S15, Ep11 How To Fail: Geena Davis, the Oscar-winning actress on fame, feminism and being diagnosed with ADD in her 40s
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day
Sony Music
4.8 • 9.4K Ratings
🗓️ 9 November 2022
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We talk about her feelings of imposter syndrome and self-doubt in the early days of her career, the fact that her failure as a model led to her first film role alongside Dustin Hoffman (who gave her incredible advice on how to defend herself against the amorous advances of her male co-stars) and the revelation of being diagnosed with ADD in her 40s. Along the way, we touch on height (she's 6ft! A tall woman like me!), the #MeToo movement, representation, almost becoming an Olympic archer, being an older mother and the seismic impact her friendship with Susan Sarandon had on Davis's life. I can't wait for you all to listen.
*yes, she met my ginger cat Huxley and they got along famously.
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Geena Davis's gloriously warm and ironic memoir, Dying of Politeness, is out now: https://www.waterstones.com/book/dying-of-politeness/geena-davis/9780008508111
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email [email protected]
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Geena Davis Institute @geenadavisorg
Transcript
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| 0:29.4 | in terms of light. |
| 0:30.4 | Hello and welcome to How to Fail with Elizabeth Day. |
| 0:47.6 | The podcast that celebrates the things that haven't gone right. |
| 0:52.0 | This is a podcast about learning from our mistakes and understanding that why we fail ultimately |
| 0:57.6 | makes us stronger. |
| 0:59.5 | Because learning how to fail in life actually means learning how to succeed better. |
| 1:05.2 | I'm your host, author and journalist Elizabeth Day and every week I'll be asking a new |
| 1:10.3 | interviewee what they've learned from failure. |
| 1:14.1 | Gina Davis is not your conventional Hollywood movie star. |
| 1:18.6 | First off she's tall and as we know most celebrities are absolutely tiny. |
| 1:23.2 | Then there's the fact she speaks fluent Swedish and almost competed in the Olympics as part |
| 1:27.2 | of the US archery team. |
| 1:29.4 | She once decorated a guest bedroom with 50 cookoo clocks and as an actor she's played a |
| 1:34.3 | woman whose boyfriend was transformed into a fly and the adoptive mother of an animated |
| 1:39.5 | mouse. |
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