September 3, 2024 • 61 mins
I thought, “You know, I need another adventure,” and I was worried it was going to ruin my career. But it turned out to actually be very good for my acting career. Because after you come off a series like Baywatch, everyone thinks you're just incompetent and dumb and I don't know, they just don't give you any credit for anything. And then you go do an Ironman. -Alexandra Paul
In today’s encore episode, we dive deep into the life and mission of Alexandra Paul, beyond the accolades, discovering who actress Alexandra Paul is at her core and what drives her.
Alexandra shares her incredible story of deciding in 6th grade to remain child-free by choice and how that decision has shaped her activism, including her TEDx talk on overpopulation—a topic she passionately believes needs more attention.
We discuss her transformation to vegetarianism at 14, inspired by Diet for a Small Planet, and how a year between high school and college sparked her love for acting, leading to a career where she stood firm in her ethics, refusing to wear fur or use makeup tested on animals.
She also opens up about her battle with an eating disorder during her teens and early 20s, her fears around restricting dairy, and the profound moment at 47 when she went vegan and her heart “cracked open,” seeing the injustices of the world more clearly.
We touch on her direct action activism, where Alexandra literally takes a stand—physically—for her beliefs, having been arrested over 25 times. She discusses the privileges that allow her to engage in civil disobedience, her training in it, and some of the experiences that have stood out, including moments of fear and claustrophobia.
This conversation is rich with reflections on activism, personal growth, and the ongoing journey of recovery from bulimia.
Alexandra’s story is not just about overcoming challenges—it’s a powerful reminder of how our choices, big and small, can shape a better world. You won’t want to miss this one!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And so I felt like, because I am a white woman,
because I was in a job wherethey weren't going to fire me,
because I got arrested becausepeople get arrested a lot in
Hollywood for far worse thanpeacefully passed a no trespass
sign right, and because I didn'thave children and because I
didn't have to show up to workthe next day, usually my work
(00:21):
did interfere a couple times,but I have the ability to be an
activist this way but, noteverybody does, and that's
totally fine and everyone shouldbe the activist they feel most
comfortable in.
And I guess I've always feltvery comfortable and I love the
community of people in thestreets and organizing and, yeah
(00:42):
, being more out there, I guess,than behind the scenes,
although I'm a very goodenvelope stuffer.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Hey there and welcome to Rise and Thrive with me,
Ella Majors.
I created this high vibepodcast from a place of profound
curiosity, fierce compassionand the deep desire to connect
you with the wisdom ofinspirational wellness, health,
fitness and conscious leadersand change makers.
Here's to discovering our blindspots and embracing life as the
(01:17):
adventure it is.
The time is now.
Let's do this, is now, let's dothis.
Hey, hey, everyone, ella herefor this encore episode of Rise
and Thrive, and I've got aspecial co-host today with me,
quinn.
What's up, babe, howdy, how areyou?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
babe, good, good, it's been a minute.
This feels so good to get backon the mic.
It sure does.
Yeah, I'm stoked.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah.
So you guys, this is anincredible episode we've got
coming out First.
We've got Alexandra Paul on theshow and I want to first chit
chat here with Quinn for aminute.
But, related to that, I wasjust listening to this episode
because we recorded it a littleways back and it's funny because
your name, quinn, comes up inthe very first few minutes, like
(02:07):
the very first minute of thisepisode.
Yeah, and I know you're jumpingin to this hosting situation
completely blind, so kudos toyou and it's something really,
really random and something alittle weird and a little funny,
and I'm not going to tell youwhat it is or anybody that's
listening, so you're going tohave to wait till the episode
comes out.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Can't wait yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
But you two have something in common.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
We do Okay, good, yes , okay.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Something very like kind of off the wall.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
We're both lifeguards .
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I mean, I look great in red.
So, thank you, you're welcome.
Purple's Quinn's favorite color, you guys?
So yeah, I just think we needto do a little catch up here,
because it has been a while.
We had thought that Rise andThrive was over and what was
happening, just to be totallytransparent, was that we were
working on the next Sexy, fit,vegan podcast to come out, and I
(03:01):
said, well, let me saveAlexandra's and a few other
really amazing episodes tolaunch with the new podcast.
And then, as shit happened,shit happened and I tore my ACL
sparring Muay Thai.
I had ACL surgery, Things gotput on hold, and so now I said
(03:22):
you know what?
Let's get these episodes out,because they deserve to be out.
You guys are going to love them.
They're amazing episodes withincredible people, extraordinary
humans.
So we are putting out a fewencore episodes of Rise and
Thrive.
And yeah, so what else has beengoing on since we stopped Rise
and Thrive?
Quinn, everything.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Unfolding as it does, all sorts of things Going on
since we stopped Rise and Thrive, quinn.
Everything Unfolding as it doesAll sorts of things.
We've now been together a year.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Right, we celebrated yes.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, blew by.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And if you guys don't know our story, definitely
check out.
I don't know what episode it isright now, but we could put it
in the show notes how we met,story, which is pretty unique, I
think, because I don't think alot of people meet on vegan
dating apps, so spoiler alertnot the people I've spoke to.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, they're like what?
It's a great story and yeah,and it's fun to tell and it's
really just amazing that youknow it's been a year that we've
been together, because itreally doesn't feel like that at
all.
Yeah, you know we're justgetting started, which is
exciting.
I'm just so, so excited to bepart of this podcast and really
look forward to how it blossoms.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yes, you know, it was funny because I was mentioning
just the other day I don't knowwhat conversation were we having
, I think it was on text thatand I said, oh, if I was
podcasting right now, I'd besharing about this, and what was
it?
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Onions.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Onions.
No, it was deodorant.
Yeah, you guys, there'ssomething going on.
I don't know, but my armpitshave been smelling a little like
onions lately and I've been.
I don't know if this happens toanyone else, but you know I
really work on finding the besttotally natural deodorant, which
(05:09):
has come a long way over theyears.
Back in the day there were notthat many options and none of
them worked worth a shit, andnow there are some pretty good
ones.
I was using Native for a while.
That was working, but I feellike you kind of go through
cycles where then they maybedon't work so well anymore.
So I've been trying out somenew ones, and the last one I
just tried kind of made myarmpits break out, even though
(05:31):
there's no baking soda.
I was making my own for a while.
So it's a journey finding theright natural deodorant.
Do you have one that you like,that you want to recommend?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I use Hello.
I think that's what it's calledHello Fresh or Hello or
something to that degree.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Vegan cruelty free.
I assume All the things yeahexactly.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
No aluminum, none of the bad stuff, and I don't smell
like onions.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
No, you don't.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I mean it's funny, like the whole idea of smelling.
You know, I don't, I reallydon't smell myself anymore.
I remember that being a thingyou know back when.
I was eating meat and you know,drinking and doing all that
stuff.
But I smell way more pleasantnow.
You know I don't smell likecigarettes and I don't smell
like yeah, I mean, I think themeat is a big part of it.
I'm just a happy, body smellsgood.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I mean eating decayed flesh just can't do good for
body odor.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Coupling that with you know, aluminum and all the
nasty stuff that we're puttinginto our armpits and sweating on
it and going straight into ourblood system.
Yeah, it's just really gnarlyand just what a cruel way to
poison us.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Well, speaking of, deodorant if you are, if you, if
you smell of onions, please.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
It's not a strong smell like Quinn didn't, but I
know I noticed a little.
So I live in Miami, I'm outsidea lot.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I'm training all the time.
And, if anything, onions wasfrom a past.
Smell of mine, if you will, soI just equated it to onions.
But no, the woman smellsdelightful, like she does not
smell of onions.
I just thought it was a funnything too.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well, and then I said well, at least you like onions,
because you do actually likeonions.
I can't do the raw onions, I'lldo the sauteed onions.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
I'm a fan of all onions.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, yeah, that's good stuff.
Good stuff.
If you like this kind ofconversation, you guys, and
you're not signed up for mynewsletter, my Soul Aligned
Sunday newsletter.
That is something I'm going tokeep up with.
I've got people emailing backsaying this has become my
favorite read.
I share all sorts of greatstuff, all very aligned with
holistic health.
(07:31):
I get pretty vulnerable sharingabout smelling like onions,
things like that, and thenrecommending, of course, any of
the discoveries I make that helpme be the happiest human I can
be, and then also recommendingyou know, supplements or brands
that I've found that I use and Irecommend as well.
So it's a fun newsletter, funread, also very valuable
(07:54):
Sexyfitvegancom forward slashnewsletter.
You can go sign up.
It's great, Great newsletter.
I have to say so.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It really is.
I mean, I look forward to itevery.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Sunday.
Obviously You're not biased oranything but it does the job
yeah.
And then we'll be sharing in thenewsletter when our next
podcast is coming out, and allthat good stuff too.
So let's get into it.
We've got Alexandra Paul, likeI mentioned, on the show today.
She is.
I'm not going to read her bioGo the show notes for the bio
(08:24):
but I just want to say you knowshe's an acclaimed actress.
She's a health advocate.
She was, of course, star ofBaywatch probably what she's
most known for in the actingworld but she's been a feature
in over a hundred shows andtelevision series, so that's
pretty extraordinary.
But what I love her for is hercommitment to making a positive
(08:48):
impact in this world.
She's been arrested, I think,close to 30 times.
She is all about the animals,she's all about regulating
population in terms ofsustainability and she just
cares so much.
And her and I have a lot incommon.
She struggled for a long timewith eating disorders and she
has overcome that, but is veryopen and vocal about how she
(09:12):
overcame it and what life islike for her now.
And this is a deep dive with her.
It's a really intriguingepisode and I can't wait for you
all to hear it.
So let's dive in episode and Ican't wait for you all to hear
it.
So let's dive in.
Oh, alexandra, I am so honoredthat you're here, really to be
(09:36):
able to share this time andspace with you.
I see you as someone who haspaved your own really powerful
path from a very young age, andyour deep commitments to making
this world a healthier, morejust and loving place for
everyone Really it inspires meand I'm so grateful for you to
be on our show.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Well, thank you so much, Ella.
It's so nice to see you again.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah, you too.
And as a side note, I was justlistening today to one of your
recent episodes on Switch forGood podcast and you had talked
about mouth taping at night.
It's a random fun fact, mypartner Quinn.
He tapes his mouth at night andI had never heard of that
before and he swears by itbecause it works so well for him
(10:17):
.
It works very well for mebecause he is quiet, he sleeps
so deeply, does no snoring, andthe minute he takes it off and
it falls asleep, it's snoring.
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Interesting.
So when you met him, was healready mouth taping?
Yep, he was already mouthtaping.
Okay, yeah, good, yes, itreally does help with snoring,
and I don't do it for snoring.
My husband says I don't snore.
He says I purr, I don't snore.
(10:48):
He says I purr.
I don't know, but I do itbecause I read a book about.
It was called the OxygenAdvantage.
But I've read other bookssubsequently, breath for one.
Well, james Nestor is a verygood author and he talks about
the benefits of breathingthrough your nose, and I was
definitely a mouth breather andso this has helped me a lot.
Not only if I have a cold sore,I won't put a tape on, or if
I've put too much moisturizer onmy lips the tape won't stick
(11:11):
and I won't sleep with it.
I noticed that my instinct isto breathe through my nose now,
so that's good.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Okay, so it's like training you also to do it
without the tape.
Oh, that's so interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
But I think I'll just keep with the tape because it's
just so easy and I must lookreally funny.
You know, I go to the bathroomat night.
If somebody encountered me inthe hallway, I had my tape on
and my mouth guard in and I usedto also sleep.
I used to have issues with, andI think it was a little bit of
an iron deficiency, so I'vesolved that.
But I used to have likerestless leg and the only thing
that helped was when I put toespacers on.
I can't explain why.
(11:50):
It helped for my sister too.
So can you imagine me going tothe bathroom, mouth tape, fart
on and toe spacers?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Do you clench your teeth?
Is that why you do mouth guards?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yes, that's why I have mouth guards.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
So do I?
I think we have a lot in common.
I don't think I have restlessleg, but my skin or something is
very sensitive to like thesheets If there's a little fold
in the sheets or if I'll have tomove.
So I'm awful to sleep with.
I feel sorry for anyonesleeping with me, oh goodness,
okay.
So one of the things I like toask my guests, because you have
(12:28):
an extensive bio and you'veaccomplished so much in between
your accomplishments and youractivism and your acting and all
the accolades behind all thator beyond all that, who is
Alexandra Paul?
How would you answer that?
Wow, okay.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Well, I consider myself very much a twin.
I'm a twin, okay, well, Iconsider myself very much a twin
, I'm a twin, and so that's veryimportant to me.
My twin sister and I've beenwith my husband too for 28 years
, so I do also consider myselfactually very good taste in men
and a good partner to him.
But I also consider myselfsomeone who struggled with an
(13:03):
eating disorder and overcame it,most importantly, and deals
with a lot of not anxiety, butworry more than I know that as I
look back on my life, I'll gowhy do you worry so much?
And my guiding principle iswhat Ingrid Newkirk said, which
(13:24):
is be kind, be kind, be kind.
That's sort of the mostimportant thing, and I look at
the world through a lens ofenvironmental ethic.
So when I see a car, I thinkhmm, what's the mileage on that
car?
Is it electric?
I don't look at the design orhow fast it goes or
technological marvel.
(13:44):
No, it's about how it affectsthe environment and the same,
and also animals, of course.
So I look through the lifethrough that lens.
Pretty much everything isthrough an environmental or an
animal justice lens, I wouldguess.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Right, yeah, and I found this so fascinating that
you were in sixth grade when youreally made a conscious choice
that you were gonna bechild-free.
Like I'm trying to think ofsome of your milestones along
your life when you had this kindof moment of ah, I'm going to
take a stand, I'm going to dosomething about this problem
that I'm learning about orseeing and that seems like a big
(14:20):
one.
Can you tell about that story?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Thank you.
Well, I grew up in the 70s whenthere were a lot of commercials
about starvation in India andAfrica, and there were a lot of
commercials about it, and so Iwas very affected by that and
thought, well, there's too manypeople in the world to feed
everybody, was the message thatI got.
(14:43):
Now, that was a very simplisticmessage, but then, when I was
in sixth grade, my glee clubteacher, mr Collins, said that
we had to change the words inthe song that we were singing
because it would have been 4billion people in the world,
cause when I was born in 1963,there were 3 billion people.
And he said you need to changeit to 4 billion because there
(15:05):
are now 4 billion people in theworld.
That was it.
And I was like what, 4 billionpeople, that's so many.
And that was really aneye-opener for me.
And I did tell my mom that Iwasn't going to have children.
I might adopt, but I wasn'tgoing to have my own because
there were too many kids in theworld.
And she said oh, honey, you'llchange your mind once your
(15:25):
biological clock clicks, inwhich it didn't really.
I think it didn't, probablybecause I was so strongly
aligned with my ethics, aboutnot having too many people on
the planet, crowding out animalsand also other people, you know
.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, it's so interesting.
We've got quite a little circleof you, me, dotsie, women and
I've got two really closegirlfriends who, you know, chose
not to have children.
And I think things are changing, culture is changing, but
there's still that.
At what point did your mom knowthat that was not going to
happen?
Was she hoping you would havechildren?
Speaker 1 (16:06):
I have two siblings and none of us have children,
which is interesting.
My brother had a vasectomy whenhe was 21 because he felt so
strongly about the animals andthe environment, and my twin is
gay, and so for a long timethere wasn't even a question
about whether she was going tohave kids or not.
So I think she also grew upwith a life that was child free.
(16:27):
And so my mom yes, she hascried over the fact that she has
no grandchildren, and she nowrecognizes that there are
benefits, because now we'rethere for her 100%, because we
don't have children, so we'reable to take care of her.
Now the question is what aboutus when we get older?
(16:50):
And that was a question that Iwrestled with when I was 40 and
we were taking care of my dad.
I thought, well, who's going totake care of me when I'm older,
and what am I missing?
These are the questions.
And well, maybe I could adopt akid and save a child.
And my husband looked at me.
He said you know, all those arenot.
I'm not hearing you say youwant a child.
Those aren't strong enoughreasons to raise a child, and so
(17:14):
, yeah, I decided to take outlong-term health care insurance
instead, so that when I am older, I can help myself be taken
care of.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
That's interesting because that certainly has
popped in my head.
You know, the older I start toget and some of my friends
without children we've all beenlike well, what if we have our
own little commune?
And you know we have a kitchenwith a vegan nurse you know, to
help us out where we need it andwe'll have like Can we create
that?
So we're exploring all sorts ofpossibilities.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Well, that's the thing You're right.
I mean, I have friends too thatwe're talking about that also
because I have some friends whoare child-free and having
children doesn't guarantee anyway that you're going to be
taken care of and it costs a lotof money to raise one child,
two child, three children.
The average number of childrenper family now in the world is
2.3.
So in America we have, onaverage, 2.1.
(18:10):
Yeah, 2.1.
It might be I think it's undernow, might be it's under two now
, but still it's very expensiveand I don't want to reduce
children to money, but we couldfind ways to take care of
ourselves as we're older otherthan just depending on our
children or our child.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yeah, yeah, and, as you said, you have a child,
there's no guarantee that thatchild's going to be around or be
wanting to take care of you orcapable of taking care of you.
Or yeah, no guarantees there.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yeah, exactly Not a reason to have children we have
more control.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah, yeah.
And at what point did youreally feel called to make
overpopulation?
You know something that you arereally vocal about, that you
are going to use your platformfor that.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
You were going to actually do a Ted talk on it In
1991, I developed a schoolprogram where a professor and I
went around to schools in the LAarea and spoke on the issue of
human numbers and how fast wewere growing to try and combat
the pro-natalist culture that wehave, which basically assumes
(19:20):
that you're going to havechildren, and preferably two, or
even, back then, three, becauseonly children are lonely
children supposedly.
And so we developed a programand I spoke to over 6,000
schoolchildren during that time.
I took time off from acting todo that because I felt so
(19:41):
strongly that and back thenthere were five and a half
billion, so it was, you know,many fewer because now we have
over 8 billion.
So obviously my work has notworked.
I was born, as I said, whenthere were 3 billion and now I'm
60, there are 8 billion.
The population's more thandoubled and it's quadrupled in
(20:02):
my mother's lifetime.
And I'm just so concerned aboutit because I hear people talking
about so many issues likeclimate change, or animals,
habitat, wildlife, clean water,available water, all that stuff
and it's all to me housing,traffic.
It's all tied in, even if it'sjust peripherally.
(20:23):
It's all tied into the numberof people that are on the planet
and I'm concerned that peopleare so afraid of talking about
this issue because there havebeen bad actors who've tried to
stop people from having kids,and I just want to be clear that
I don't want to stop peoplefrom having kids.
If you want kids and you reallywant them, want to stop people
(20:44):
from having kids.
If you want kids and you reallywant them, have them, but think
about the future and considerhaving only one or two at the
most.
And if you don't really wantthem, don't have them, because
it's such an important job andthere's so many people who just
kind of fall into parentingbecause of cultural pressures.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I mean, it's just another issue that's so taboo
because of the programs we'refed from the time we're born,
that that's what you're supposedto do, all these supposed to
habits and the way you'resupposed to live your life.
And it seems like you've beenand I've with me, with animals
too been somebody who just kindof was able to see that
(21:28):
programming for what it was andmake your own decisions.
Where do you think that camefrom?
Like, was that innate in?
Speaker 1 (21:33):
you.
Yeah Well, maybe you know I'vebeen in a life that isn't very
traditional being an actress.
There's a lot of acceptance.
A lot of my friends inHollywood don't have children,
didn't get married.
If they had children, some ofthem didn't have partners.
So it was a very consciousdecision.
So I think also myenvironmental ethic is so
(21:54):
important.
I mean, I grew up first with anenvironmental ethic and then
now it's broadened to includeanimals first and foremost, but
very much an environmental ethicand seeing that, it just was
logical to me.
Just like we see overpopulationof deer and then the deer starve
and people can alsooverpopulate, but humans get
(22:15):
very angry if you start sayingthat, that we are overpopulated
because we somehow believe thatwe don't have to abide by the
laws of nature and math.
But the truth is is that when weask for a world that has fewer
people, that's better foreverybody on the planet, because
right now there are so manyhave-nots and when we have fewer
(22:39):
people on the planet, everyonewill be able to share what
Mother Earth can provide,instead of having rich people
and very poor people, the peoplewho are going to suffer most
when the population reaches 10billion, which the UN says it's
going to reach this centuryaround in about 50 years, we are
the ones that are going tosuffer most.
(23:01):
So often people will say thatpeople who talk about limiting
fertility that somehow I must beracist or classist or something
.
No, I care deeply about theworld's poorest and believe that
everybody, everybody, needs tohave smaller families,
especially those of us inAmerica right who use so much.
(23:21):
So it's an issue that, likeunfortunately I touched on, had
bad actors in the 70s, whereChina was forcing people to have
abortions and have fewer kidsand India was doing the same and
there has been sterilization ofdifferent groups of people.
That is not at all part of whatI see at all.
(23:44):
I want people to see thepositive side of being
child-free, like you and I see,instead of getting brainwashed
which it is brainwashing a lotabout how wonderful parenthood
is and it is wonderful, but it'snot all wonderful, and being
child free is also wonderful.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, it's looking at both sides of that coin.
It's so important.
I think, also looking back nowto kind of the next milestone
vegetarian at age 14, right Iswhen you went vegetarian and
diet for a small planet was thebook that?
Speaker 1 (24:19):
helped you get there.
Yeah, ella, thank you so muchfor doing your homework.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, no, your story is fascinating.
The biggest in preparing forthis interview was like oh my
gosh, I want to talk about somany things.
Where are we going to go withthis?
Because you've just had such acolorful life and there's so
much to it, especially whenyou've been in the public eye
and you've had so many things todeal with in your life that
(24:46):
I've never had to deal with.
A lot of people listeninghaven't to deal with, and yet
the things you were dealing withare very relatable to a lot of
people.
So it's just fascinating to mehow you've been so courageous in
using your platform to do goodand to make an impact, and I
want to cover all of that as thebest we can.
So, yeah, 14 decided to govegetarian, and then was it just
(25:10):
reading the book?
Can you share a little bit moreabout what went into that
decision?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Diet for a Small Planet is a book by Francis
Moore Lappe written in the early70s, so this was about 1976, I
think I went let's see 1976,1977 that I went vegetarian and
it was basically forenvironmental reasons.
She was making the argumentthat we should.
She kept eggs in, so it wasn'tat all milk too, so it wasn't an
(25:36):
animal treatise at all.
It wasn't until I was in highschool and I did a book report
on the book Animal Liberation byPeter Singer that I saw the
animal component very strongly,and my brother at the same time.
We went to boarding school askids and he was in a different
boarding school, but he becamevegan at a very young age and I
(25:57):
remained vegetarian for way toolong.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Right and you talk about that.
And then between high schooland college you took some acting
classes you're doing somemodeling and you talked about
how something opened up for youat that time.
What opened up?
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Well, are you talking about in terms of?
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, in terms of life, like just it sparked
something in you that helpedchange the trajectory of your
life.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
During high school I had a severe eating disorder.
I was anorexic but mostprominently bulimic, and it
followed me from ages 16 to 28.
So I was modeling can youbelieve it Like I already had an
eating disorder and I had toput myself in that somehow for
validation.
The bulimia got so bad that Ileft modeling.
I moved to Canada to be with myboyfriend and told my agent why
(26:47):
, and she said, yeah, then go.
And I already had taken a yearoff before going to college.
This was during that time, andso I wasn't planning to be a
model more than that year anyway.
But before I left, I hadauditioned for a TV movie about
models and they were looking foran unknown girl to play a model
, the lead in the movie.
(27:09):
And so I got a call back when Iwas in Canada and had to fly
back to New York to audition forit.
And then again, and then thethird time, they flew me to
Hollywood and I got the role.
And that was what, yes,definitely changed the
trajectory of my life.
I moved to Los Angeles and stillthinking that I was going to go
(27:31):
to college after I did thismovie, and then, three weeks
before, I decided, you know, I'mgoing to be really old when I
get out of college 21.
Three weeks before I decided,you know, I'm going to be really
old when I get out of college21.
As only an 18 year old canthink right, right, exactly.
So I better just take advantageof the momentum now and I'm
going to stay.
And my mom?
She committed the mortalmistake of going back to college
(27:53):
after she divorced my dad whenshe was 40.
And one of her refrains thatshe would say was oh, college is
wasted on the young.
So by the time I got to thisplace, I was able to say to her
mom you said yourself thatcollege is wasted on the young.
So I'm going to go to collegelater and just see what happens
here in Hollywood.
And I never went to collegebecause I stayed busy in
(28:16):
Hollywood for a long time.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yes, you did.
How many features in movies,TVs?
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I have been in over a hundred movies and television
shows.
Mostly have had the fortune tobe the first or second female
lead.
As I've gotten older, I playnow, you know, the grandmother,
the lawyer, you know the not thefirst or second lead, but I did
have very, very wonderfulopportunities for the first 30
(28:43):
years of my career and hopefullymore to come, because there's a
lot of roles for women of allages.
Well, I'm sorry there aren't alot, but there are roles for
women of all ages.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
So and one of the things I hear and you talk about
is how you put into yourcontracts some stipulations
about what makeup you would wearand that you wouldn't wear fur
on set.
And I know, when I had a littlebout in fitness modeling, that
was something that was always.
It actually just caused me tobe like maybe I'm not going to
(29:13):
pursue this because I would beso worried about, okay, which,
oh, if I get booked by thiscompany, oh, but am I supporting
?
You know, do they wear, useleather, do they use products
that test on animals?
Then I'm not going to take thatjob and I don't think I can be
that picky.
You know, you just put it inthere.
And how did that work?
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yeah.
I was lucky because I wasplaying the leads then, so I had
the if I was playing.
Well, now it's much easier.
So even if I come on set plusI'm, you know, an old veteran so
if I come on set and say, hey,I can only use stuff not tested
on animals the makeup artistwill be like, oh, I've got a ton
of that, oh, I love that, or Idon't use anything tested on
animals.
But back then it wasn't very.
There were only a couplemakeups MAC which was not tested
(30:00):
on animals.
Then Now, unfortunately, theydo test on animals because of
the rules in China and they wantto sell in China.
And then there was Joe Blasco,which is a very Hollywood brand.
So those two did not test.
So I was able to.
Makeup artists were fine withit, nobody ever complained.
It was really nice.
Of course the internet wasn'taround, so it wasn't as easy.
You couldn't just go Googledoes this product test on
(30:24):
animals or get an app for it.
But yeah, so I stuck to Blascoand Mac mostly.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Got it, got it.
And let's talk about your andthis fascinates me all the
arrests that you've had withdirect activism.
At what point did you get intodirect activism and civil
disobedience?
Do you remember your firstarrest?
I?
Speaker 1 (30:43):
do I do.
It was in 1987.
So I was in my 20s and I justwalked for five weeks across
America on the Great Peace Marchbecause I was very concerned
about nuclear assault gettingblown up by nuclear weapons.
That is an issue that Russiaand America had like 20 to
30,000 nuclear weapons on eachside and now we have like 5,000
(31:06):
or 2,000.
So there's been a lot ofprogress in that area.
I'm sure that the ones we havenow are far more destructive,
but at least we are less apt tobe blown up by mistake because
there are fewer weapons.
But I was very concerned.
I was pretty sure at that agelet's see it would be 1986.
So I was 23 that I wasn't goingto make it to 35 because of the
(31:29):
nuclear issue.
So I had been on the GreatPeace March and we had gone to
the nuclear test site in Nevadawhere all the nuclear weapons
were tested above ground andthat were continuing to be
tested underground now afterlaws had passed to protect
groundwater and such.
But you know, it gets in thereanyway, folks.
So I went back to the test siteafter walking on the Great
(31:53):
Peace March from LA to Las Vegas.
I went back several times ayear, actually for the next 15
years, to do peaceful civildisobedience and so that first
time?
yeah was 1987, I think yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
And I know you talk about kind of your privileges
that give you a uniqueopportunity when it comes to
direct action.
Can you share a little moreabout that?
And I think somebody maybe putthat idea in your head and you
ran with it.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
My mom was and people ask like because all of us kids
are activists.
So people say, well, how didyou get that way?
And my mom was.
She always voted, she alwaysgave blood, she donated her time
, all sorts of things she woulddo.
She boycotted lettuce whenCesar Chavez's farm workers were
boycotting it.
(32:42):
So that kind of walking yourtalk was very much in our
household.
But I and my brother and sisteralso were more comfortable just
being in the street holding asign, vigiling, and civil
disobedience peaceful civildisobedience kind of just felt
natural to us, to me certainly.
And so I felt like because I ama white woman, because I was in
(33:05):
a job where they weren't goingto fire me, because I got
arrested because people getarrested a lot in Hollywood for
far worse than peacefully passeda no trespass sign, right and
because I didn't have childrenand because I didn't have to
show up to work the next day.
Usually my work did interfere acouple of times, but I have the
(33:25):
ability to be an activist thisway.
But not everybody does andthat's totally fine and everyone
should be the activist theyfeel most comfortable in.
And I guess I've always feltvery comfortable and I love the
community of people in thestreets and organizing and, yeah
, being more out there, I guess,than behind the scenes,
(33:47):
although I'm a very goodenvelope stuffer.
Back in the 80s and 90s, youknow, you did a lot of.
I'm not afraid of the justicesystem as much as a male might
be or a person of color.
So that first arrest I actuallywent to jail for several days
(34:09):
and, yeah, it was a big learningexperience.
And subsequently I've been injail for just five and a half
days was the longest that I wentin LA at the LA detention
center for protesting the Iraqwar and and then a couple
several days for animals, forrescuing animals.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Do you know how many times you've been arrested
altogether at this point you?
Speaker 1 (34:33):
know it's over 24 probably or 25, because I would
go back to the nuclear test siteseveral times a year and get
arrested, peacefully andeventually.
It's interesting that you knowthe point of civil disobedience
is not only to show howcommitted you are to get press
attention for the cause, butalso to pressure the powers that
(34:56):
be because it's expensive toarrest everybody and book them
and things and eventually thegovernment, because that's
basically it was federal landthat we were protesting on
nuclear testing as a governmentproject.
They stopped busing us to thelocal jail and instead they just
built a fencing on the propertythat had a bathroom and water
(35:17):
that they would herd us into,then they'd process us and then
they would release us.
For the most part it was tooexpensive to prosecute us, so I
only went to jail for one timebecause after that they would
just drop the charges.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
And how many more times do you plan to get
arrested in your life?
Do you think oh?
Many more, many more.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Yeah, many more.
I think civil disobedience is avery effective way of bringing
attention to a cause.
It's not.
Once again, the issue has toalso have all the other aspects,
that the fundraising, theletter writers, the lobbyists,
all sorts of things to affectchange.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
At this point moving forward, what causes do you feel
most connected to or inspiredby right now?
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Right now, I am focused on animal rights and
human overpopulation.
Those are the two that seem tome to be the most where I'm most
needed as an activist.
I was very much involved withgetting electric cars on the
road and I feel like, because Iwas part of the very, very
beginning and now it's become somuch more mainstream, I'm
(36:28):
leaving that to other folks andworking on issues that I just
think are very important also,which is animal rights and human
overpopulation.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Beautiful.
I want you to come one day.
Maybe come visit us at Hogs andKisses Farm Sanctuary.
We've got a beautiful B&B We'dlove to put you up, so I'm going
to put that out there.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Thank you so much.
I would love that.
I would love that.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
So let's talk a little bit now.
I'm curious how you see you'vebeen abstinent from purging
right how do you describe itsince you were 28?
Is that correct?
Yeah, so 32 years now.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Yeah, so I consider myself abstinent.
Abstinent sounds like such afunny word, though, so I just
say I haven't binged or purgedfor 32 years.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
And do you consider yourself in recovery, as you're
going to be in recovery, or doyou feel recovered?
How do you see that?
Speaker 1 (37:25):
I remember Dotsie really feels like she's
recovered.
I do not.
I still use food.
Just to be clear, I haven'tbinged really in the 31 years.
Maybe a little twinge of that,because there's a difference
between overeating and binging.
It's a mindset, right?
Yes, so I haven't binged and Ihaven't had that desire, that
(37:48):
overpowering craving to juststuff myself till I'm sick and
then throw it up.
You know that sort ofself-loathing.
I haven't had that.
But I definitely use food.
Like there'll be times when Ijust do not eat well and I go
right to sugar and I'll stay oneating sugar because it's
comforting, but I don't binge onit, I just eat it and I don't
(38:10):
eat enough vegetables.
So I would say that that iswhere my work lies.
But like my husband's been withme for 28 years and he says oh,
alexandra, you have improved somuch.
You're like you're almostnormal.
Now.
Whatever normal is right, right, but still, you know, sugar
remains my Achilles heel.
I would say that I'm addictedto sugar and there are times
(38:34):
when I've gone off it.
But then there are other times,basically, where I am able to
keep it really a good place inmy diet and then it kind of
starts to creep more and moreand more, and then I have to
pull back.
So I have to always be vigilant.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Does that sound familiar to you?
Oh, definitely, and it is.
It's the mindset when it comesto what we're eating, how much
we're eating, and for me it'sthis very much ability now to be
conscious with my meal, to beconscious of making a conscious
choice.
So sometimes I consciously makea choice that is not the
(39:10):
healthiest choice and I'm stillmaking that choice.
It doesn't feel like the foodhas the power over me, if that
makes sense.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Yes, that's a beautiful way to put it.
Yes, I totally agree.
I feel that that's where I am,and then I will, however, go to
periods where I feel like, oh,it's getting a little bit too
much and I have to pull back.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Yeah, yeah, I pretty much.
A few years ago I cut out sugaraltogether for a good maybe six
weeks.
All refined sugar, even stevia,anything that would maybe
prompt a craving for sugar.
I cut that all out.
I think it might've cut out fora little bit just to get that
sweet taste because I had gottento a place where I was eating a
little bit of coconut milk icecream.
(39:54):
It wasn't the end of the world,it was the kind without the
added sugar.
But I felt every night afterdinner I really wanted some and
I felt like it was an addictionand I said I don't want to be
controlled by this.
So I cut out sugar altogetherand I really haven't gone back.
Now I can eat a little bit hereand there, but in general it's
gotten to the point where Idon't crave it and that is a
(40:16):
really nice place to be withthat.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
That is for sure.
Yeah, and I too have given itup for months and it's so great
which is so weird that I wouldgo back on it, but it's so great
not to be so.
Here's my philosophy aboutsugar or about anything that.
If somebody's struggling withalcohol or some specific food,
is that for me, when it comes tosugar, two is too many and a
(40:39):
hundred is not enough.
So I'm never satisfied whollywhen I eat sugar.
There's always that.
Well, when I finish it, Ialways feel a little bit sad.
Yes, oh, totally, you know.
And I think, okay, well, I'llhave some tomorrow.
So when you don't eat sugar atall, that just never enters into
your mind.
So it's, there's so much morepeace.
You know, cause?
Speaker 2 (40:59):
you're like nope, you know, I know I can't be
satisfied anyway, so if I giveit up, okay, it's so true, every
time you start you're alwaysgoing to have to stop and be
like, oh, I really want a littlemore, you know.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
So you have to go through that kind of every time,
every time every time, unlessyou binge until you're sick,
which is what I used to do, andI don't do that anymore.
So it's more like you said.
My conscious mind goes, oh, putit down, alexandra, and there's
that little bit of spathis.
So it's true, abstinence canoften be easier, moderation or
(41:33):
trying to manage.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
How do you help as a health coach when somebody's
kind of battling with thatinability to stop once they get
started.
But maybe they don't have afull-out eating disorder but
there's some disordered eatingin there?
How do you work with somebodyaround that?
Speaker 1 (41:51):
So, just to be clear, I closed my health coaching
business because I'm workingwith my mom, being with my mom,
so I couldn't do both and reallybe good to both, but at seven
years of coaching.
So one of the most importantthings is, if somebody wants to
cut down on something is to justmake it easier for them and not
ask them to engage theirwillpower or white knuckle it.
(42:13):
So it's really important thatit not be in their environment.
And when it's not around,studies have shown that people,
if they have to make an effortto get to something, they're
less likely to do it the harderit is, and it can be as simple
as just putting if you live witha lot of other people, putting
the foods that you crave in acupboard that's either high or
(42:35):
very low and behind, so youdon't see them.
If you have it out on thekitchen table, of course you're
going to eat it and so they'rejust to get it out of your
environment.
Was number is very, veryimportant.
And then also to plan aheadabout okay, so you don't want to
eat dessert, but you know nowyou feel like you don't want to
(42:57):
eat dessert but you're going towant to eat it and come supper
time.
So what are you going to do whenyou start craving?
What kind of substitutions?
And they might not be food.
It might be getting up andturning on some really
pleasurable TV show.
What are you going to doinstead to get you out of the
habit?
Because a lot of our eating,for example, is habit, and also
(43:22):
it helps, of course, with thecraving that you talk about is
that once we get out of thehabit, our bodies doesn't expect
it anymore, and so we all hadhabits that we've given up tons
of things in our life, like somany people in college ate pizza
every night for dinner, anentire pizza, and they don't do
that anymore.
So we all can change our habits.
It seems hard in the beginning,so planning ahead and figuring
(43:49):
out.
People always said to me oh no,I just won't eat dessert.
I'm like, no, it doesn't workthat way.
It feels like it does, but no,it's not that easy, otherwise
you would have given up desserta long time ago.
What are you going to doinstead of having dessert to
make you feel good and notdeprived, so we can get you out
of this habit of having dessertevery night?
So that's a biggie.
The best thing would be to notgo to the restaurants that have
(44:11):
your dessert, you know.
But some people don't feel likethey can't control that part of
their lives, like where they eat, especially if they have family
who want dessert or they go onbusiness dinners.
Although I had a client oncewho said I have to go to
business dinners.
I hate them.
I hate them.
But I said, you know you hatethem, Don't you think like other
people hate them too?
(44:31):
What if you suggested, just,you know, let's have meat and
have a tea or a coffee or adrink if you have to.
Don't you think they want toget home to their families too?
Right, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm like no, they don't.
And then, of course, covidtaught us all that everyone's
just fine staying inside.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Yeah, totally, and I think also it's that ability to
pause right Before you take theaction, because if you don't
have that pause, then it'sautomated and it just goes.
So, training ourselves to pausebefore we act and then to have
a I'm calling them declarationsthese days affirmation, whatever
, but have like this thoughtready to counter the thought of
(45:13):
I really want.
But let me pause and say, whatwould I choose if I really loved
myself?
Or have something there to kindof coach ourselves right?
Did I ever tell you my granolastory?
I don't know, tell me so.
I was in my disordered eatingdays.
I was addicted to this specificgranola that you could buy in
bulk at Whole Foods and it wasso delicious.
(45:35):
And granola is just so caloriedense.
It's loaded with most of themare loaded with sugar and so
sweet and delicious, but it hasa health.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Halo, but it has a health halo, it's so true.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
Anywho, I could not stop myself Once I started
eating granola.
I could not stop myself.
So I started, instead of justnot buying granola, I started
buying it, still in bulk, but Iwould put it in bags in my trunk
and I would carry into my homeonly the amount that I wanted to
let myself eat that day.
But I was still ruled.
I mean, it was better, but Iwas still ruled.
And then one day I was with,like this fitness icon in my
(46:11):
town and she was with me and Iopened my trunk and she's like
what is that?
Massive bags of granola.
And she's like, oh no.
And she just took them.
She was, she was hardcore.
She just took them and she putthem in the dumpster and she's
like no more.
I was like I know, I know, Idon't want to be ruled by the
(46:34):
granola anymore.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
And so what happened?
How was it for you?
Were you able to give it up,cold turkey?
Speaker 2 (46:43):
No, no, not at that moment.
I still had a lot of inner workto do.
I mean this is all emotional.
I mean I was filling a void,that it was a milestone.
I mean I started to really dothe work at that point.
Up until then it was like thephysical what can I do, right,
to manipulate my environment sothat I don't make those choices?
Not what I could do tomanipulate my own emotions and
really deal with the root ofwhat it was that I was trying to
(47:05):
fill.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
You know what I mean, but you did touch on something
that, by having to bring itinside, you made yourself think.
You know, and psychologicallywe do tend to eat from a bag and
then we'll finish the bag.
But because it takes a littleeffort to open a new bag, it's
like a new thing.
Hence the a hundred calories,snack walls and stuff.
(47:27):
It's not always healthy, but itis healthier and it does is a
step towards being more aware.
And I remember when I wouldstart the day for years with a
chocolate chip muffin and mynutritionist said you can't do
that.
And I'm like what?
No, it makes me feel good Onechocolate chip muffin.
(47:48):
And then you know she's like no, I want you to have something
that doesn't have sugar in it.
And I wept.
I wept because I said I don'tknow what else to eat.
Well, I haven't had a chocolatechip muffin for two decades.
You find other things that fillyou and then they become things
you like and you develop newhabits.
(48:10):
So I think part of it, ofcourse, is inner work,
definitely, but I think also alot of it's just mindlessness, a
habit, what we've been doing,and we can definitely change.
So much of that is in ourcontrol, because willpower is
people say, oh Alexandra, youhave so much willpower.
I'm like, no, it's notwillpower.
(48:30):
It's not willpower, it's habit.
I've changed my habits and,yeah, it took a little bit of
awareness and maybe a little bitof willpower that very first
time, the first few days, butafter that, no, you learn how to
build new habits that usuallyare healthier if you're aware
and working on yourself.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yeah, yeah.
And then having some goals.
I mean you stopped work forwhat?
Nine months to prepare and youdid an Ironman, you did the
Hawaii Ironman, I did.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
I did the Hawaii.
Speaker 2 (49:00):
Ironman, oh my gosh, I am in awe of anyone who does
the Ironman.
And so you trained for ninemonths and you really hadn't.
You were already, you know,swimmer, but not biking.
You had never done a marathon,I'd never run more than I think.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
I'd maybe run 10 miles on my own maybe, but I'd
never done a marathon.
And the Ironman has a marathonat the end and then it has a two
and a half mile swim, which Iwasn't worried about.
I don't think I'd swum two anda half miles.
Maybe I had, but I hadn't beenon a bike since I was a teenager
and I was 34 when I startedtraining 33, 33.
And yeah, I took nine monthsoff because it was after
(49:40):
Baywatch and I loved shootingBaywatch and I'd done a whole
bunch of movies and anotherpilot, maybe two pilots for
other networks, and they werenice, they were good, but they
weren't that community in thehome that I was okay.
I thought, you know, I needanother adventure and I was
worried it was going to ruin mycareer.
(50:00):
But it turned out to be actuallyvery good for my acting career.
Because after you come off aseries like Baywatch, everyone
thinks you're just incompetentand dumb and I don't know.
They just don't give you anycredit for anything.
And then you go do an Ironman.
Then it counteracts theirformer stereotype of you and
back then it was the 90s, 97.
(50:20):
So people weren't really doingthe Ironman as much as they do
now.
That's so awesome.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
I love that.
How did it go?
I really didn't read anythingabout that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:31):
Oh yeah, well, great.
I struggled with something thatI found a solution to later.
I struggled with drinking water.
I would get this air bubble onthe top of my chest and it made
it hard to breathe.
But later, when I was doingsome marathons, I discovered
that if I drank from a straw, soI would cut a little mini straw
and keep it in my fanny packand then when I drank, instead
(50:52):
of gulping air at the same time,I just took a straw and drunk
that way.
So I created that.
So, yeah, it was 13 hours.
So it's not like I'm a speeddemon, but I certainly was well
under the cutoff, that's forsure.
So I think I defiedexpectations.
But I did train very hard inschool.
I was very good at schoolbecause I did my homework and I
(51:12):
did what I was asked.
And same thing with thetraining my coach was a former
Ironman winner, so I did everysingle thing he asked me to do,
except for one day out of thatnine months.
And he was kind of surprisedbecause I think he too thought
oh my God, who is this person?
She's never even done amarathon.
She doesn't really know how toride a bike.
Speaker 2 (51:32):
He didn't know you.
No, he didn't know me, but heknows me now.
Yeah, I bet that's amazing.
What are some of the things nowthat are most challenging for
you just in your life?
I know well, one thing thatI've heard you talk about is
that you don't procrastinate,you pre-crastinate Is that the
word?
I had never heard that wordbefore and it kind of is very
(51:53):
descriptive, like I get whatthat means, which can be good, I
think, sometimes, but alsosometimes probably not so great.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
Right.
So I am the opposite of aprocrastinator I will do things
right away and then I'll forgetwhether I've done them or I
won't give myself the time toreally think about them, and
sometimes things need tomarinate before you rush it and
finish a job, so respond to anemail or whatever.
So there are some downsides.
(52:22):
And so pre-procrastinate wasthe word for someone who doesn't
procrastinate and does thingsright away.
I don't know if that articlewas written by someone who made
up that word or not, but that'sthe word I use now.
So it has served me well,because I think my discipline
and I'm not putting myself downwhen I say this, but I'm kind of
an all round person, like I'mokay at a lot of things.
(52:45):
I'm not excellent at onespecific thing, I'm not a genius
in any way so my discipline hasenabled me to get ahead of
other people who might be supertalented but don't have
discipline and it also hashelped me feel good about myself
(53:05):
.
I'm always working on trying tobe better, and it makes my life
happier, even though people goGod you know, don't you want to
relax?
And I'm like no, I do relax,I'm happy While you're relaxing
and going oh, I shouldn't berelaxing.
I'm having a great time at thegym.
So I think that my discipline,especially in my acting career,
(53:25):
served me really well, becauseI'm an okay actress, I'm fine, I
certainly can make dialoguethat's not great believable,
which is a challenge, and Idon't know if some of the Oscar
winners would be able to do that.
But I and have worked underreally, really stringent
conditions.
So when you know, I heard onceCharlize Theron say oh my God, I
(53:46):
shot this movie in 18 days andit was so hard and I thought 18
days, girl, you're so lucky,because the higher budget movies
always take longer.
But if you're in theindependent film world, like I
am, I mean I've done big, bigstudio features, but I've done a
lot of independence.
You are cranking through.
You know there's no big warmtrailer that you hang out in
(54:07):
until you're on the set workingshooting the next scene.
So my discipline has gotten me,I think, to a place where I
might not have normally gottento in acting if I wasn't
disciplined.
Speaker 2 (54:20):
Yeah, Well, so many things that you've accomplished.
I mean, the discipline has beenwith you for it seems like your
whole life.
Speaker 1 (54:27):
Yeah, no, it has, cause I think I realized young,
you know, alexandra, you're notlike super good at anything.
When I was in grade school Iwasn't a very good athlete.
I was a good student, but onlybecause I really worked hard.
I was a very good student, Iworked super hard at it.
I wasn't like one of thosepeople who just could not do the
homework and study.
Speaker 2 (54:53):
Well, that's an extraordinary thing in and of
itself.
Your drive, the drive you hadto do I mean?
That's extraordinary.
I know what you mean.
I kind of feel very similarmyself.
I'm good at a lot of things.
I'm very well-rounded.
I've got a lot of things thatI've learned to do, because
being a solopreneur you learn todo a lot of things.
You know, I'm not an Olympicathlete but I can do a lot of
different.
You know calisthenics exercisesthere's just yeah, but the
(55:16):
drive is there and getting upevery day.
Speaker 1 (55:20):
I see that in you very, very much and I think in
the end, I think we're lucky tohave that, I think we are.
Speaker 2 (55:28):
Thank you, yeah, as we wrap up here, alexandra, I
think when we were just chattingbefore we popped on, we were
talking about a couple of thebooks Pema Chodron you had said
you read which book of hers Iread when Things Fall Apart.
Things Fall Apart and I justread how we Live Is how we Die,
which I have now assigned to twoof my private clients to read,
(55:51):
because she just has such anincredible way of expressing and
the grief I'm going throughwith Shai.
And did you read that at anopportune time?
That was when you needed it.
Speaker 1 (56:02):
It passed around my family before my brother,
jonathan, who became the veganwhen he was 14.
He went to prison for three anda half years for an animal
rights issue and it was superhard on everybody.
So, yeah, that book was passedaround our family and I give it
to people when they have abreakup or a loss, because it's
(56:25):
just really good.
I recommend it.
It's really easy to read too,like all her books.
Speaker 2 (56:30):
Yeah, and this other one about grief and aging, and
you had said you know I'mthinking a lot about mortality.
Do you want to kind of sharewhat you're thinking about and
why?
Speaker 1 (56:40):
And as we wrap up, Well, remember when I said
earlier in our talk today that Ithought that when I was 21, I
was going to be old.
And now I look back and go youknow what, if I had learned to
dance because I rememberthinking also, I'm 21, I'm too
old to learn to dance If I'dlearned to dance when I was 21,
40 years later now, I would belike an expert.
So yeah, so to everybody who'sout there going, I'm too old.
(57:03):
I know that it's 60.
I'm gonna look back when I'm 70and go Alexandra, 60 is young.
So I recognize I'm excited forthis decade.
But I'm also really aware,because I'm taking care of my
mom, who's 87, how aging affectsus and my mom was super healthy
and she has Parkinson's.
You know, it's not because shedidn't take care of herself,
(57:26):
cause I think she's doing sowell because she did take care
of herself.
But it just makes you feelvulnerable when you see your
mother fading and then you knowthat, well, we all do it right.
But it's so easy to be able tonot think about it unless it's
kind of in your face more.
And then I see that in oursixties that you know people
(57:47):
dying and I think, my God, thatguy was 61 and he died of a
heart attack.
I'm 60.
I mean, I could only have oneyear to live.
So in a way it's good, becauseit makes you less fearful what
we do on this planet, and thenalso more grateful.
Speaker 2 (58:03):
All comes back to gratitude, right?
Yeah, always does.
Speaker 1 (58:07):
The attitude of gratitude and our attitude is
really important and for ahealthy life, a long healthy
life too.
Speaker 2 (58:14):
Holistically healthy and I think you're a shining
example of that.
Are there any last words you'dlike to share and any projects
you're working on or anything?
Are you just pretty focused onfamily right now?
Speaker 1 (58:24):
And yeah, I've auditioned a little bit.
Unfortunately, even if I wereto get a job offer, it would
have to be a good one for me toleave my mom, but I'm still
auditioning just to be in thegame.
So I'm not visible and yeah, sono, I'm just working a lot with
animal rights and things withdirect action everywhere and the
(58:46):
simple heart, and I am excitedfor this year to do more work
for animals and to speak onoverpopulation.
So, if anyone's listening andhas a class, I really have been
doing outreach to universitiesto see if I can speak on the
issue of human fertility andpopulation to science classes,
(59:08):
math classes, and I don't get alot of response because I think
people are so afraid of thisissue environmental studies
classes.
So if anybody wants me to speak, especially if they are doing
classes online, I spoke atseveral universities this year
but I'd like to do more.
So if anybody listening has anin, please write to Ella and
(59:30):
she'll send it to me.
Speaker 2 (59:32):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Alexandra, thank you for allthe work you've done and
continue to do and for sharingthis time and space with me.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (59:42):
It's been an honor speaking with you, ella, thanks.
Speaker 2 (59:49):
Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Rise
and Thrive with me, ella Majors.
I truly hope you found itinspiring and, if you did,
please help me spread the wordby leaving a rating and review
on your favorite podcast playerand by sharing the show with
your friends.
As you probably know by now, mylife's purpose is to use my
voice to make this world a moreconscious and compassionate
(01:00:11):
place, and your reviews andshares make a huge impact.
And last, I'm getting a ton ofinsanely positive feedback about
my short and sweet monthlynewsletter called the Way short
for the Way Out Is Through.
I give my top five latest badassdiscoveries, insights and
explorations, like veganproducts and recipes.
(01:00:33):
I'm obsessed with books andshows I'm loving and workouts
that have me fired up.
Head on over to my website,ellamajorscom, to sign up and
check out all the other awesomeresources I have for you and
projects I'm involved with,including Hogs and Kisses Farm
Sanctuary, where our mission isto create the best life for farm
(01:00:54):
animals while inspiringcompassion for all living beings
.
Thanks a lot, and I'll see youon the next one.
And so I felt like, because I am a white woman,
because I was in a job wherethey weren't going to fire me,
because I got arrested becausepeople get arrested a lot in
Hollywood for far worse thanpeacefully passed a no trespass
sign right, and because I didn'thave children and because I
didn't have to show up to workthe next day, usually my work
(00:21):
did interfere a couple times,but I have the ability to be an
activist this way but, noteverybody does, and that's
totally fine and everyone shouldbe the activist they feel most
comfortable in.
And I guess I've always feltvery comfortable and I love the
community of people in thestreets and organizing and, yeah
(00:42):
, being more out there, I guess,than behind the scenes,
although I'm a very goodenvelope stuffer.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Hey there and welcome to Rise and Thrive with me,
Ella Majors.
I created this high vibepodcast from a place of profound
curiosity, fierce compassionand the deep desire to connect
you with the wisdom ofinspirational wellness, health,
fitness and conscious leadersand change makers.
Here's to discovering our blindspots and embracing life as the
(01:17):
adventure it is.
The time is now.
Let's do this, is now, let's dothis.
Hey, hey, everyone, ella herefor this encore episode of Rise
and Thrive, and I've got aspecial co-host today with me,
quinn.
What's up, babe, howdy, how areyou?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
babe, good, good, it's been a minute.
This feels so good to get backon the mic.
It sure does.
Yeah, I'm stoked.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah.
So you guys, this is anincredible episode we've got
coming out First.
We've got Alexandra Paul on theshow and I want to first chit
chat here with Quinn for aminute.
But, related to that, I wasjust listening to this episode
because we recorded it a littleways back and it's funny because
your name, quinn, comes up inthe very first few minutes, like
(02:07):
the very first minute of thisepisode.
Yeah, and I know you're jumpingin to this hosting situation
completely blind, so kudos toyou and it's something really,
really random and something alittle weird and a little funny,
and I'm not going to tell youwhat it is or anybody that's
listening, so you're going tohave to wait till the episode
comes out.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Can't wait yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
But you two have something in common.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
We do Okay, good, yes , okay.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Something very like kind of off the wall.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
We're both lifeguards .
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I mean, I look great in red.
So, thank you, you're welcome.
Purple's Quinn's favorite color, you guys?
So yeah, I just think we needto do a little catch up here,
because it has been a while.
We had thought that Rise andThrive was over and what was
happening, just to be totallytransparent, was that we were
working on the next Sexy, fit,vegan podcast to come out, and I
(03:01):
said, well, let me saveAlexandra's and a few other
really amazing episodes tolaunch with the new podcast.
And then, as shit happened,shit happened and I tore my ACL
sparring Muay Thai.
I had ACL surgery, Things gotput on hold, and so now I said
(03:22):
you know what?
Let's get these episodes out,because they deserve to be out.
You guys are going to love them.
They're amazing episodes withincredible people, extraordinary
humans.
So we are putting out a fewencore episodes of Rise and
Thrive.
And yeah, so what else has beengoing on since we stopped Rise
and Thrive?
Quinn, everything.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Unfolding as it does, all sorts of things Going on
since we stopped Rise and Thrive, quinn.
Everything Unfolding as it doesAll sorts of things.
We've now been together a year.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Right, we celebrated yes.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, blew by.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And if you guys don't know our story, definitely
check out.
I don't know what episode it isright now, but we could put it
in the show notes how we met,story, which is pretty unique, I
think, because I don't think alot of people meet on vegan
dating apps, so spoiler alertnot the people I've spoke to.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, they're like what?
It's a great story and yeah,and it's fun to tell and it's
really just amazing that youknow it's been a year that we've
been together, because itreally doesn't feel like that at
all.
Yeah, you know we're justgetting started, which is
exciting.
I'm just so, so excited to bepart of this podcast and really
look forward to how it blossoms.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yes, you know, it was funny because I was mentioning
just the other day I don't knowwhat conversation were we having
, I think it was on text thatand I said, oh, if I was
podcasting right now, I'd besharing about this, and what was
it?
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Onions.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Onions.
No, it was deodorant.
Yeah, you guys, there'ssomething going on.
I don't know, but my armpitshave been smelling a little like
onions lately and I've been.
I don't know if this happens toanyone else, but you know I
really work on finding the besttotally natural deodorant, which
(05:09):
has come a long way over theyears.
Back in the day there were notthat many options and none of
them worked worth a shit, andnow there are some pretty good
ones.
I was using Native for a while.
That was working, but I feellike you kind of go through
cycles where then they maybedon't work so well anymore.
So I've been trying out somenew ones, and the last one I
just tried kind of made myarmpits break out, even though
(05:31):
there's no baking soda.
I was making my own for a while.
So it's a journey finding theright natural deodorant.
Do you have one that you like,that you want to recommend?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I use Hello.
I think that's what it's calledHello Fresh or Hello or
something to that degree.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Vegan cruelty free.
I assume All the things yeahexactly.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
No aluminum, none of the bad stuff, and I don't smell
like onions.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
No, you don't.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I mean it's funny, like the whole idea of smelling.
You know, I don't, I reallydon't smell myself anymore.
I remember that being a thingyou know back when.
I was eating meat and you know,drinking and doing all that
stuff.
But I smell way more pleasantnow.
You know I don't smell likecigarettes and I don't smell
like yeah, I mean, I think themeat is a big part of it.
I'm just a happy, body smellsgood.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I mean eating decayed flesh just can't do good for
body odor.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Coupling that with you know, aluminum and all the
nasty stuff that we're puttinginto our armpits and sweating on
it and going straight into ourblood system.
Yeah, it's just really gnarlyand just what a cruel way to
poison us.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Well, speaking of, deodorant if you are, if you, if
you smell of onions, please.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
It's not a strong smell like Quinn didn't, but I
know I noticed a little.
So I live in Miami, I'm outsidea lot.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I'm training all the time.
And, if anything, onions wasfrom a past.
Smell of mine, if you will, soI just equated it to onions.
But no, the woman smellsdelightful, like she does not
smell of onions.
I just thought it was a funnything too.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well, and then I said well, at least you like onions,
because you do actually likeonions.
I can't do the raw onions, I'lldo the sauteed onions.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
I'm a fan of all onions.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, yeah, that's good stuff.
Good stuff.
If you like this kind ofconversation, you guys, and
you're not signed up for mynewsletter, my Soul Aligned
Sunday newsletter.
That is something I'm going tokeep up with.
I've got people emailing backsaying this has become my
favorite read.
I share all sorts of greatstuff, all very aligned with
holistic health.
(07:31):
I get pretty vulnerable sharingabout smelling like onions,
things like that, and thenrecommending, of course, any of
the discoveries I make that helpme be the happiest human I can
be, and then also recommendingyou know, supplements or brands
that I've found that I use and Irecommend as well.
So it's a fun newsletter, funread, also very valuable
(07:54):
Sexyfitvegancom forward slashnewsletter.
You can go sign up.
It's great, Great newsletter.
I have to say so.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It really is.
I mean, I look forward to itevery.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Sunday.
Obviously You're not biased oranything but it does the job
yeah.
And then we'll be sharing in thenewsletter when our next
podcast is coming out, and allthat good stuff too.
So let's get into it.
We've got Alexandra Paul, likeI mentioned, on the show today.
She is.
I'm not going to read her bioGo the show notes for the bio
(08:24):
but I just want to say you knowshe's an acclaimed actress.
She's a health advocate.
She was, of course, star ofBaywatch probably what she's
most known for in the actingworld but she's been a feature
in over a hundred shows andtelevision series, so that's
pretty extraordinary.
But what I love her for is hercommitment to making a positive
(08:48):
impact in this world.
She's been arrested, I think,close to 30 times.
She is all about the animals,she's all about regulating
population in terms ofsustainability and she just
cares so much.
And her and I have a lot incommon.
She struggled for a long timewith eating disorders and she
has overcome that, but is veryopen and vocal about how she
(09:12):
overcame it and what life islike for her now.
And this is a deep dive with her.
It's a really intriguingepisode and I can't wait for you
all to hear it.
So let's dive in episode and Ican't wait for you all to hear
it.
So let's dive in.
Oh, alexandra, I am so honoredthat you're here, really to be
(09:36):
able to share this time andspace with you.
I see you as someone who haspaved your own really powerful
path from a very young age, andyour deep commitments to making
this world a healthier, morejust and loving place for
everyone Really it inspires meand I'm so grateful for you to
be on our show.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Well, thank you so much, Ella.
It's so nice to see you again.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah, you too.
And as a side note, I was justlistening today to one of your
recent episodes on Switch forGood podcast and you had talked
about mouth taping at night.
It's a random fun fact, mypartner Quinn.
He tapes his mouth at night andI had never heard of that
before and he swears by itbecause it works so well for him
(10:17):
.
It works very well for mebecause he is quiet, he sleeps
so deeply, does no snoring, andthe minute he takes it off and
it falls asleep, it's snoring.
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Interesting.
So when you met him, was healready mouth taping?
Yep, he was already mouthtaping.
Okay, yeah, good, yes, itreally does help with snoring,
and I don't do it for snoring.
My husband says I don't snore.
He says I purr, I don't snore.
(10:48):
He says I purr.
I don't know, but I do itbecause I read a book about.
It was called the OxygenAdvantage.
But I've read other bookssubsequently, breath for one.
Well, james Nestor is a verygood author and he talks about
the benefits of breathingthrough your nose, and I was
definitely a mouth breather andso this has helped me a lot.
Not only if I have a cold sore,I won't put a tape on, or if
I've put too much moisturizer onmy lips the tape won't stick
(11:11):
and I won't sleep with it.
I noticed that my instinct isto breathe through my nose now,
so that's good.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Okay, so it's like training you also to do it
without the tape.
Oh, that's so interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
But I think I'll just keep with the tape because it's
just so easy and I must lookreally funny.
You know, I go to the bathroomat night.
If somebody encountered me inthe hallway, I had my tape on
and my mouth guard in and I usedto also sleep.
I used to have issues with, andI think it was a little bit of
an iron deficiency, so I'vesolved that.
But I used to have likerestless leg and the only thing
that helped was when I put toespacers on.
I can't explain why.
(11:50):
It helped for my sister too.
So can you imagine me going tothe bathroom, mouth tape, fart
on and toe spacers?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Do you clench your teeth?
Is that why you do mouth guards?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yes, that's why I have mouth guards.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
So do I?
I think we have a lot in common.
I don't think I have restlessleg, but my skin or something is
very sensitive to like thesheets If there's a little fold
in the sheets or if I'll have tomove.
So I'm awful to sleep with.
I feel sorry for anyonesleeping with me, oh goodness,
okay.
So one of the things I like toask my guests, because you have
(12:28):
an extensive bio and you'veaccomplished so much in between
your accomplishments and youractivism and your acting and all
the accolades behind all thator beyond all that, who is
Alexandra Paul?
How would you answer that?
Wow, okay.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Well, I consider myself very much a twin.
I'm a twin, okay, well, Iconsider myself very much a twin
, I'm a twin, and so that's veryimportant to me.
My twin sister and I've beenwith my husband too for 28 years
, so I do also consider myselfactually very good taste in men
and a good partner to him.
But I also consider myselfsomeone who struggled with an
(13:03):
eating disorder and overcame it,most importantly, and deals
with a lot of not anxiety, butworry more than I know that as I
look back on my life, I'll gowhy do you worry so much?
And my guiding principle iswhat Ingrid Newkirk said, which
(13:24):
is be kind, be kind, be kind.
That's sort of the mostimportant thing, and I look at
the world through a lens ofenvironmental ethic.
So when I see a car, I thinkhmm, what's the mileage on that
car?
Is it electric?
I don't look at the design orhow fast it goes or
technological marvel.
(13:44):
No, it's about how it affectsthe environment and the same,
and also animals, of course.
So I look through the lifethrough that lens.
Pretty much everything isthrough an environmental or an
animal justice lens, I wouldguess.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Right, yeah, and I found this so fascinating that
you were in sixth grade when youreally made a conscious choice
that you were gonna bechild-free.
Like I'm trying to think ofsome of your milestones along
your life when you had this kindof moment of ah, I'm going to
take a stand, I'm going to dosomething about this problem
that I'm learning about orseeing and that seems like a big
(14:20):
one.
Can you tell about that story?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Thank you.
Well, I grew up in the 70s whenthere were a lot of commercials
about starvation in India andAfrica, and there were a lot of
commercials about it, and so Iwas very affected by that and
thought, well, there's too manypeople in the world to feed
everybody, was the message thatI got.
(14:43):
Now, that was a very simplisticmessage, but then, when I was
in sixth grade, my glee clubteacher, mr Collins, said that
we had to change the words inthe song that we were singing
because it would have been 4billion people in the world,
cause when I was born in 1963,there were 3 billion people.
And he said you need to changeit to 4 billion because there
(15:05):
are now 4 billion people in theworld.
That was it.
And I was like what, 4 billionpeople, that's so many.
And that was really aneye-opener for me.
And I did tell my mom that Iwasn't going to have children.
I might adopt, but I wasn'tgoing to have my own because
there were too many kids in theworld.
And she said oh, honey, you'llchange your mind once your
(15:25):
biological clock clicks, inwhich it didn't really.
I think it didn't, probablybecause I was so strongly
aligned with my ethics, aboutnot having too many people on
the planet, crowding out animalsand also other people, you know
.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, it's so interesting.
We've got quite a little circleof you, me, dotsie, women and
I've got two really closegirlfriends who, you know, chose
not to have children.
And I think things are changing, culture is changing, but
there's still that.
At what point did your mom knowthat that was not going to
happen?
Was she hoping you would havechildren?
Speaker 1 (16:06):
I have two siblings and none of us have children,
which is interesting.
My brother had a vasectomy whenhe was 21 because he felt so
strongly about the animals andthe environment, and my twin is
gay, and so for a long timethere wasn't even a question
about whether she was going tohave kids or not.
So I think she also grew upwith a life that was child free.
(16:27):
And so my mom yes, she hascried over the fact that she has
no grandchildren, and she nowrecognizes that there are
benefits, because now we'rethere for her 100%, because we
don't have children, so we'reable to take care of her.
Now the question is what aboutus when we get older?
(16:50):
And that was a question that Iwrestled with when I was 40 and
we were taking care of my dad.
I thought, well, who's going totake care of me when I'm older,
and what am I missing?
These are the questions.
And well, maybe I could adopt akid and save a child.
And my husband looked at me.
He said you know, all those arenot.
I'm not hearing you say youwant a child.
Those aren't strong enoughreasons to raise a child, and so
(17:14):
, yeah, I decided to take outlong-term health care insurance
instead, so that when I am older, I can help myself be taken
care of.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
That's interesting because that certainly has
popped in my head.
You know, the older I start toget and some of my friends
without children we've all beenlike well, what if we have our
own little commune?
And you know we have a kitchenwith a vegan nurse you know, to
help us out where we need it andwe'll have like Can we create
that?
So we're exploring all sorts ofpossibilities.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Well, that's the thing You're right.
I mean, I have friends too thatwe're talking about that also
because I have some friends whoare child-free and having
children doesn't guarantee anyway that you're going to be
taken care of and it costs a lotof money to raise one child,
two child, three children.
The average number of childrenper family now in the world is
2.3.
So in America we have, onaverage, 2.1.
(18:10):
Yeah, 2.1.
It might be I think it's undernow, might be it's under two now
, but still it's very expensiveand I don't want to reduce
children to money, but we couldfind ways to take care of
ourselves as we're older otherthan just depending on our
children or our child.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yeah, yeah, and, as you said, you have a child,
there's no guarantee that thatchild's going to be around or be
wanting to take care of you orcapable of taking care of you.
Or yeah, no guarantees there.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yeah, exactly Not a reason to have children we have
more control.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah, yeah.
And at what point did youreally feel called to make
overpopulation?
You know something that you arereally vocal about, that you
are going to use your platformfor that.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
You were going to actually do a Ted talk on it In
1991, I developed a schoolprogram where a professor and I
went around to schools in the LAarea and spoke on the issue of
human numbers and how fast wewere growing to try and combat
the pro-natalist culture that wehave, which basically assumes
(19:20):
that you're going to havechildren, and preferably two, or
even, back then, three, becauseonly children are lonely
children supposedly.
And so we developed a programand I spoke to over 6,000
schoolchildren during that time.
I took time off from acting todo that because I felt so
(19:41):
strongly that and back thenthere were five and a half
billion, so it was, you know,many fewer because now we have
over 8 billion.
So obviously my work has notworked.
I was born, as I said, whenthere were 3 billion and now I'm
60, there are 8 billion.
The population's more thandoubled and it's quadrupled in
(20:02):
my mother's lifetime.
And I'm just so concerned aboutit because I hear people talking
about so many issues likeclimate change, or animals,
habitat, wildlife, clean water,available water, all that stuff
and it's all to me housing,traffic.
It's all tied in, even if it'sjust peripherally.
(20:23):
It's all tied into the numberof people that are on the planet
and I'm concerned that peopleare so afraid of talking about
this issue because there havebeen bad actors who've tried to
stop people from having kids,and I just want to be clear that
I don't want to stop peoplefrom having kids.
If you want kids and you reallywant them, want to stop people
(20:44):
from having kids.
If you want kids and you reallywant them, have them, but think
about the future and considerhaving only one or two at the
most.
And if you don't really wantthem, don't have them, because
it's such an important job andthere's so many people who just
kind of fall into parentingbecause of cultural pressures.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I mean, it's just another issue that's so taboo
because of the programs we'refed from the time we're born,
that that's what you're supposedto do, all these supposed to
habits and the way you'resupposed to live your life.
And it seems like you've beenand I've with me, with animals
too been somebody who just kindof was able to see that
(21:28):
programming for what it was andmake your own decisions.
Where do you think that camefrom?
Like, was that innate in?
Speaker 1 (21:33):
you.
Yeah Well, maybe you know I'vebeen in a life that isn't very
traditional being an actress.
There's a lot of acceptance.
A lot of my friends inHollywood don't have children,
didn't get married.
If they had children, some ofthem didn't have partners.
So it was a very consciousdecision.
So I think also myenvironmental ethic is so
(21:54):
important.
I mean, I grew up first with anenvironmental ethic and then
now it's broadened to includeanimals first and foremost, but
very much an environmental ethicand seeing that, it just was
logical to me.
Just like we see overpopulationof deer and then the deer starve
and people can alsooverpopulate, but humans get
(22:15):
very angry if you start sayingthat, that we are overpopulated
because we somehow believe thatwe don't have to abide by the
laws of nature and math.
But the truth is is that when weask for a world that has fewer
people, that's better foreverybody on the planet, because
right now there are so manyhave-nots and when we have fewer
(22:39):
people on the planet, everyonewill be able to share what
Mother Earth can provide,instead of having rich people
and very poor people, the peoplewho are going to suffer most
when the population reaches 10billion, which the UN says it's
going to reach this centuryaround in about 50 years, we are
the ones that are going tosuffer most.
(23:01):
So often people will say thatpeople who talk about limiting
fertility that somehow I must beracist or classist or something
.
No, I care deeply about theworld's poorest and believe that
everybody, everybody, needs tohave smaller families,
especially those of us inAmerica right who use so much.
(23:21):
So it's an issue that, likeunfortunately I touched on, had
bad actors in the 70s, whereChina was forcing people to have
abortions and have fewer kidsand India was doing the same and
there has been sterilization ofdifferent groups of people.
That is not at all part of whatI see at all.
(23:44):
I want people to see thepositive side of being
child-free, like you and I see,instead of getting brainwashed
which it is brainwashing a lotabout how wonderful parenthood
is and it is wonderful, but it'snot all wonderful, and being
child free is also wonderful.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, it's looking at both sides of that coin.
It's so important.
I think, also looking back nowto kind of the next milestone
vegetarian at age 14, right Iswhen you went vegetarian and
diet for a small planet was thebook that?
Speaker 1 (24:19):
helped you get there.
Yeah, ella, thank you so muchfor doing your homework.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, no, your story is fascinating.
The biggest in preparing forthis interview was like oh my
gosh, I want to talk about somany things.
Where are we going to go withthis?
Because you've just had such acolorful life and there's so
much to it, especially whenyou've been in the public eye
and you've had so many things todeal with in your life that
(24:46):
I've never had to deal with.
A lot of people listeninghaven't to deal with, and yet
the things you were dealing withare very relatable to a lot of
people.
So it's just fascinating to mehow you've been so courageous in
using your platform to do goodand to make an impact, and I
want to cover all of that as thebest we can.
So, yeah, 14 decided to govegetarian, and then was it just
(25:10):
reading the book?
Can you share a little bit moreabout what went into that
decision?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Diet for a Small Planet is a book by Francis
Moore Lappe written in the early70s, so this was about 1976, I
think I went let's see 1976,1977 that I went vegetarian and
it was basically forenvironmental reasons.
She was making the argumentthat we should.
She kept eggs in, so it wasn'tat all milk too, so it wasn't an
(25:36):
animal treatise at all.
It wasn't until I was in highschool and I did a book report
on the book Animal Liberation byPeter Singer that I saw the
animal component very strongly,and my brother at the same time.
We went to boarding school askids and he was in a different
boarding school, but he becamevegan at a very young age and I
(25:57):
remained vegetarian for way toolong.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Right and you talk about that.
And then between high schooland college you took some acting
classes you're doing somemodeling and you talked about
how something opened up for youat that time.
What opened up?
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Well, are you talking about in terms of?
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, in terms of life, like just it sparked
something in you that helpedchange the trajectory of your
life.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
During high school I had a severe eating disorder.
I was anorexic but mostprominently bulimic, and it
followed me from ages 16 to 28.
So I was modeling can youbelieve it Like I already had an
eating disorder and I had toput myself in that somehow for
validation.
The bulimia got so bad that Ileft modeling.
I moved to Canada to be with myboyfriend and told my agent why
(26:47):
, and she said, yeah, then go.
And I already had taken a yearoff before going to college.
This was during that time, andso I wasn't planning to be a
model more than that year anyway.
But before I left, I hadauditioned for a TV movie about
models and they were looking foran unknown girl to play a model
, the lead in the movie.
(27:09):
And so I got a call back when Iwas in Canada and had to fly
back to New York to audition forit.
And then again, and then thethird time, they flew me to
Hollywood and I got the role.
And that was what, yes,definitely changed the
trajectory of my life.
I moved to Los Angeles and stillthinking that I was going to go
(27:31):
to college after I did thismovie, and then, three weeks
before, I decided, you know, I'mgoing to be really old when I
get out of college 21.
Three weeks before I decided,you know, I'm going to be really
old when I get out of college21.
As only an 18 year old canthink right, right, exactly.
So I better just take advantageof the momentum now and I'm
going to stay.
And my mom?
She committed the mortalmistake of going back to college
(27:53):
after she divorced my dad whenshe was 40.
And one of her refrains thatshe would say was oh, college is
wasted on the young.
So by the time I got to thisplace, I was able to say to her
mom you said yourself thatcollege is wasted on the young.
So I'm going to go to collegelater and just see what happens
here in Hollywood.
And I never went to collegebecause I stayed busy in
(28:16):
Hollywood for a long time.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yes, you did.
How many features in movies,TVs?
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I have been in over a hundred movies and television
shows.
Mostly have had the fortune tobe the first or second female
lead.
As I've gotten older, I playnow, you know, the grandmother,
the lawyer, you know the not thefirst or second lead, but I did
have very, very wonderfulopportunities for the first 30
(28:43):
years of my career and hopefullymore to come, because there's a
lot of roles for women of allages.
Well, I'm sorry there aren't alot, but there are roles for
women of all ages.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
So and one of the things I hear and you talk about
is how you put into yourcontracts some stipulations
about what makeup you would wearand that you wouldn't wear fur
on set.
And I know, when I had a littlebout in fitness modeling, that
was something that was always.
It actually just caused me tobe like maybe I'm not going to
(29:13):
pursue this because I would beso worried about, okay, which,
oh, if I get booked by thiscompany, oh, but am I supporting
?
You know, do they wear, useleather, do they use products
that test on animals?
Then I'm not going to take thatjob and I don't think I can be
that picky.
You know, you just put it inthere.
And how did that work?
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yeah.
I was lucky because I wasplaying the leads then, so I had
the if I was playing.
Well, now it's much easier.
So even if I come on set plusI'm, you know, an old veteran so
if I come on set and say, hey,I can only use stuff not tested
on animals the makeup artistwill be like, oh, I've got a ton
of that, oh, I love that, or Idon't use anything tested on
animals.
But back then it wasn't very.
There were only a couplemakeups MAC which was not tested
(30:00):
on animals.
Then Now, unfortunately, theydo test on animals because of
the rules in China and they wantto sell in China.
And then there was Joe Blasco,which is a very Hollywood brand.
So those two did not test.
So I was able to.
Makeup artists were fine withit, nobody ever complained.
It was really nice.
Of course the internet wasn'taround, so it wasn't as easy.
You couldn't just go Googledoes this product test on
(30:24):
animals or get an app for it.
But yeah, so I stuck to Blascoand Mac mostly.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Got it, got it.
And let's talk about your andthis fascinates me all the
arrests that you've had withdirect activism.
At what point did you get intodirect activism and civil
disobedience?
Do you remember your firstarrest?
I?
Speaker 1 (30:43):
do I do.
It was in 1987.
So I was in my 20s and I justwalked for five weeks across
America on the Great Peace Marchbecause I was very concerned
about nuclear assault gettingblown up by nuclear weapons.
That is an issue that Russiaand America had like 20 to
30,000 nuclear weapons on eachside and now we have like 5,000
(31:06):
or 2,000.
So there's been a lot ofprogress in that area.
I'm sure that the ones we havenow are far more destructive,
but at least we are less apt tobe blown up by mistake because
there are fewer weapons.
But I was very concerned.
I was pretty sure at that agelet's see it would be 1986.
So I was 23 that I wasn't goingto make it to 35 because of the
(31:29):
nuclear issue.
So I had been on the GreatPeace March and we had gone to
the nuclear test site in Nevadawhere all the nuclear weapons
were tested above ground andthat were continuing to be
tested underground now afterlaws had passed to protect
groundwater and such.
But you know, it gets in thereanyway, folks.
So I went back to the test siteafter walking on the Great
(31:53):
Peace March from LA to Las Vegas.
I went back several times ayear, actually for the next 15
years, to do peaceful civildisobedience and so that first
time?
yeah was 1987, I think yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
And I know you talk about kind of your privileges
that give you a uniqueopportunity when it comes to
direct action.
Can you share a little moreabout that?
And I think somebody maybe putthat idea in your head and you
ran with it.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
My mom was and people ask like because all of us kids
are activists.
So people say, well, how didyou get that way?
And my mom was.
She always voted, she alwaysgave blood, she donated her time
, all sorts of things she woulddo.
She boycotted lettuce whenCesar Chavez's farm workers were
boycotting it.
(32:42):
So that kind of walking yourtalk was very much in our
household.
But I and my brother and sisteralso were more comfortable just
being in the street holding asign, vigiling, and civil
disobedience peaceful civildisobedience kind of just felt
natural to us, to me certainly.
And so I felt like because I ama white woman, because I was in
(33:05):
a job where they weren't goingto fire me, because I got
arrested because people getarrested a lot in Hollywood for
far worse than peacefully passeda no trespass sign, right and
because I didn't have childrenand because I didn't have to
show up to work the next day.
Usually my work did interfere acouple of times, but I have the
(33:25):
ability to be an activist thisway.
But not everybody does andthat's totally fine and everyone
should be the activist theyfeel most comfortable in.
And I guess I've always feltvery comfortable and I love the
community of people in thestreets and organizing and, yeah
, being more out there, I guess,than behind the scenes,
(33:47):
although I'm a very goodenvelope stuffer.
Back in the 80s and 90s, youknow, you did a lot of.
I'm not afraid of the justicesystem as much as a male might
be or a person of color.
So that first arrest I actuallywent to jail for several days
(34:09):
and, yeah, it was a big learningexperience.
And subsequently I've been injail for just five and a half
days was the longest that I wentin LA at the LA detention
center for protesting the Iraqwar and and then a couple
several days for animals, forrescuing animals.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Do you know how many times you've been arrested
altogether at this point you?
Speaker 1 (34:33):
know it's over 24 probably or 25, because I would
go back to the nuclear test siteseveral times a year and get
arrested, peacefully andeventually.
It's interesting that you knowthe point of civil disobedience
is not only to show howcommitted you are to get press
attention for the cause, butalso to pressure the powers that
(34:56):
be because it's expensive toarrest everybody and book them
and things and eventually thegovernment, because that's
basically it was federal landthat we were protesting on
nuclear testing as a governmentproject.
They stopped busing us to thelocal jail and instead they just
built a fencing on the propertythat had a bathroom and water
(35:17):
that they would herd us into,then they'd process us and then
they would release us.
For the most part it was tooexpensive to prosecute us, so I
only went to jail for one timebecause after that they would
just drop the charges.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
And how many more times do you plan to get
arrested in your life?
Do you think oh?
Many more, many more.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Yeah, many more.
I think civil disobedience is avery effective way of bringing
attention to a cause.
It's not.
Once again, the issue has toalso have all the other aspects,
that the fundraising, theletter writers, the lobbyists,
all sorts of things to affectchange.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
At this point moving forward, what causes do you feel
most connected to or inspiredby right now?
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Right now, I am focused on animal rights and
human overpopulation.
Those are the two that seem tome to be the most where I'm most
needed as an activist.
I was very much involved withgetting electric cars on the
road and I feel like, because Iwas part of the very, very
beginning and now it's become somuch more mainstream, I'm
(36:28):
leaving that to other folks andworking on issues that I just
think are very important also,which is animal rights and human
overpopulation.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Beautiful.
I want you to come one day.
Maybe come visit us at Hogs andKisses Farm Sanctuary.
We've got a beautiful B&B We'dlove to put you up, so I'm going
to put that out there.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Thank you so much.
I would love that.
I would love that.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
So let's talk a little bit now.
I'm curious how you see you'vebeen abstinent from purging
right how do you describe itsince you were 28?
Is that correct?
Yeah, so 32 years now.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Yeah, so I consider myself abstinent.
Abstinent sounds like such afunny word, though, so I just
say I haven't binged or purgedfor 32 years.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
And do you consider yourself in recovery, as you're
going to be in recovery, or doyou feel recovered?
How do you see that?
Speaker 1 (37:25):
I remember Dotsie really feels like she's
recovered.
I do not.
I still use food.
Just to be clear, I haven'tbinged really in the 31 years.
Maybe a little twinge of that,because there's a difference
between overeating and binging.
It's a mindset, right?
Yes, so I haven't binged and Ihaven't had that desire, that
(37:48):
overpowering craving to juststuff myself till I'm sick and
then throw it up.
You know that sort ofself-loathing.
I haven't had that.
But I definitely use food.
Like there'll be times when Ijust do not eat well and I go
right to sugar and I'll stay oneating sugar because it's
comforting, but I don't binge onit, I just eat it and I don't
(38:10):
eat enough vegetables.
So I would say that that iswhere my work lies.
But like my husband's been withme for 28 years and he says oh,
alexandra, you have improved somuch.
You're like you're almostnormal.
Now.
Whatever normal is right, right, but still, you know, sugar
remains my Achilles heel.
I would say that I'm addictedto sugar and there are times
(38:34):
when I've gone off it.
But then there are other times,basically, where I am able to
keep it really a good place inmy diet and then it kind of
starts to creep more and moreand more, and then I have to
pull back.
So I have to always be vigilant.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Does that sound familiar to you?
Oh, definitely, and it is.
It's the mindset when it comesto what we're eating, how much
we're eating, and for me it'sthis very much ability now to be
conscious with my meal, to beconscious of making a conscious
choice.
So sometimes I consciously makea choice that is not the
(39:10):
healthiest choice and I'm stillmaking that choice.
It doesn't feel like the foodhas the power over me, if that
makes sense.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Yes, that's a beautiful way to put it.
Yes, I totally agree.
I feel that that's where I am,and then I will, however, go to
periods where I feel like, oh,it's getting a little bit too
much and I have to pull back.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Yeah, yeah, I pretty much.
A few years ago I cut out sugaraltogether for a good maybe six
weeks.
All refined sugar, even stevia,anything that would maybe
prompt a craving for sugar.
I cut that all out.
I think it might've cut out fora little bit just to get that
sweet taste because I had gottento a place where I was eating a
little bit of coconut milk icecream.
(39:54):
It wasn't the end of the world,it was the kind without the
added sugar.
But I felt every night afterdinner I really wanted some and
I felt like it was an addictionand I said I don't want to be
controlled by this.
So I cut out sugar altogetherand I really haven't gone back.
Now I can eat a little bit hereand there, but in general it's
gotten to the point where Idon't crave it and that is a
(40:16):
really nice place to be withthat.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
That is for sure.
Yeah, and I too have given itup for months and it's so great
which is so weird that I wouldgo back on it, but it's so great
not to be so.
Here's my philosophy aboutsugar or about anything that.
If somebody's struggling withalcohol or some specific food,
is that for me, when it comes tosugar, two is too many and a
(40:39):
hundred is not enough.
So I'm never satisfied whollywhen I eat sugar.
There's always that.
Well, when I finish it, Ialways feel a little bit sad.
Yes, oh, totally, you know.
And I think, okay, well, I'llhave some tomorrow.
So when you don't eat sugar atall, that just never enters into
your mind.
So it's, there's so much morepeace.
You know, cause?
Speaker 2 (40:59):
you're like nope, you know, I know I can't be
satisfied anyway, so if I giveit up, okay, it's so true, every
time you start you're alwaysgoing to have to stop and be
like, oh, I really want a littlemore, you know.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
So you have to go through that kind of every time,
every time every time, unlessyou binge until you're sick,
which is what I used to do, andI don't do that anymore.
So it's more like you said.
My conscious mind goes, oh, putit down, alexandra, and there's
that little bit of spathis.
So it's true, abstinence canoften be easier, moderation or
(41:33):
trying to manage.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
How do you help as a health coach when somebody's
kind of battling with thatinability to stop once they get
started.
But maybe they don't have afull-out eating disorder but
there's some disordered eatingin there?
How do you work with somebodyaround that?
Speaker 1 (41:51):
So, just to be clear, I closed my health coaching
business because I'm workingwith my mom, being with my mom,
so I couldn't do both and reallybe good to both, but at seven
years of coaching.
So one of the most importantthings is, if somebody wants to
cut down on something is to justmake it easier for them and not
ask them to engage theirwillpower or white knuckle it.
(42:13):
So it's really important thatit not be in their environment.
And when it's not around,studies have shown that people,
if they have to make an effortto get to something, they're
less likely to do it the harderit is, and it can be as simple
as just putting if you live witha lot of other people, putting
the foods that you crave in acupboard that's either high or
(42:35):
very low and behind, so youdon't see them.
If you have it out on thekitchen table, of course you're
going to eat it and so they'rejust to get it out of your
environment.
Was number is very, veryimportant.
And then also to plan aheadabout okay, so you don't want to
eat dessert, but you know nowyou feel like you don't want to
(42:57):
eat dessert but you're going towant to eat it and come supper
time.
So what are you going to do whenyou start craving?
What kind of substitutions?
And they might not be food.
It might be getting up andturning on some really
pleasurable TV show.
What are you going to doinstead to get you out of the
habit?
Because a lot of our eating,for example, is habit, and also
(43:22):
it helps, of course, with thecraving that you talk about is
that once we get out of thehabit, our bodies doesn't expect
it anymore, and so we all hadhabits that we've given up tons
of things in our life, like somany people in college ate pizza
every night for dinner, anentire pizza, and they don't do
that anymore.
So we all can change our habits.
It seems hard in the beginning,so planning ahead and figuring
(43:49):
out.
People always said to me oh no,I just won't eat dessert.
I'm like, no, it doesn't workthat way.
It feels like it does, but no,it's not that easy, otherwise
you would have given up desserta long time ago.
What are you going to doinstead of having dessert to
make you feel good and notdeprived, so we can get you out
of this habit of having dessertevery night?
So that's a biggie.
The best thing would be to notgo to the restaurants that have
(44:11):
your dessert, you know.
But some people don't feel likethey can't control that part of
their lives, like where they eat, especially if they have family
who want dessert or they go onbusiness dinners.
Although I had a client oncewho said I have to go to
business dinners.
I hate them.
I hate them.
But I said, you know you hatethem, Don't you think like other
people hate them too?
(44:31):
What if you suggested, just,you know, let's have meat and
have a tea or a coffee or adrink if you have to.
Don't you think they want toget home to their families too?
Right, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm like no, they don't.
And then, of course, covidtaught us all that everyone's
just fine staying inside.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Yeah, totally, and I think also it's that ability to
pause right Before you take theaction, because if you don't
have that pause, then it'sautomated and it just goes.
So, training ourselves to pausebefore we act and then to have
a I'm calling them declarationsthese days affirmation, whatever
, but have like this thoughtready to counter the thought of
(45:13):
I really want.
But let me pause and say, whatwould I choose if I really loved
myself?
Or have something there to kindof coach ourselves right?
Did I ever tell you my granolastory?
I don't know, tell me so.
I was in my disordered eatingdays.
I was addicted to this specificgranola that you could buy in
bulk at Whole Foods and it wasso delicious.
(45:35):
And granola is just so caloriedense.
It's loaded with most of themare loaded with sugar and so
sweet and delicious, but it hasa health.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Halo, but it has a health halo, it's so true.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
Anywho, I could not stop myself Once I started
eating granola.
I could not stop myself.
So I started, instead of justnot buying granola, I started
buying it, still in bulk, but Iwould put it in bags in my trunk
and I would carry into my homeonly the amount that I wanted to
let myself eat that day.
But I was still ruled.
I mean, it was better, but Iwas still ruled.
And then one day I was with,like this fitness icon in my
(46:11):
town and she was with me and Iopened my trunk and she's like
what is that?
Massive bags of granola.
And she's like, oh no.
And she just took them.
She was, she was hardcore.
She just took them and she putthem in the dumpster and she's
like no more.
I was like I know, I know, Idon't want to be ruled by the
(46:34):
granola anymore.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
And so what happened?
How was it for you?
Were you able to give it up,cold turkey?
Speaker 2 (46:43):
No, no, not at that moment.
I still had a lot of inner workto do.
I mean this is all emotional.
I mean I was filling a void,that it was a milestone.
I mean I started to really dothe work at that point.
Up until then it was like thephysical what can I do, right,
to manipulate my environment sothat I don't make those choices?
Not what I could do tomanipulate my own emotions and
really deal with the root ofwhat it was that I was trying to
(47:05):
fill.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
You know what I mean, but you did touch on something
that, by having to bring itinside, you made yourself think.
You know, and psychologicallywe do tend to eat from a bag and
then we'll finish the bag.
But because it takes a littleeffort to open a new bag, it's
like a new thing.
Hence the a hundred calories,snack walls and stuff.
(47:27):
It's not always healthy, but itis healthier and it does is a
step towards being more aware.
And I remember when I wouldstart the day for years with a
chocolate chip muffin and mynutritionist said you can't do
that.
And I'm like what?
No, it makes me feel good Onechocolate chip muffin.
(47:48):
And then you know she's like no, I want you to have something
that doesn't have sugar in it.
And I wept.
I wept because I said I don'tknow what else to eat.
Well, I haven't had a chocolatechip muffin for two decades.
You find other things that fillyou and then they become things
you like and you develop newhabits.
(48:10):
So I think part of it, ofcourse, is inner work,
definitely, but I think also alot of it's just mindlessness, a
habit, what we've been doing,and we can definitely change.
So much of that is in ourcontrol, because willpower is
people say, oh Alexandra, youhave so much willpower.
I'm like, no, it's notwillpower.
(48:30):
It's not willpower, it's habit.
I've changed my habits and,yeah, it took a little bit of
awareness and maybe a little bitof willpower that very first
time, the first few days, butafter that, no, you learn how to
build new habits that usuallyare healthier if you're aware
and working on yourself.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yeah, yeah.
And then having some goals.
I mean you stopped work forwhat?
Nine months to prepare and youdid an Ironman, you did the
Hawaii Ironman, I did.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
I did the Hawaii.
Speaker 2 (49:00):
Ironman, oh my gosh, I am in awe of anyone who does
the Ironman.
And so you trained for ninemonths and you really hadn't.
You were already, you know,swimmer, but not biking.
You had never done a marathon,I'd never run more than I think.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
I'd maybe run 10 miles on my own maybe, but I'd
never done a marathon.
And the Ironman has a marathonat the end and then it has a two
and a half mile swim, which Iwasn't worried about.
I don't think I'd swum two anda half miles.
Maybe I had, but I hadn't beenon a bike since I was a teenager
and I was 34 when I startedtraining 33, 33.
And yeah, I took nine monthsoff because it was after
(49:40):
Baywatch and I loved shootingBaywatch and I'd done a whole
bunch of movies and anotherpilot, maybe two pilots for
other networks, and they werenice, they were good, but they
weren't that community in thehome that I was okay.
I thought, you know, I needanother adventure and I was
worried it was going to ruin mycareer.
(50:00):
But it turned out to be actuallyvery good for my acting career.
Because after you come off aseries like Baywatch, everyone
thinks you're just incompetentand dumb and I don't know.
They just don't give you anycredit for anything.
And then you go do an Ironman.
Then it counteracts theirformer stereotype of you and
back then it was the 90s, 97.
(50:20):
So people weren't really doingthe Ironman as much as they do
now.
That's so awesome.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
I love that.
How did it go?
I really didn't read anythingabout that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:31):
Oh yeah, well, great.
I struggled with something thatI found a solution to later.
I struggled with drinking water.
I would get this air bubble onthe top of my chest and it made
it hard to breathe.
But later, when I was doingsome marathons, I discovered
that if I drank from a straw, soI would cut a little mini straw
and keep it in my fanny packand then when I drank, instead
(50:52):
of gulping air at the same time,I just took a straw and drunk
that way.
So I created that.
So, yeah, it was 13 hours.
So it's not like I'm a speeddemon, but I certainly was well
under the cutoff, that's forsure.
So I think I defiedexpectations.
But I did train very hard inschool.
I was very good at schoolbecause I did my homework and I
(51:12):
did what I was asked.
And same thing with thetraining my coach was a former
Ironman winner, so I did everysingle thing he asked me to do,
except for one day out of thatnine months.
And he was kind of surprisedbecause I think he too thought
oh my God, who is this person?
She's never even done amarathon.
She doesn't really know how toride a bike.
Speaker 2 (51:32):
He didn't know you.
No, he didn't know me, but heknows me now.
Yeah, I bet that's amazing.
What are some of the things nowthat are most challenging for
you just in your life?
I know well, one thing thatI've heard you talk about is
that you don't procrastinate,you pre-crastinate Is that the
word?
I had never heard that wordbefore and it kind of is very
(51:53):
descriptive, like I get whatthat means, which can be good, I
think, sometimes, but alsosometimes probably not so great.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
Right.
So I am the opposite of aprocrastinator I will do things
right away and then I'll forgetwhether I've done them or I
won't give myself the time toreally think about them, and
sometimes things need tomarinate before you rush it and
finish a job, so respond to anemail or whatever.
So there are some downsides.
(52:22):
And so pre-procrastinate wasthe word for someone who doesn't
procrastinate and does thingsright away.
I don't know if that articlewas written by someone who made
up that word or not, but that'sthe word I use now.
So it has served me well,because I think my discipline
and I'm not putting myself downwhen I say this, but I'm kind of
an all round person, like I'mokay at a lot of things.
(52:45):
I'm not excellent at onespecific thing, I'm not a genius
in any way so my discipline hasenabled me to get ahead of
other people who might be supertalented but don't have
discipline and it also hashelped me feel good about myself
(53:05):
.
I'm always working on trying tobe better, and it makes my life
happier, even though people goGod you know, don't you want to
relax?
And I'm like no, I do relax,I'm happy While you're relaxing
and going oh, I shouldn't berelaxing.
I'm having a great time at thegym.
So I think that my discipline,especially in my acting career,
(53:25):
served me really well, becauseI'm an okay actress, I'm fine, I
certainly can make dialoguethat's not great believable,
which is a challenge, and Idon't know if some of the Oscar
winners would be able to do that.
But I and have worked underreally, really stringent
conditions.
So when you know, I heard onceCharlize Theron say oh my God, I
(53:46):
shot this movie in 18 days andit was so hard and I thought 18
days, girl, you're so lucky,because the higher budget movies
always take longer.
But if you're in theindependent film world, like I
am, I mean I've done big, bigstudio features, but I've done a
lot of independence.
You are cranking through.
You know there's no big warmtrailer that you hang out in
(54:07):
until you're on the set workingshooting the next scene.
So my discipline has gotten me,I think, to a place where I
might not have normally gottento in acting if I wasn't
disciplined.
Speaker 2 (54:20):
Yeah, Well, so many things that you've accomplished.
I mean, the discipline has beenwith you for it seems like your
whole life.
Speaker 1 (54:27):
Yeah, no, it has, cause I think I realized young,
you know, alexandra, you're notlike super good at anything.
When I was in grade school Iwasn't a very good athlete.
I was a good student, but onlybecause I really worked hard.
I was a very good student, Iworked super hard at it.
I wasn't like one of thosepeople who just could not do the
homework and study.
Speaker 2 (54:53):
Well, that's an extraordinary thing in and of
itself.
Your drive, the drive you hadto do I mean?
That's extraordinary.
I know what you mean.
I kind of feel very similarmyself.
I'm good at a lot of things.
I'm very well-rounded.
I've got a lot of things thatI've learned to do, because
being a solopreneur you learn todo a lot of things.
You know, I'm not an Olympicathlete but I can do a lot of
different.
You know calisthenics exercisesthere's just yeah, but the
(55:16):
drive is there and getting upevery day.
Speaker 1 (55:20):
I see that in you very, very much and I think in
the end, I think we're lucky tohave that, I think we are.
Speaker 2 (55:28):
Thank you, yeah, as we wrap up here, alexandra, I
think when we were just chattingbefore we popped on, we were
talking about a couple of thebooks Pema Chodron you had said
you read which book of hers Iread when Things Fall Apart.
Things Fall Apart and I justread how we Live Is how we Die,
which I have now assigned to twoof my private clients to read,
(55:51):
because she just has such anincredible way of expressing and
the grief I'm going throughwith Shai.
And did you read that at anopportune time?
That was when you needed it.
Speaker 1 (56:02):
It passed around my family before my brother,
jonathan, who became the veganwhen he was 14.
He went to prison for three anda half years for an animal
rights issue and it was superhard on everybody.
So, yeah, that book was passedaround our family and I give it
to people when they have abreakup or a loss, because it's
(56:25):
just really good.
I recommend it.
It's really easy to read too,like all her books.
Speaker 2 (56:30):
Yeah, and this other one about grief and aging, and
you had said you know I'mthinking a lot about mortality.
Do you want to kind of sharewhat you're thinking about and
why?
Speaker 1 (56:40):
And as we wrap up, Well, remember when I said
earlier in our talk today that Ithought that when I was 21, I
was going to be old.
And now I look back and go youknow what, if I had learned to
dance because I rememberthinking also, I'm 21, I'm too
old to learn to dance If I'dlearned to dance when I was 21,
40 years later now, I would belike an expert.
So yeah, so to everybody who'sout there going, I'm too old.
(57:03):
I know that it's 60.
I'm gonna look back when I'm 70and go Alexandra, 60 is young.
So I recognize I'm excited forthis decade.
But I'm also really aware,because I'm taking care of my
mom, who's 87, how aging affectsus and my mom was super healthy
and she has Parkinson's.
You know, it's not because shedidn't take care of herself,
(57:26):
cause I think she's doing sowell because she did take care
of herself.
But it just makes you feelvulnerable when you see your
mother fading and then you knowthat, well, we all do it right.
But it's so easy to be able tonot think about it unless it's
kind of in your face more.
And then I see that in oursixties that you know people
(57:47):
dying and I think, my God, thatguy was 61 and he died of a
heart attack.
I'm 60.
I mean, I could only have oneyear to live.
So in a way it's good, becauseit makes you less fearful what
we do on this planet, and thenalso more grateful.
Speaker 2 (58:03):
All comes back to gratitude, right?
Yeah, always does.
Speaker 1 (58:07):
The attitude of gratitude and our attitude is
really important and for ahealthy life, a long healthy
life too.
Speaker 2 (58:14):
Holistically healthy and I think you're a shining
example of that.
Are there any last words you'dlike to share and any projects
you're working on or anything?
Are you just pretty focused onfamily right now?
Speaker 1 (58:24):
And yeah, I've auditioned a little bit.
Unfortunately, even if I wereto get a job offer, it would
have to be a good one for me toleave my mom, but I'm still
auditioning just to be in thegame.
So I'm not visible and yeah, sono, I'm just working a lot with
animal rights and things withdirect action everywhere and the
(58:46):
simple heart, and I am excitedfor this year to do more work
for animals and to speak onoverpopulation.
So, if anyone's listening andhas a class, I really have been
doing outreach to universitiesto see if I can speak on the
issue of human fertility andpopulation to science classes,
(59:08):
math classes, and I don't get alot of response because I think
people are so afraid of thisissue environmental studies
classes.
So if anybody wants me to speak, especially if they are doing
classes online, I spoke atseveral universities this year
but I'd like to do more.
So if anybody listening has anin, please write to Ella and
(59:30):
she'll send it to me.
Speaker 2 (59:32):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Alexandra, thank you for allthe work you've done and
continue to do and for sharingthis time and space with me.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (59:42):
It's been an honor speaking with you, ella, thanks.
Speaker 2 (59:49):
Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Rise
and Thrive with me, ella Majors.
I truly hope you found itinspiring and, if you did,
please help me spread the wordby leaving a rating and review
on your favorite podcast playerand by sharing the show with
your friends.
As you probably know by now, mylife's purpose is to use my
voice to make this world a moreconscious and compassionate
(01:00:11):
place, and your reviews andshares make a huge impact.
And last, I'm getting a ton ofinsanely positive feedback about
my short and sweet monthlynewsletter called the Way short
for the Way Out Is Through.
I give my top five latest badassdiscoveries, insights and
explorations, like veganproducts and recipes.
(01:00:33):
I'm obsessed with books andshows I'm loving and workouts
that have me fired up.
Head on over to my website,ellamajorscom, to sign up and
check out all the other awesomeresources I have for you and
projects I'm involved with,including Hogs and Kisses Farm
Sanctuary, where our mission isto create the best life for farm
(01:00:54):
animals while inspiringcompassion for all living beings
.
Thanks a lot, and I'll see youon the next one.
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