2012 Honoree

Stephanie March

Actress, Activist

“As an actor, almost 90 percent of my work experience is about rejection. I’ve had to develop a very firm sense of self to maintain my balance, and I am proud of how full my real life is outside of this profession. Someone said to me recently, ‘You are the least actor-y actor I’ve ever met.’ It is the nicest compliment I have ever received.”

Can you tell us about one of the biggest challenges in your life that you think helped you become the person you are today?

As an actor, almost 90 percent of my work experience is about rejection. I’ve had to develop a very firm sense of self to maintain my balance, and I am proud of how full my real life is outside of this profession. Someone said to me recently, “You are the least actor-y actor I’ve ever met.” It is the nicest compliment I have ever received.

Have you seen any changes in the political landscape for women over the last few years? What are they?

It’s changed a lot and for the better. There was a time when women “weren’t funny” or couldn’t play anyone other than the girl on the hero’s arm. That is no longer true. However, real advancement will be made when the media no longer feels compelled to post a woman’s age after her name when she is in print.

Do you feel the extreme left and right wings of U.S. politics are destroying the United in United States, or is it just healthy debate?

Extremism in anything is destructive.

Do you feel the decline of religion in the rest of the Western World will have an effect on U.S. society? If so, will it be good or bad?

Is religion on the decline? It certainly doesn’t seem like it.

Do today’s young people face a bigger challenge than you did?

Every generation faces a different set of challenges, but I’m not sure they are greater or lesser than any other. Unique, but not insurmountable. For example, two major issues facing the next generation are overpopulation and privacy/security with regard to the internet. We have not confronted those problems before, but the next generation will have to find innovative solutions to deal with them.