about modern world events. One of Susan’s latest films to hit the theaters is the complicated and haunting Arbitrage. It’s the kind of film that keeps you riveted to the screen even while you’re repulsed by what you see unfolding. Watching Arbitrage through the lens of election awareness breeds a growing disgust for people who misuse power or assume that the unprivileged are ignorant or undeserving. So what was it like to create a film that addresses the ills of power and money when those things are at the forefront of every American mind? “He’s not even a sociopath!” she exclaims, referring to Richard Gere’s character, Robert Miller, whose wife she plays in the film. “The most disturbing thing about Arbitrage is that this one percent with the bulk of resources in this country and around the world – the entitlement that comes with that and feeling that you’re above the law is absolutely true.” She backtracks to specify her meaning: “It’s not all hedge fund guys that are horrible. Bill Gates has done more for healthcare throughout the world than any human being. There are people who take their money and do good things with it.” She continues, “The link between big money and government and news and information has really rewritten the moral fabric of this country. That kind of power is a game. It’s not about the money. It’s about the power and the game of power.” Who plays this game? “It’s definitely a male-dominated addiction.”

Which brings us, as is only appropriate for this month’s issue, to our national election. Wonderfully, Susan is not shy or covert about the issues that spring to the forefront of her mind this November. “We’re still being challenged over the right to determine what you do with our bodies. I think it’s crazy that those issues are still unsettled and being challenged.” But more than just taking a stance on this issue, she segues into the myriad of challenges facing women today. “I think the statistic is like 50 percent of our American households are headed by women – unless it’s gotten better and guys are sticking around – and I think we’ve learned to recognize and honor the effort that is put out by women who are holding jobs and raising children. Women are major multi-taskers and responsible for raising future generations. It’s remarkable how they make their way through this maze of challenges that are out there.”

While we’re on the subject of girl power with our Power Issue cover woman, let’s take a moment to remember Thelma & Louise. Celebrating its 21st anniversary – if the film were a person, she’d be legal this year – it’s a classic movie that sparks conversations about women’s rights, feminism, violence, and the dualistic nature of the role of sex in society. But for Susan, reminiscing about her role with another Moves PowerWoman, Geena Davis, the film was also about something more endearing and supportive. It was about aspiring to better things, and appreciating friendship. Things have changed, Susan says, for women today. Once upon a time, women saw each other as competition. But in the past few decades, there’s been a paradigm shift. Women have begun to look for, and provide, support for one another. “Certainly, what has improved over those 20 years has been the ability for women to reach out to other women and help each other. That happens more and more.” She pauses to consider a comparison to years gone by. “There was a time in generations before mine when women saw other women as a threat – I don’t know, I don’t watch Mad Men – they didn’t necessarily see women as their allies, when women were more aligned with male power. They didn’t understand the strength that they had in other women.”

Hinting at a change we’ve seen in our domestic socio-economic structure and in our own offices, this paradigm shift has also had powerful international effects, not least of all in some of the organizations she supports, such as the Somaly Mam Foundation and Heifer International. Women in these organizations have found power in joining hands and joining forces; how the cry raised against the sex trade gets louder when voices unite; how your small farming business becomes more sustainable when you work in conjunction with other women to buck the same oppression. The power of women who unite is tremendous, implacable, formidable. Susan is an excellent representative of that type of PowerWoman.

But so often, it’s still a man’s world. Whether we look within our very states, be they red-in-the-face or blue-in-the-face with political indignation, or if you look across the globe, we see a world so often run by men. As for how America stands in the sight of our worldly neighbors, Susan thinks we may have made some headway in the last four years, but the verdict is still out. “I was in Egypt right after Obama was elected and just the very fact that this man, this color, this name, that had a view of the world that was bigger than the last regime, was huge. Just the fact that Americans put him in office was huge. It restored respect for us around the world. Not just in Muslim countries, but all these countries that couldn’t understand how we were making decisions that were endangering the world.” Again, her political perspective is projected loud and clear. As for Obama? “He started off very strongly – just the fact that he claimed that we should have a dialogue with people that we see as our adversaries. The best way to deal with those people is not to ignore them. It is to have dialogue. That’s a positive thing.” The bad news for the instant-gratification-seeking average American is that these political goals and aspirations were not as immediately successful as we all would have hoped. We’re still at war, and it took us awhile to get out of Iraq. “He’s gonna be in a tricky place if Israel bombs Iran, but to his credit we’re not in there.” In case you’re wondering where the “but” is, don’t worry, it’s coming. “But solving all these problems with drones and bombing border guards… violence never solves violence.”

In her Oscar acceptance speech for Dead Man Walking [1996], Susan’s powerful and evocative words were: “May all of us find in our hearts and in our homes and in our world a way to non-violently end violence, and heal.” Today, she echoes that sentiment and the idea that violence perpetuates violence, by conjuring not the chess-master looking for the strategic win, but rather the mother in the home. “When you have women and children and homes that are destroyed, and you see immigrants leaving war-torn regions – it’s really a mess now. There are people that are moderate in all of these countries, but it gets harder and harder to find them and to keep them moderate and keep them sane if their families are killed… it’s a horrible way to live. I don’t know the answer, but operating from a base of fear never solves a problem. We’ve been fed a doctrine of fear and otherness for years and years and years. We went back to the time of the crusades during the Bush administration. That vilification of whole nations of people is not good.”

But perhaps she does have an answer, or at least the beginning of one. It’s unsurprising that this maternal tone of protection, of insight bred from listening and understanding, comes from this woman. Yes, she’s a Hollywood icon. Yes, we’ve see her face splashed on the screen in roles as diverse as Janet in the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. But what we hear is the eldest of nine children, the mother of three. “As a mother and a woman, I think that we have to look for other ways to raise our sons so that they don’t feel humiliated by negotiations and compromise, and can respect other cultures and don’t have these knee jerk, phony, macho reactions to things. That’s our job to build a better nation, to raise sons that in these positions ask more questions and look for better solutions than just simplistic violence.” And to exemplify this message, there is, of course, a story from her life. “When I went to Nicauragua in ‘84, I was talking to these women there who were brought into the revolution because all the men were killed. There was no sudden breakthrough; they were in the kitchen until they ran out of men.” It wasn’t that everyone was suddenly equal; women had had to come forward because they were needed. “I was talking about machismo with this medical student and she said, ‘It’s like hemophilia; it’s carried by the mothers.’ You have to raise your sons differently. You can’t just say ‘Men don’t have respect.’ You have to start when they’re little. The socialization process for guys is so horrible – even when they have smart dads, they’re just taught from the very beginning to give up their sensitivity and be tough and not cry.”

Recognizing the role of her own industry, she points out, “The film business is part of that… We define what it means to be a man, and we reinforce sexism, ageism, racism, over and over and over again. It’s only when a film challenges the stereotypes that people call it political.”

With such compelling observations about power and politics, Susan Sarandon makes an impression on those who hear her. But in order to round out our picture of Ms. Sarandon, we’d be remiss to not recognize the more joyful side of life. For fun, you’ll find Susan at her ping-pong club, SPiN, or enjoying girls’ lunches with the friends she’s had for 30 years. “I also love being by myself and walking around the city. The Highline is my favorite place of all time. I ride my bike down through Battery Park along the river, or go walking to clear my head.” It’s clear that she is a true New Yorker. “I love New York. It always surprises me, and it has a far greater imagination than I do.”

2013 Honoree

By Moonah Ellison
& Chesley Turner

Photography: Jim Wright

Friendship. Jealousy. Sex. Love. Marriage. Family. Death. And, of course, the news. When we caught up with Emily Mortimer, it was all on the table, conveyed with a high frenetic energy and a wry wit, the telltale signs of a woman who’s got it all together, even though she’s not quite certain she does.

Right now, Emily has a lot going on. One of the biggest and newest developments is a new six-part mini-series for Sky Television in the UK. The series started as a whim with her best friend, Dolly. “Dolly and I got together with another good friend of ours that we’ve known for many years who happens to be a great filmmaker. And we sort of improvised some themes around the premise of the conceit of what would happen if you made your best friend your personal assistant. And the answer is, you know, everything is terribly disastrous.” The friends got together and improvised some scenes. Gorilla-style. No makeup, no crew, no nothing. Lo and behold, it worked, and well. “It turns out that there was something really quite interesting and funny and awful about this dynamic that we established.”

The director put the scenes together, and he pronounced it good enough to be a first episode of something bigger. Baffled but pleasantly surprised at this opinion, Emily and her husband took the not-really-finished-product project to Sky, and they got money to do five more. And then HBO bought it. “We never imagined in our wildest dreams it would happen like that. That it would have a life that would go so far beyond its beginnings. We couldn’t imagine a better, more perfect home for it.”

Turns out, this apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Emily’s father, John Mortimer, was a barrister but also a screenwriter for the beloved UK courtroom series, Rumpole of the Bailey. “I was very, very close to him, and I’m sure influenced by him in many, many ways.” Emily sees she has quite a lot in common with him. Both were raised in the same house in the English countryside as only children (Emily’s sister wasn’t born until she was 12), and both faced the formidable task of entertaining their own bright minds, alone. “The way we sort of entertained ourselves in this big garden was kind of writing plays for ourselves, where we were the director and the actor and the writer and the everything. In his case, I’m sure the plays were very high-brow. Mine were more acting out personal dramatic efforts. But there was some symmetry, in a weird way.”

Despite the poignant reverie, Emily has a raw, no-filter manner, throwing out whatever comes to her. “For better or for worse—I do wish I didn’t do it quite so much. Some of it, I’m like: Oh my god, I’m a kamikaze. I don’t censor myself nearly enough.” She quickly analyzes her own openness. “It’s a bit of a defense. Having realized that if you really are as honest as you can possibly be, it protects you in a way. You’re safe.” Circling back to her kismet-like mini-series, she says, “Dolly and I have definitely worked that out together. We find great solace in each other, because we are there to say the worst thing you could possibly even think to each other, and we make the other laugh in doing so.” That brutal honesty and off-the-cuff candor is what makes the show work. “When things really are brave enough to try and really be honest about something, you always love it. It’s such a nice feeling. It’s kind of like forgiveness or something.”

So these two best friends dig in with both hands to the awkward and anxiety-inducing subject of jealousy. Not the grandiose debilitating hatred, but the little jealousies among friends. “Jealousy between people who really love each other, which is something that is still quite taboo to talk about. It’s an incredibly common, universal feeling. Everybody feels it all the time, and it’s a horrible feeling. It makes you feel disgusted with yourself.” Which, for Emily, makes it the ideal centerpiece for their scripts. In all, it creates “kind of an amusing paradox.”

Great creative fodder, in today’s entertainment industry, comes from the universal things that no one talks about. And human nature is hardly the least of these. “You know, I see it in my own children—part of them is extremely conventional and just wanting to fit in and having an extreme sense of how things should be and wanting you to look the same as everybody else’s parents and do the same thing and your house to look the same. And then another part of them is a complete sort of mess of chaos and confusion and emotion and, like, beast and passion and fury and love and just whirling chaos. I think we all carry that through all of our lives.” So the epic battle for primacy between the id and the ego ends up in our convoluted expressions of self. “There are two parts of us: one which sort of keeps things in order for things to make sense, and then there’s another side where nothing makes sense and we’re all kind of animals.” And we constantly try to work it out.

Emily has a take on our understanding of mortality, as well. “I feel like I’m being extremely philosophical—and I don’t know what I’m talking about—but from my two pennies, we’ve got quite far away from the mysterious and quite brutal realities of life.” Human progress has made humans feel super-human, pulling us further and further from the reality that life is, in actuality, an inevitable cycle. “All men must die, as Hamlet said, or Hamlet’s mother said. …After all these years of being on earth, you would’ve thought that we’d have gotten used to the fact that we all die. That doesn’t seem to have happened. But in a way, that’s part of being alive, too.”

The lucky ones, it seems, find someone to laugh with through this earthly spin we all take, and as for her husband, Emily has this to say: “Well, I really like him. I just really like him. And I think he really likes me.” Acknowledging the boring, rote quality of being just another woman who tells the magazines she has a great marriage, she adds, “Well, you can’t exactly talk about every time you yelled at him and threatened to never see him again. Of course there are moments where it is really shit, like every relationship. But we really do like each other.”

Marriage and its redoubtable, if rewarding, challenges, is the basis for Emily’s part in her next film, Rio, Eu Te Amo, the Brazilian version of Paris, Je T’aime and New York, I Love You. “It’s me and an older guy, Basal Hoffman, pretending to be a completely dysfunctional and fucked up married couple with a forty-year age difference on holiday in Rio.”

But the Rio short and her new mini-series lie in stark contrast with Emily’s other current project: playing MacKenzie McHale in The Newsroom. The latest Aaron Sorkin production, catapulted by HBO, combines a stellar ensemble cast, characteristic Sorkin-penned banter, 20/20 political commentary, indefatigable defense of the fourth estate, and a point of view that has everyone expressing a point of view. And Emily’s happy to be a part of it. “I’ve never been on a job that’s lasted this long. So constantly, your ideas about it and about you in it and about what it means and what’s relevant and important…[they] change all the time as you grow.” And then there was her father. “I mean, not to get too Freudian and weird about it, but my dad had died only quite recently before I got the job. And he, you know, wrote for the television, and he wrote pretty idealistically, and he wrote very liberal, left-wing point of view, and it was comic and kind of two feet above the ground, but also based in some sort of reality and quite political. And so I think there was something in me that was very drawn to it and drawn to Aaron for that reason. It reminded me of something that I admired in my dad, and what I knew from home.”

Now, almost three years later, regretting nothing, she realizes she got more than she bargained for. And more than ever, she’s proud to be a part of such a well-executed show. “You come to process the pleasure of being in that world and realizing you’re fascinated by these characters and you love them and you’re rooting for them. There’s a real place for showing good people trying to do a good job well in a world where it’s quite difficult to do that.”

And then there’s trying to pin the tail on Will McAvoy. “I had the great pleasure of meeting Dan Rather the other day. He’s been a wonderful supporter of the show. And he was saying it’s hilarious how many of his fellow anchormen are convinced that Jeff Daniels’ character is based on them. And they all continue to think that. “ Then she tacks back to her father. “My father had that because he wrote Rumpole of the Bailey and everyone was convinced that they were Rumpole. I think that’s just a testament to the character and to the show.”

Now, while it is clear that Emily’s father is an enduring influence on her life, she is also happy to point out that her mother has just as much contribution to her quirkiness. “My mom is amazing and hilarious and wonderful and also totally brings me back down to earth whenever I get slightly too big for my boots.” After telling us stories of her mother smoking cigarettes while playing tennis and telling Emily that her new show could be shit, it seems her mom is the real family comedienne.

Friendship. Jealousy. Sex. Love. Marriage. Family. Death. Newsroom. We covered it all. So what’s next, Emily?

2013 Honoree

By Zoe Stagg
Photography by Michael Lavine

Deconstruct the prototypical ingenue, and the specs might include: tousled blonde hair, wide-set blue eyes, long legs; into yoga, and… outspoken critic of the Hollywood Boys’ Club? When it comes to Heather Graham, yes. Your model comes equipped with all of the above and then some. Graham is a shimmering A-Lister who’s a self-proclaimed “Nerd.” She’s a sultry starlet who’s also a selfless activist. Even in her big screen journey you’ll find switchbacks. While she’s rocketed from a roller-skating porn star in Boogie Nights, to stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold in the massive Hangover franchise – look beyond that box-office bang, and she’s all disruptor.

One of her first targets? Saving audiences from the superhero scourge. “Men run Hollywood, and men have a fantasy of themselves as a male superhero saving the world. Driving the car faster, killing more people,” Her sweet voice drips with a giant eye roll. “I think it’s a little bit boring, to be honest. I’m a little bit sick of watching millions of superheroes. Is it going to be, those are the only movies they make now? I hope at some point that audiences go, ‘Could you please tell us a new story?’”

A few tales will sneak through the XX Kryptonite, but not enough. “Every now and then they’ll release a “Bridesmaids,” someone like Judd Apatow is brave enough to say, ‘People want to see movies about women.’ And that will make a lot of money and then you’ll go, ‘Okay…where are the other ones?’” Graham isn’t content to play the damsel sitting and hoping for “the other ones,” so she’s written a script of her own. It holds up a big mirror to the powers that bro; a raunchy, sexy, comedy about the plight of the female director and the industry-squashed stories about women. “I think sometimes people get so entrenched in it they don’t even think about it. Sometimes the culture is so sexist that they just accept it, and no one questions it.”

Context then, is everything. What you see at first glance can be so much more — like the movie star with a surprising feminist agenda, or the real meaning of a message — with the properly applied emoji, that is. “I regret to inform you,” she tweets, “That I have become one of those people who uses emoticons (a lot).” And there you have part of her “nerd,” in 140 characters or less. Of course she has a favorite. “That’s easy. Alright, do you know the one that looks like it’s kind of embarrassed or shocked, it could be a lot of different things, but it has slightly reddened cheeks? That one, I feel like it can express a lot of different things — wait, let me just pull it up. It has like the eyes that are kind of like bulging. That’s my favorite.”

The more she reveals of the origins of her “nerd” story, the more you see why she might be drawn to that flushed-face, awkward smiley. “I think you always have this perspective of yourself like how you were when you grew up, and I was, as a younger teenager, super nerdy. I had braces, I had neck gear, I was in the Advanced Placement classes, and I was in theatre and drama,  which also made you very nerdy. In my school, that was not cool, you know?” But yesterday’s theatre geek is today’s movie star — even if she doesn’t bill herself that way. “I just think I’m a big goofball. In my life, I’m just super goofy. I sing little songs about food, I get really excited about food, like–” She breaks into ditty, “This breakfast is so goooood, a bagel and egg so delicioussss–” It’s a Heather Graham original composition, and it’s really almost as catchy as “Call Me Maybe.” “I just think it’s important in life to be silly, and I think nerds just really like what they like and they’re not trying to be cool. I admire nerds like that.”

She’s used that fearlessness in the face of looking foolish to her advantage, collecting comedy roles like this year’s Behaving Badly, Goodbye to All That, and of course, a little film called The Hangover Part III. She’s the bombshell who can also land a punch line. So just by showing up to work, she’s taking on a system that wants women to be either, “The Funny One,” or “The Hot One.” That last label is one that comes with the real hazardous duty. “There’s total pressure. All women, of every age. It’s so sad if you think about little girls who are so freaked out about being fat that they’re starving themselves. I think that in our culture, in general, as a woman, you have to work really hard not to go crazy.”

In keeping that sanity, she jokingly thanks “airbrushing” as she continues to nab covers of men’s and women’s mags alike. She’s clocked nearly 30 years in front of the camera — but experience in this arena doesn’t make it any easier. “You’re being sent so many mixed messages about how you’re supposed to be.” No one is safe from the pressure of living up to the cover girl, not even the cover girl herself. “Even the models — it’s not even realistic what we’re aspiring to, because it’s all somewhat computer generated. We’re looking at images that are actually not totally real.”

She’s found an escape from all that image scrutiny. Oddly, what’s probably the official pastime of Hollywood, can provide an escape from just that. “I guess it’s just every person’s journey, that’s why meditation and yoga are so great, to just detach from the culture and say, ‘I am going to feel good about myself regardless of whatever the culture says to me.’” Part of that cultural message is a continuation of the male power plays she derides. “A woman who really knows herself, I think there’s an aspect of men that’s afraid of that.” It’s cowardice then, that would peg any woman over 22 as “over.” Her voice is a mix of bemused and indignant at the absurdity of that notion. “As a woman, it’s our job to just say, ‘That’s not true.’ I know as a woman that’s not true. I know men hit on me all the time. Whatever the culture says, that ‘No man should be hitting on me,’ in reality, I think that more men are hitting on me now!”

With yoga and meditation as a big part of her personal mental and physical healthcare system, the raging debate over access to medical care hasn’t escaped her attention, “I have friends who are just beautiful people and they can’t afford health insurance. They’re going into massive, college-sized debt to have a baby. It’s so disturbing.” She’s quick to put our troubles into perspective, thanks to her varied and passionate activism.

Graham is on the board of the Cambodian Children’s Fund, sponsoring kids and making frequent visits. “When you do travel to those developing nations, you do realize how lucky we are. The problems we have, while they are really bad and we need to work on them, if you go to Cambodia, you just go, ‘Wow. We are so lucky.’” The CCF, started by former entertainment executive, Scott Neeson, is tackling basic quality-of-life issues that a lot of us take for granted. “So many of those people have no running water, they have no plumbing. In a lot of ways, America does do a lot of things right, though we do have a lot of room to improve.” Graham has seen his work in action and can’t help but bubble over with inspiration. “I feel like he’s such a hero. I don’t know how he has the emotional strength. After going and visiting him, it’s really intense. He was taking me into the classrooms and he took me into this young women’s leadership classroom. And he was saying, ‘You guys should dream that you can do whatever you want. Dream big. Where would you guys be if I didn’t dream big?’”

She corresponds with the kids she sponsors. “You really feel involved in a kid’s life. I went and visited one of my kids and she had this whole book of all of our email exchanges, and all of the pictures we sent back and forth. I just thought that was so sweet.” It’s this glimmer of innocence in a brutal environment that keeps Graham working. “On one level it’s so common that children are trafficked, and on another level they’re very conservative — none of the kids would have watched [my] movies. There’s a lot of domestic violence,  alcoholism, trafficking, people working in sweatshops, little kids are getting AIDS and hepatitis. So on one level while they’re not watching adult movies, they would not feel innocent.”

With a filmography full of R-rated content, it’s only recently that she’s let it star in her own life, opening up about sex and learning to enjoy it. “People are so afraid of sexuality, and as a result, by not accepting their sexuality, worse things happen.” Thou shalt not point a finger, it seems. “I think that people that try to make these moral judgments of ‘You should be this way,’ or ‘You should be that way,’ usually those people are the most screwed up about sex.”
While she’s letting her own sexuality into the light on screen, it’s about to take a very dark turn. Starring in the beloved V.C. Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic, recently adapted for television, she knows it’s a story with a devoted cult following. “When I told my girlfriend that I got offered it, she started quoting lines. There are some people who are obsessed with it. It’s so provocative. It’s so interesting how in families, there’s so much drama and the cycle of child abuse that goes through the generations. It’s an interesting and dark and juicy topic. It’s so disturbing.” The first film version might have given fans a disappointing “Flowers” Lite, but the forthcoming version leaves nothing out. “I think it’s really disturbing. Ellen Burstyn is so good and intense. I know the goal of the producers was to make it a lot darker, whereas I think the other film has an element of campiness, there’s almost a funniness to it. It’s not funny subject matter, but it’s definitely kind of campy. This movie is a little more dark.”

And with this dark turn for the sunny-faced star, it again proves that with Heather Graham, what you see is only a fraction of what you get. You get a girl who is frequent mention on superlative “Sexiest” lists who rails against sexism, a “goofball” who engages in serious activism, a funny gal who’s fiercely feminist — and a brace-face theatre nerd who suddenly found herself wowing on the red carpet.

Opposites, really do attract.

2014 Honoree

By Moonah Ellison & Chesley Turner
photography Randall Slavin

Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.
-Shakespeare

Katie Holmes is figuring out her life in a way that few people ever expected her to.  Amidst the naysayers, the relentless paparazzi, and the cruel side effect of stardom – that everybody knows your business – Holmes is raising a daughter, nurturing a career, and taking calculated chances.  She’s not the charming starlet or the bold and brazen screen queen.  She’s just Katie Holmes.  No apologies necessary.

In that way, she’s not all that different from one of her latest roles, Miss Meadows, in the upcoming feature film of the same name.  Don’t be fooled by those Alice-in-Wonderland outfits; this film is a trip down the rabbit hole, where a delicate schoolteacher wields her handgun as the world’s nicest vigilante.

“Miss Meadows was a gem that kind of fell in my lap in a way…. I really immediately liked Miss Meadows because of her complexity but also her humor.  And I had never played a character like that before.”  Holmes shared her ideas about the character with director Karen Leigh Hopkins, and the whole project came together quickly.  “What I enjoyed about playing Miss Meadows is that she was very true to herself and she really had a passion about what she was doing and she really felt that her work in getting rid of the bad people of the world was very, very valuable, even though it was against the law.  And while I’m not supporting that kind of behavior, it was a very exciting character to play.

Just like the alarming and unconventional Miss Meadows, Ms. Holmes has remained remarkably true to herself and her values as she pursues her passions.  She makes conscientious decisions about her life, even down to her latest product representation as a new ambassador for Oil of Olay.  “I really like what the brand stands for.  It really is a symbol of everlasting beauty and female strength and empowerment.  And I think those are wonderful things to stand for.”  Holmes, who hails from Ohio, still harbors that wholesome middle-Americana focus, in that she feels it’s less about the flashbulbs and more about what a person stands for.

Perhaps considering the attention Holmes gets as a single mother in show business, it’s not surprising that her directorial debut will focus on a story about a mother-daughter relationship and all the comedy and drama intrinsic in the subject.  Produced by Jane Rosenthal and with a script adapted by Josh Boone, director of The Fault in Our Stars, Katie has optioned All We Had, an Annie Weatherwax novel.  She’s decided to bring the story to life on screen.

“I’m equal parts excited and terrified.  But I am very inspired by this book, and we have a great writer, and Josh Boon adapting it, and Jane Rosenthal is a wonderful producer who is, you know, helping me put this all together.”  Katie is authentic as she talks about the project, her nerves overshadowed only by her passion.  “Hopefully I can achieve it.  It’s not a lot of characters.  It’s hopefully something that – I keep saying “hopefully” but I feel like I can shoot it.”  Ms. Holmes is highly self-critical, that much is clear.  And yet, she has the drive to maintain her momentum, and that’s what makes the difference.  “I’ve always been really passionate about stories, and you know, whenever I’ve acted in anything, usually it’s something that speaks to me.  And so I thought that I would just keep searching and exploring all the ways to tell stories and to reach an audience.”

Holmes will also be acting in All We Have.  “I’m willing to take a risk and try directing a feature but I go into it with a lot of humility and awe and I hope for the best.  But I feel like it’s nice to kind of…well, it’s nice to try and flex a different creative muscle.  And why not?  Why not give it a shot?”

That’s the conviction of a life calling.

Holmes comes from an incredibly supportive family, although she was the only one to forge ahead into the world of acting.  “I’m very grateful for my family.  There’s a freedom in being the only one doing something because there’s no one to live up to; you’re the only one that’s doing it.  It’s kind of satisfying in that way.  But you know, you learn very quickly to create your own path and live with it.  In our business, it’s a very interesting journey.”

Katie talks about how she’s selected the films in her oeuvre with the studied nonchalance that characterizes most actors when they examine their history of choices.  “It’s different for every project and where you are in your life.  You know, sometimes it’s the pure art of it.  It’s the opportunity to work with someone you’ve always wanted to work with.  Sometimes it’s a genre that you’ve always wanted to do.  Sometimes it’s a story that needs to be told.  And it’s very rewarding to be a part of a project that has a great message and deals with important issues and helps to change the social consciousness.”

Sometimes, even, it’s just about waiting.  “You know, certain projects come into your life at times when you’re really supposed to be a part of them, when you’re ready for it.  And it sounds kind of not-very-pro-active, but it actually is.  You just…sometimes you just have to sort of wait for the thing that you’re really are supposed to do.”

iI’s a fickle business, but Katie says she’s learned not to get too excited or too down.  “You just kind of roll with it.”

Remarkably down-to-earth, Holmes even says that of all the places she’d love to shoot a film again, Cleveland is the one she’d choose.

“Well, we filmed Miss Meadows in Cleveland, Ohio, which is close to my hometown.  And it was such a wonderful crew that we had from Cleveland.  It was August.  It was hot.  It was your all-American Midwest.  It was my state.  I had a wonderful time.  The people in Cleveland couldn’t have been nicer….  So I would have to say I’d go back there.”  Which goes to show exactly what kind of girl Katie Holmes is.

She’s also a passionate reader, recommending both Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane and The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, both of which have spent time on the New York Times best-seller list.  “I love my books.  I always feel really warm in a room full of books.  Like everything’s going to be okay.”  Furthermore, she’s passing it on.  “You know, I think as a mom it’s wonderful to give books to your children; to give the joy of reading to your children.”

In most arenas, Holmes sports the quiet, reserved nature of a woman who seeks not to make an impression merely by presence, but rather by impact.  It’s the kind of character that Princess Diana had, uninterested in the glitz and intimidated by the tabloids, but remarkably strong when it came down to brass tacks.  And, similarly, Holmes’s motivation, particularly for non-career choices, often stems from her maternal nature and a real sense of obligation.

“As a mother, I feel a huge responsibility to preserve our environment and I am very passionate about [it].  It’s so important.  And it’s not something that we can just put aside and deal with tomorrow.  I mean we really have to, obviously, take it very, very seriously.  It’s a huge concern.”  She speaks like it’s a given; like the debate about the existence or fabrication of global warming isn’t even a question, much less one that’s being battled and debated constantly in our highest offices.   And Holmes also mentions the Global Poverty Project in Central Park, led by Hugh Evans and supported by friend Jane Rosenthal, among others.  “The goal is to end world poverty by 2030, and you know, Hugh works tirelessly on this important cause.  And I went last year and it was an incredible experience.  Anything I can do to help is, you know, that’s very important to me.

Obligation.  That’s how I look at it.”

2014 Honoree

By Chesley Turner
photography by Stephen Busken

Thrive.

It’s more than an aspiration these days.

It’s an exhortation.

True, life isn’t always perfect.  But all too often, remarkably competent and clever women mistake self-inflicted exhaustion for the road to success.  It’s a misconception many of us share, no matter our age, income, or economics, whether we’re in the home or in the office.

Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post and one of Forbes’ 20 Most Powerful Women in Business, has been there too.  Moves caught up with her to talk about her personal experiences mistaking struggle for success, which she delves into in her new book, Thrive.  Speaking in her lilting Greek accent but with the firm confidence of a woman who knows her own mind, Arianna shared a little perspective on media, and on life in general.

When it comes to modern media, there’s no denying we live in a social cyber world.  News is no longer the province of only the news channels, and oftentimes, what the news channels produce isn’t always news.  The whole landscape has changed.

“It has democratized information.  So now you don’t have to be employed at a newspaper to be heard.”  Arianna immediately references the time when the Huff Post published an article by a homeless teenager.  The Harvard Admissions office read the article and offered him a place at Harvard.  Setting aside the philanthropic overtones, the story is remarkable.  News outlets giving voice to the marginalized isn’t something you see everyday; they’re more likely to sensationalize than to listen.  “Certainly, at Huff Post we have no hierarchy,” she says, commenting that the President of France might have an article posted right next to a student’s.

“I think that’s one of the etchings that has dramatically changed the way we receive information.  The Huffington Post, for example, is both a journalistic enterprise, with 800 journalists, editors, reporters around the world, but also a platform, that allows tens of thousands of people to express themselves on everything from the more serious issues of the day to issues which affect the way we live our lives.”
It’s that second class of article – examining the way in which we live our lives – that has been gaining ground, largely due to the prominence of social media.  “We are finding that some of the stories and blogs that are the ones that are most shared are about things that can help us live our lives with more fulfillment and less stress.”  She sites, again, a Huff Post blog wherein a special education teacher wrote, “The Day I Stopped Saying ‘Hurry Up’ to My Daughter.”  The author shared the alarming realization that the two words she spoke most to her six-year-old daughter were: ‘Hurry Up.’  ‘Hurry up and get up,’ ‘Hurry up and have breakfast,’ ‘Hurry up and go to sleep.”  “She was stressing out this child that wanted to literally stop and smell the roses.  The story got 1.2 million likes on Facebook and was shared and read by six million people.

“People used to say in Newsrooms, ‘if it bleeds, it leads.’  You know, put bad news on the homepage and everybody will read it.  But now I think that people – she stops – obviously we do a lot of that.  You know the world is full of tragedy and bad news and corruption and dysfunction.  But we also feel that we have a responsibility to put the spotlight on good things happening.”

But these days, it seems that traditional news outlets and non-syndicated opinions alike share the same confusion when it comes to fact and fiction.  “People, as someone said, are entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own set of facts.  And I think that there is truth.  I think we sometimes veer too close to Pontius Pilate, washing his hands of the truth.  And so it is our responsibility to ferret out the truth.”  She continues, “Sometimes it’s easier than at other times, but I think that is absolutely key, and it’s imperative to recognize that not all information is equally valuable, and that in fact not all knowledge is equally valuable.”

Here, she makes reference to a section in her book.  “I think that one of the problems with us being inundated with information 24/7 is that we are starved for wisdom.  In Thrive, I have a whole section on Wisdom, and I write a whole lot about this distinction, and about the importance of maintaining that distinction, even in the middle of how inundated we are with social media.”

As an experienced journalist, who began writing on politics and women’s rights at the age of 23, Arianna has logged many miles in print.  “My views have not changed when it comes to the key social issues of gun control, abortion, or gay rights.  I was always in favor of that even when I was conservative on issues of the role of government.  In terms of the women’s issues, my views have not changed.”  But then she adds, “I hope I’m expressing them in a better way.”  At age 23, she wrote a book called, The Female Woman.  “I believed then what I believe now, which is that we need to give women equal respect for all the choices they make, including if they choose and are able to be stay-at-home moms.  I am a feminist, and I believe that the greatest definition of feminism is equal opportunity for all women’s choices.”

At the time, she points out, there was a strong “feminist” movement that belittled the role of the stay-at-home mom.  “They only respected the woman with the attache case.”  And so she cites her reason for writing Thrive: the need for yet another women’s revolution.  “You know, if you think the first one was giving us the vote, the second one was a lot of the good work that the women’s movement did of giving us access to all jobs and the top of every profession and this is still an incomplete revolution.  But the third one has to be changing the world in which we are participating.”

But we shouldn’t have to trade happiness for success.  And the way the world works today, that’s often the tradeoff we’re asked to make, for men or women.  Stress rates are up, heart health is in decline, and it often comes down to workplace stress.  “Women need to not just say we want to be at the top of this world, but we want to change this world.  And for me that’s the third feminist revolution.”

True Feminism, according to Arianna, is about changing what is not working.  “Instead of simply women saying we want to succeed the same way men have succeeded even if it means heart attacks in our 50s and high blood pressure and all the other things that so many have suffered from because of the way we have defined success in the world today.”  She rattles off the facts and figures that she knows by heart.  Women in stressful jobs have a 40% greater risk of heart attack and a 60% greater risk of diabetes.  Thus the need to focus on the importance sleep, recovery, and renewal.  There are modern ways, she says, to approach work, which combine what she calls “ancient wisdom” with modern science.

And it’s working.

“Basically what is wonderful now that there is a new listening  and a new understanding in the zeitgeist, if you want.  35% of American companies, large and mid-size, have already introduced some form of stress reduction practice in their work places.”  Huffington Post has nap rooms, meditation, yoga, and breathing classes.  They also have an understood email policy: if you’re off work, you’re not expected to be on email.  “I think that the companies that are kind of at the forefront of these changes are going to be the ones that attract the best talent and are able to retain it.”

And while this will no doubt be a top-down corporate game changer for some companies, Arianna encourages women to step up and start making changes from within, as well.  She shares another story of when she met two young women working at Mckenzie in London.  The two women worked hard week after week.  Then they went to their bosses and said, “We are not on email over the weekend.  Here are our cell phones.  Please call or text if it’s urgent.  But we are not on email.”  A few months later, upper management approached the women and told them they’d been identified as leaders in the company.  “They had staked out a way to work hard and do their best work while also taking care of themselves and not burning out.”

Because once you burn out, it’s too late.  Arianna experienced her own severe burn out, recounted in the early pages of her book, which triggered her change in perspective on work life and success.  “After all, it’s when you’re burning out that you make the most mistakes.  You are not as creative or productive.”  She quotes Bill Clinton, who is also quoted in Thrive, as saying, “The most important mistakes I made in  my life, I made when I was tired.”

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.  Arianna has been traveling the country, talking about the need to recalibrate our lives, and give ourselves the opportunity to thrive.  “I’ve just been stunned by the numbers of women who have talked to me about their burnout, who’ve had wakeup calls like mine when I collapsed seven years ago.”

It’s the grand tradition of the fourth estate to point out society’s problems that need to be faced and fixed.  And that’s precisely what the Huffington Post is doing, under Arianna’s direction.  Furthermore, Thrive sets out an honest recounting of personal experiences, but also a very crucial road map for recovery, by giving more attention to well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving in our lives.  “This is a very important conversation that we are having on Huff Post and that I’m having in many different places, from high-powered executives to students, women and men.  This is a conversation that we need to be having, and fortunately, we are having.”

2015 Honoree

By Moonah Ellison & Zoe Stagg

Photography: Scott Witter

Forget love — Pat Benatar’s whole career has been a battlefield. ”I had to literally fight every single day, to get anything that I wanted.” Far from battle weary, it’s exactly what made her who she is today. “I relish that time. I relish my job because I’m such a warrior and such a fighter. It was the perfect storm for me.”

Benatar scored her record deal in 1978, a year where five of the top 10 songs were staked out by the Bee Gees or a Gibb, and Working Girl, with all its shoulder pads and power suits, was still 10 years off. It was uncharted territory for a woman who wanted nothing more than to rock as hard as the men.

“We were on the cusp of the change, so we were inventing it as we went along.” Fast forward to a Nicki Minaj or a Miley Cyrus performance, and it puts that journey into perspective. “There are times when I laugh and I think, the amount of shit that I got for what I did at the time I was doing it, compared to what they do now is laughable. I mean I was so, so benign. That’s the only word I can think of for it, compared to what is going on today.” But Benatar is grateful the time she served, has left an impression. “The beauty of it is knowing that you got to be part of the revolution, and I’m happy that they get to do what they get to do now, because all of us went before them.” She doesn’t necessarily see shades of her style in the tough chicks now, but it’s there — even if it’s under the surface. “Everything that goes before you has influence and relevance to what happens next. So everything, even if it might not be directly influential to them, what we did, and what we accomplished, all of us — plays into where they get to be right now. And that’s the beauty of history.” Relishing her part in the war, doesn’t mean she doesn’t wish she’d been able to enjoy a few of the spoils. ”I just think “Ah! If I had just been born in this era, I would have torn it up, because the freedoms are that would be allowed for me right now would be amazing.”

She is still well in tune with the “right now,” blasting her way through her 35th anniversary tour, and keeping up with her legion of fans on Facebook and Twitter. It’s something she loves. “I’m all about the connection. You don’t really make music in a vacuum, and I’m a really private person, I have a very guarded life, because even though we’re obviously… celebrities and everything,” She can barely bring herself to use the c-word and quickly clarifies, “We don’t live a celebrity lifestyle. Our life is very, very simple and pretty guarded and we don’t really do that whole ‘Hollywood’ thing. However, I do love the connection between being an artist and the people you’re performing for.” It’s not a new connection, just one that used to be decidedly more analog in the early days of her career. ”I spent, I can’t even tell you how many hours I spent, sitting on the steps of our tour bus, signing autographs and talking to people who would wait after the show, and we would sit there and talk to each one of them, Spyder and I both. And this is in the old days, when you would get fan mail, bags and bags of fan mail, and we would answer them. So we always did it, it’s just a lot simpler now.”

Becoming the first ever woman shown on MTV, and winning the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, four years running — a sweep that puts her on a short list with Tina Turner and Sheryl Crow — was anything but simple. A hard left turn toward the traditional found Benatar, not on road to Juilliard after high school, but married to her high-school sweetheart and working as a bank teller in Virginia. Walking down that aisle the first time, Benatar says everything in her being was screaming at her to run. She didn’t then, but a few years later she ended up where she was headed all along — on stage in New York City. That taste of a life she didn’t want, made her ready to fight for the one she did. “I think that everything occurred, occurred as it should have been. I would never go back and try to reconstruct or change what was, not ever, because obviously all of it was meant to be, to bring us to the point where we are now. I would never go backwards and even try to second-guess the universe.” That lesson taught her to listen to those voices inside. “I will always listen to that now, even when it seems so crazy, and I try to get everyone that works with us, and surrounds us, to go with it also, which is not always an easy task.”

She’s in a place where she gets to choose who surrounds her professionally now — but that wasn’t always the case. While Benatar was fighting for the same freedoms that men in rock were granted, claiming her position as liberated, tough, and sexy, the industry was busy taking that brazenness and exploiting it. When she cracked open Billboard magazine to find herself airbrushed to look naked, the gloves came off, too. “It was a terrible day. But then you get over it, and you armor up,” you can still hear her set her chin defiantly remembering the battle. ”It was ugly. It was bloody and it was ugly. It was demeaning and it was heartbreaking. That was the saddest part. The realization of how disgusting someone could actually make this beautiful thing that you had, that was heartbreaking for me, and what it did was armored me up for the future, so it was worth it, but I have to tell you, it was truly heartbreaking. I was so naïve, and it was shocking. It hurt my soul.”

Whatever they were trying to sell, trying to turn Benatar into some kind of pin-up, she wasn’t buying. She still doesn’t, even in the present, image-obsessed world. ”Musicianship always trumps image. It only appears that it’s not, but it always does, because image is a short-lived thing. If you have no substance, and everything is based on smoke and mirrors, it doesn’t last.” Money and magic don’t travel in the same circles. ”Art is art. Art takes precedence over everything. Do I think that the selling of art should dictate how it gets done? No. Culture should never dictate to art, art should dictate to culture. Always.” Here’s where it’s clear, having 19 Top 40 singles was never what drove her. It was a much bigger calling. ”Art is divine. It’s a gift. Why you would ever let something as earthbound as marketing or anything else dictate something that was a divine gift, makes no sense.”

Though she still rocks the edgy eyeliner and tousled crop that makes her look as if the last 35 years haven’t touched her, Benatar says she wouldn’t trade places with an industry newbie for anything. Being 62 is where it’s at. ”You’re comfortable, you’re happy to be in your own skin, you like who you are, you like where you’re at, it just affords you the most incredible liberation.” Everything that comes with launching a career — struggling to be discovered, and clawing at the charts — isn’t what making music is about to her, anymore. “I’ve done it. I’ve been there. It was great. But I’m on a different part of my life now. And the part of my life that I’m in, I really, really love.”

2016 Honorees

“I respect feminists. My mother was a very strong feminist; she’s a feminist atheist– I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell every day, all day, coupled with, “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar.”

By Chesley Turner
Photography: Amanda Friedman

Cobie Smulders is not a feminist.

Wait. Stop. Before you start trolling…. Let her explain.

“Oh, Lord. I don’t see it as cut and dry. I feel like it’s become more of a label and less of a movement, does that make sense?” The whole is-she-or-isn’t-she-a-feminist is a hot button issue right now, with impassioned pleas made for every camp and perspective. But let’s give credit where credit is due.

“I respect feminists. My mother was a very strong feminist; she’s a feminist atheist–I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell every day, all day, coupled with, “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar.” So I have a lot of very strong females in my life. But I just…I don’t really like labeling myself as anything. But I respect and appreciate people who do.”

It’s clear that while she avoids the borders of a label, she’s grateful for the benefits that women have won over the past decades. From women earning a voice to women gaining equal footing in the office, and hopefully soon even in the Oval Office.

“If I could, I would vote for Hillary, for sure. I hope–I think–my husband will be, and he’ll be voting for both of us.” The native Canadian may not be a U.S. citizen, but she keeps an eye on American politics. With, of course, the obligatory acknowledgement of the Canadian Prime Minister: “Trudeau is a bit of a stud….”

So while she could do without the sweeping negativity that colors American politics, especially recently, Smulders knows what matters. “I just want some positivity. I can’t handle the amount of money that is being spent on things that could be going towards education. I want more gun control. I want all these things. And I think even being Canadian, I’m just as frustrated.”

Part of the perks of the great strides that women have made? We can speak up and speak out.

“This is why America is a great country: because you can have opinions, and you can have conversations, and you can be impassioned by things and do something about it. I’m all for that.” The impassioned citizen–whether she be a regular Jane or a movie star with a message–can raise a voice. “In this day an age, someone who is on a TV show or who is in movies can speak out and other people can learn from that and choose to believe in that, or choose to argue against it. It’s all a big conversation, and it’s exciting to see people speaking out on whatever their beliefs are.”

Granted, the ideas and acceptance of powerful women is still evolving, but like any aspiring professional with an ascending trajectory, Smulders has mentors in the industry. The first one that springs to mind? Pamela Fryman, the director of almost every single episode of How I Met Your Mother.

“I look up to her as someone who I want to emulate because she just has so much grace and she just handles every situation beautifully. And at the same time, she’s a woman who is so good at her job.” Fryman is a role model, Smulders specifies, because of the way she communicates with people and the way she still gets a job done while being a nice, normal person. “She was a huge influence on me, in terms of how to navigate this insane industry and how to deal with situations that are uncomfortable and how to sort of maintain your grace through all of that.”

However, Smulders is quick to point out that while a female mentor may be harder to come by in her line of work, there are a fair amount of men to learn from, too. “I mean, in this industry if you have any kind of longevity, any kind of success, it’s like one in a million. [Successful people] have such a range of experience to draw from and to learn from, so…I think if you could be with someone who’s been around for decades, it’s a blessing to learn from them.”

Now, she admits, she has some questions for the Power Women, particularly any who have figured out the mystery of marriage and motherhood in the modern world.

“Listen. I tend to have the mantra of, like, just do your best. But I’d love to meet a woman who’s like, ‘I’ve got it all handled. I’ve got it all figured out.’” She references her mother again, a woman who raised her to truly believe that she had all options open to her. Career options, school, marriage; everything was on the table, both because of her mother’s encouragement, and because of the era she grew up in. “It is the best one yet, for women. But it is really, really hard to have a career and a home life.”

With two small children (a seven-year-old and a one-and-a-half-year-old) and a thriving film career, those options come with struggles. Recognizing the clear benefit of having a supportive husband, a semi-flexible job arrangement, and financial security, Smulders knows she’s lucky. “But emotionally? And physically? That’s a whole other story. It’s a constant balance and it’s a constant conversation and it’s a constant negotiation and it’s hard. Because when I’m at work, I think about my children. And when I’m with my children, I think about work. One is always pulling you away from the other.”

She’s underwater, so to speak with a career and two children (“I have two small children, so I’m just focusing on keeping them alive at the moment…and them not turning into jerks.”), but that doesn’t prevent Smulders from supporting a very particular cause with passion.

“Before I got involved in theatrical stuff, I wanted to go to school and study to be a marine biologist. I never got that far, but I’ve always been an environmentalist.” As an avid supporter of Oceana, Smulders is highly knowledgeable about the benefits of ocean conservancy and preservation. “I grew up in Vancouver. We’re right on the ocean. I’ve always been connected to it.” Oceana, she points out, works for change at an impactful, legislative and corporate level. “They have the power to go to different countries and work with them to change the way that they do fishing, change the way that they drill, to protect different mammals and different aquatic life.” The sustainability of our largest natural resources and ecosystems is paramount to the continued health of growing populations. Not to mention: ignorance is rampant. “It is so scary that people are like, ‘Oh, having an island of garbage is, like, not a big deal.’ But it affects how we all live and how we will survive.”

Now, Robin Sparkles may have won her way into our hearts, but Smulders has two major fall pieces that promise to engage and thrill us.

Having worked on a number of indie films recently–including playing her husband’s ex-girlfriend in a short film he’s directed–Cobie identifies the unique character of the indie film circuit: teamwork. “You’re forced to band together to create something. When you do indies, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, you’re doing craft service and you’re the editor? Like, how does that work? How are you gonna do both?’ It’s fun because everybody has to pitch in, and you have more creative influence.”

The Intervention, which hit movie screens last month, is a serious-but-hilarious look at relationships, portrayed by a remarkable ensemble cast. Clea DuVall’s first movie as writer and director promises to be a sweet little film. “It was her first movie, and a giant undertaking, and she really just nailed it.”

Meanwhile, on the flip side of the coin, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, the second Jack Reacher film, also premiers this fall. The very definition of a high-budget action piece, Smulders shares some unexpected insight into the film. “I have never been included more, creatively, in my professional life.” From advance fight training, to location scouts, to camera tests, to helping build her own wardrobe, Smulders was involved from the very beginning of the project. It was like she was roped into the dramaturgy of the film, getting in on the whole research process. “I have never been more a part of a project from the get-go than on that film. I did not expect it. ‘Wow! We’re going to go check out the jail! OK! Let’s do that! We’re gonna go to prison today, and see the inmates, and see how this is gonna go, shoot-wise.”

And that wasn’t the only interesting facet of Reacher filming. There was also Tom Cruise.

“He was amazing. Incredibly supportive. Very collaborative. Very excited about everybody’s ideas, very open to change, very open to conversation. He also took such great care of us.” With scene after scene of fight sequences, Cruise, the resident action film veteran, ensured his cast was prepared, healthy, and cared for. “It was very physically exhausting. But because I was being supported so well, I felt I got through it. Which I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do at the beginning of the movie!”

Although Intervention filmed in Savannah and Reacher filmed in New Orleans, Cobie has been based in New York for almost three years. But that’s all about to change, so she’s enjoying it while she can. “I’ve just tried to absorb everything I can because I know it’s going to come to an end eventually. so I’ve just been having a nice love affair with the city.”