I was very proud to become a member of Equity in the late winter of 1994 while I performed the role of Madge in Picnic at the Roundabout Theatre Company, having been cast by Scott Ellis, while I still had a cast on my leg from a horseback riding accident sustained at my farm in Tennessee.
Having done only the films Ruby in Paradise and a week on Natural Born Killers, plus a Naked Angels production at the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in the Hamptons, the prospect of doing Broadway was thrilling and a meaty confirmation of my serious ambitions and dreams as an actor. Joining the union was another way to solidify my intentions, and I renewed my Equity membership while playing Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Music Box Theatre.
I remain strongly pro-union in my beliefs, actions and pride and try to keep up to date with all the goings on and take my right to vote seriously. Additionally, I try to talk to younger actors, or anyone who seems ambivalent, about how critical it is we all stick together, act for the greater good and maintain the power and integrity of our collective.
