[Applause]
as you can imagine I’ve learnt a lot
about life from my thirty years working
in the Hollywood film industry and from
the characters that I met interesting
famous characters we all love characters
don’t we especially in films we’ve
become invested in good characters we
care about them we identify with them
and we might live a little vicariously
through them but what about real life we
can say that someone’s a character
because they’re a little outrageous I
don’t know they’re odd and we say oh
he’s such a carrot oh what a character
but we’re all characters in our own
story we have a highs and lows comedy
drama and from the moment we’re born
we’re evolving into the person we were
meant to be we’re doing this by being
open to life’s possibilities living
spontaneously without fear and trusting
that the plot twists are there for a
reason when I was 13 and taking Pitman
shorthand at school
I had no idea that one day this secret
language that I loved would one day open
doors for me in Hollywood I also loved
acting so maybe that was a sign well
since I grew up in an era where little
girls should be seen and not heard
taking up acting when I was 13
gave me a voice but when I left school
it was secretarial work for me and I did
amateur dramatics in the evening that’s
where I met my husband
we were both passionate about acting but
I didn’t really appreciate having to
work three jobs to support us while he
went full-time to drama college he was
really living the life I wanted but you
know I was old-fashioned and I thought
well he’s the man he should fulfill his
dream and I’ll just play the part the
good little wife I was very lonely my
marriage
and since neither of us wanted children
I was trying to figure out what my life
was all about just to shake things up a
bit I took a course in beauty therapy
and electrolysis they’re sticking
electric needles into lady’s faces to
remove superfluous hair was really not
for me and it didn’t help my marriage
either in desperation I soldered a
bottle of codeine pills well I was
unsuccessful in ending my life you know
I’m here and but it was the end of my
marriage I realized that what next drama
had always given me confidence when I
was young so I applied to University to
teach theater in education that was okay
except that I didn’t have the necessary
qualifications but because I was 26 and
a mature student and because I gave a
convincing and passionate presentation
about the need for creative
self-expression in children I was
accepted but not until the following
year
what did I do I went to Switzerland to
become an au pair I thought working with
children would help it would give me an
idea of what what they were getting in
the home I worked with three children
and I did all the household duties I was
a glorified maid and not part of the
family I would go out to my room in the
Attic and look out at the wonderful view
of Lake Zurich and the Alps and I was
miserable I’d made friends with the
Canadian au pair and we both decided
we’d had enough of cleaning floors and
making cookies so we headed for
Stuttgart where we were told we could
get work at an American Army Hospital my
friend got in because she was a nurse Oh
what do you do ma’am
ask the personnel lady I’m his secretary
great we need a secretary in charge of
the drug abuse program okay the first
day on the job I’m sitting in my office
and this gie little chubby GI comes in
fatigues he has a huge plastic bag slung
over his shoulder and he said are you
the drug lady ma’am and he threw the bag
on my desk and out rolled these little
plastic bottles of urine I was kind of
shot all these different colors had no
idea there’s so many different colors of
urine and the bottles were labeled with
the name of the soldier and the unit
that it belonged to in the area of
Germany my job was to send the samples
to an independent German lab for drug
testing when the tests came back
positive I had to hospitalized the
soldier then every day a soldier would
come down into the into the lab and pee
in a bottle now he was supposed to be
supervised by the sergeant in charge but
because the sergeant was too embarrassed
to watch this soldier pee in a bottle he
would look the other way and the soldier
would substitute someone else’s urine so
the whole drug abuse program was a
complete farce as was the the therapy
group that I belonged to is a weekly
therapy group and their army
psychiatrists and so-called therapists
there and I was just shocked at the way
they spoke to these young men I mean
these guys that were kids really there
were 18 19 and they just come from
Vietnam and they were trauma die
traumatized by the horrible things
they’d seen and yet here with these army
psychiatrist yelling at them and putting
them down and it was called below the
belt therapy and I challenged it so here
am I a civilian a little naive perhaps
but I’m speaking up against the system I
did it because I cared about these young
men and I also thought of all the times
I never spoke up because I didn’t feel
good enough I was champion the underdog
and what gave me the courage to do that
to face up to these so-called
profes
was in their field it was simply a gut
feeling I had a voice in my head
something really strong that really I
couldn’t control I needed to do it
regardless of the consequences to myself
this was a turning point for me in a
large arc in my character development
now I was supposed to go back to England
to go to university the time was coming
I’d worked six months at the hospital
but something was telling me you need to
move on this more to discover and had
this thirst to discover more I wanted to
do it so I decided to pass on the
University and not go back to England
and instead I continued to travel so
there are more countries more
interesting jobs and defining
experiences such as living with
Palestinian Arabs in the old city of
akka Israel they had been uprooted from
their their natural home and had been
away from there for many years
waiting to go back and we know how that
ended but you know what they were so
welcoming to me and kind as were a
family of french moroccan jews in the
new city of akka both cultures even
though the country was in conflict and
they were in conflict they gave me
shelter we didn’t speak the same
language but because I was open and
respectful and trusting really of these
wonderful people they treated me the
same way it was language of the heart
really so now I’ve experienced a lot on
my travels and by the time I went to
Hollywood I thought oh I’m pretty much
ready for anything because I have
experienced real-life dramas
so I arrived in Hollywood and the first
job I got was with the Samuel Goldwyn
company now I’m a strong believer in
creative visualization it’s worked for
me many times and it worked for me with
this job with getting a film job with
Samuel Goldwyn I was the first to be
interviewed and 25 people were
interviewed after me and yet I knew I
had the job and I’d visualize telling
people oh yes I work for Goldwyn it was
so great so great job going into the
studio every day and I see myself on the
phone hello Sam you Gordon company and
even when I had to open a new bank
account and it said place of employment
I put the Samuel Goldwyn company I was
actually a temp at the time I suppose it
was my well I know is my English and
shorthand skills that got me through the
door but it was my reputation working in
television in Canada that sealed the
deal although I’d never worked in film
in the States they checked out checked
me out and they said you know she’s got
a good reputation so I always say to
people be careful what impression you
leave don’t burn bridges be kind be nice
do a good job do the best job you can do
people will appreciate you for it and
they’ll talk about you and give you a
reference eventually I started working
for Barry Levinson he’s writer director
you may have heard of him with my
shorthand skills
I helped him write screenplays which
also lets me casting characters in the
films but it also gave me an opportunity
to experience the lives of others beyond
the story being told in the film on good
morning Vietnam the seventeen-year-old
Vietnamese boy who was cast opposite
Robin Williams had made it to Chicago
after escaping Vietnam by boat with his
family when he was 10 it was a
terrifying journey for all of them their
boat was attacked three times by type-i
rats
and all their belongings stolen a pirate
threatened to cut off his mother’s hand
if she didn’t relinquish her Jade
bracelet now here’s this young man in
Thailand seven years later and you think
he’d be full of anger and resentment
towards the Thai people but no he said
that all of that hatred was erased by
the kind hearts he encountered and the
bonds he made he said he was given a
chance to be a better human being and
was forever grateful for it
Wow what it got I’m proud to say that
this young man and many Vietnamese I
cast in the film have been my become my
lifelong friends they have shown me that
regardless of your background or culture
were all human beings on a journey of
self-discovery and character-building
when I was working on Rain Man I was
casting and I had to go into a home for
the disabled I was actually a little
anxious nervous if you’re lying because
I didn’t know what to expect but I found
were unique individuals all completely
different from one another in mind body
and spirit I connected with one young
lady and she showed me the beauty of
people who seemed to be trapped in their
bodies her name was Cindy she had red
hair rosy cheeks right blue eyes she was
confined to a wheelchair and only had
the use of one arm and her vocal skills
will limit it but she could laugh what
allows she had just fell in love in the
movie I’ve got my Polaroid camera you
remember Polaroid
took a photo of her and put it in my
book wrote all the details about her
look back and her face was long she was
sad I said to the carrot what did I do
why why is she sad she said oh don’t
worry about it she said Cindy I thought
you’re going to give her the photo I
said no problem with I can I can take
another one so I did I took the photo
and waited for it to develop a little
bit you know the Polaroid and I gave it
to Cindy and her face lit up and grabbed
my arm and she started kissing it Wow
any fear or prejudice or any feeling I
had completely disappeared with that
wonderfully loving gesture this was
another example of a culture that was
foreign to me where I learned though
we’re basically all the same inside just
like the famous actors I worked with
we’re all looking to be acknowledged and
appreciated for who we are it’s a human
need looking back on my life I can see
how my character has been transformed by
the paths I talk and the fact that I
trusted the plot twists I returned to
England in 2012 which was unexpected and
a bit of a twist but I felt the right
thing to do I came back to spend time
with an elderly aunt she had been there
for me when I was a child and I want to
be here for her now wherever your
journey takes you it’s important to
trust the process of life don’t be
afraid to take risks know that every
crossroads is an opportunity for
character growth we’re all here for a
reason to create character and to make a
difference I’d like to end with this
quote from dr. Martin Luther King I look
to a day when people will be judged not
on the color of their skin
but on the content of their character
thank you
[Applause]
as you can imagine I’ve learnt a lot
about life from my thirty years working
in the Hollywood film industry and from
the characters that I met interesting
famous characters we all love characters
don’t we especially in films we’ve
become invested in good characters we
care about them we identify with them
and we might live a little vicariously
through them but what about real life we
can say that someone’s a character
because they’re a little outrageous I
don’t know they’re odd and we say oh
he’s such a carrot oh what a character
but we’re all characters in our own
story we have a highs and lows comedy
drama and from the moment we’re born
we’re evolving into the person we were
meant to be we’re doing this by being
open to life’s possibilities living
spontaneously without fear and trusting
that the plot twists are there for a
reason when I was 13 and taking Pitman
shorthand at school
I had no idea that one day this secret
language that I loved would one day open
doors for me in Hollywood I also loved
acting so maybe that was a sign well
since I grew up in an era where little
girls should be seen and not heard
taking up acting when I was 13
gave me a voice but when I left school
it was secretarial work for me and I did
amateur dramatics in the evening that’s
where I met my husband
we were both passionate about acting but
I didn’t really appreciate having to
work three jobs to support us while he
went full-time to drama college he was
really living the life I wanted but you
know I was old-fashioned and I thought
well he’s the man he should fulfill his
dream and I’ll just play the part the
good little wife I was very lonely my
marriage
and since neither of us wanted children
I was trying to figure out what my life
was all about just to shake things up a
bit I took a course in beauty therapy
and electrolysis they’re sticking
electric needles into lady’s faces to
remove superfluous hair was really not
for me and it didn’t help my marriage
either in desperation I soldered a
bottle of codeine pills well I was
unsuccessful in ending my life you know
I’m here and but it was the end of my
marriage I realized that what next drama
had always given me confidence when I
was young so I applied to University to
teach theater in education that was okay
except that I didn’t have the necessary
qualifications but because I was 26 and
a mature student and because I gave a
convincing and passionate presentation
about the need for creative
self-expression in children I was
accepted but not until the following
year
what did I do I went to Switzerland to
become an au pair I thought working with
children would help it would give me an
idea of what what they were getting in
the home I worked with three children
and I did all the household duties I was
a glorified maid and not part of the
family I would go out to my room in the
Attic and look out at the wonderful view
of Lake Zurich and the Alps and I was
miserable I’d made friends with the
Canadian au pair and we both decided
we’d had enough of cleaning floors and
making cookies so we headed for
Stuttgart where we were told we could
get work at an American Army Hospital my
friend got in because she was a nurse Oh
what do you do ma’am
ask the personnel lady I’m his secretary
great we need a secretary in charge of
the drug abuse program okay the first
day on the job I’m sitting in my office
and this gie little chubby GI comes in
fatigues he has a huge plastic bag slung
over his shoulder and he said are you
the drug lady ma’am and he threw the bag
on my desk and out rolled these little
plastic bottles of urine I was kind of
shot all these different colors had no
idea there’s so many different colors of
urine and the bottles were labeled with
the name of the soldier and the unit
that it belonged to in the area of
Germany my job was to send the samples
to an independent German lab for drug
testing when the tests came back
positive I had to hospitalized the
soldier then every day a soldier would
come down into the into the lab and pee
in a bottle now he was supposed to be
supervised by the sergeant in charge but
because the sergeant was too embarrassed
to watch this soldier pee in a bottle he
would look the other way and the soldier
would substitute someone else’s urine so
the whole drug abuse program was a
complete farce as was the the therapy
group that I belonged to is a weekly
therapy group and their army
psychiatrists and so-called therapists
there and I was just shocked at the way
they spoke to these young men I mean
these guys that were kids really there
were 18 19 and they just come from
Vietnam and they were trauma die
traumatized by the horrible things
they’d seen and yet here with these army
psychiatrist yelling at them and putting
them down and it was called below the
belt therapy and I challenged it so here
am I a civilian a little naive perhaps
but I’m speaking up against the system I
did it because I cared about these young
men and I also thought of all the times
I never spoke up because I didn’t feel
good enough I was champion the underdog
and what gave me the courage to do that
to face up to these so-called
profes
was in their field it was simply a gut
feeling I had a voice in my head
something really strong that really I
couldn’t control I needed to do it
regardless of the consequences to myself
this was a turning point for me in a
large arc in my character development
now I was supposed to go back to England
to go to university the time was coming
I’d worked six months at the hospital
but something was telling me you need to
move on this more to discover and had
this thirst to discover more I wanted to
do it so I decided to pass on the
University and not go back to England
and instead I continued to travel so
there are more countries more
interesting jobs and defining
experiences such as living with
Palestinian Arabs in the old city of
akka Israel they had been uprooted from
their their natural home and had been
away from there for many years
waiting to go back and we know how that
ended but you know what they were so
welcoming to me and kind as were a
family of french moroccan jews in the
new city of akka both cultures even
though the country was in conflict and
they were in conflict they gave me
shelter we didn’t speak the same
language but because I was open and
respectful and trusting really of these
wonderful people they treated me the
same way it was language of the heart
really so now I’ve experienced a lot on
my travels and by the time I went to
Hollywood I thought oh I’m pretty much
ready for anything because I have
experienced real-life dramas
so I arrived in Hollywood and the first
job I got was with the Samuel Goldwyn
company now I’m a strong believer in
creative visualization it’s worked for
me many times and it worked for me with
this job with getting a film job with
Samuel Goldwyn I was the first to be
interviewed and 25 people were
interviewed after me and yet I knew I
had the job and I’d visualize telling
people oh yes I work for Goldwyn it was
so great so great job going into the
studio every day and I see myself on the
phone hello Sam you Gordon company and
even when I had to open a new bank
account and it said place of employment
I put the Samuel Goldwyn company I was
actually a temp at the time I suppose it
was my well I know is my English and
shorthand skills that got me through the
door but it was my reputation working in
television in Canada that sealed the
deal although I’d never worked in film
in the States they checked out checked
me out and they said you know she’s got
a good reputation so I always say to
people be careful what impression you
leave don’t burn bridges be kind be nice
do a good job do the best job you can do
people will appreciate you for it and
they’ll talk about you and give you a
reference eventually I started working
for Barry Levinson he’s writer director
you may have heard of him with my
shorthand skills
I helped him write screenplays which
also lets me casting characters in the
films but it also gave me an opportunity
to experience the lives of others beyond
the story being told in the film on good
morning Vietnam the seventeen-year-old
Vietnamese boy who was cast opposite
Robin Williams had made it to Chicago
after escaping Vietnam by boat with his
family when he was 10 it was a
terrifying journey for all of them their
boat was attacked three times by type-i
rats
and all their belongings stolen a pirate
threatened to cut off his mother’s hand
if she didn’t relinquish her Jade
bracelet now here’s this young man in
Thailand seven years later and you think
he’d be full of anger and resentment
towards the Thai people but no he said
that all of that hatred was erased by
the kind hearts he encountered and the
bonds he made he said he was given a
chance to be a better human being and
was forever grateful for it
Wow what it got I’m proud to say that
this young man and many Vietnamese I
cast in the film have been my become my
lifelong friends they have shown me that
regardless of your background or culture
were all human beings on a journey of
self-discovery and character-building
when I was working on Rain Man I was
casting and I had to go into a home for
the disabled I was actually a little
anxious nervous if you’re lying because
I didn’t know what to expect but I found
were unique individuals all completely
different from one another in mind body
and spirit I connected with one young
lady and she showed me the beauty of
people who seemed to be trapped in their
bodies her name was Cindy she had red
hair rosy cheeks right blue eyes she was
confined to a wheelchair and only had
the use of one arm and her vocal skills
will limit it but she could laugh what
allows she had just fell in love in the
movie I’ve got my Polaroid camera you
remember Polaroid
took a photo of her and put it in my
book wrote all the details about her
look back and her face was long she was
sad I said to the carrot what did I do
why why is she sad she said oh don’t
worry about it she said Cindy I thought
you’re going to give her the photo I
said no problem with I can I can take
another one so I did I took the photo
and waited for it to develop a little
bit you know the Polaroid and I gave it
to Cindy and her face lit up and grabbed
my arm and she started kissing it Wow
any fear or prejudice or any feeling I
had completely disappeared with that
wonderfully loving gesture this was
another example of a culture that was
foreign to me where I learned though
we’re basically all the same inside just
like the famous actors I worked with
we’re all looking to be acknowledged and
appreciated for who we are it’s a human
need looking back on my life I can see
how my character has been transformed by
the paths I talk and the fact that I
trusted the plot twists I returned to
England in 2012 which was unexpected and
a bit of a twist but I felt the right
thing to do I came back to spend time
with an elderly aunt she had been there
for me when I was a child and I want to
be here for her now wherever your
journey takes you it’s important to
trust the process of life don’t be
afraid to take risks know that every
crossroads is an opportunity for
character growth we’re all here for a
reason to create character and to make a
difference I’d like to end with this
quote from dr. Martin Luther King I look
to a day when people will be judged not
on the color of their skin
but on the content of their character
thank you
[Applause]
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